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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T J O H N.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Evidence given concerning Christ's person and excellency,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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The knowledge thereof gives us communion with God and Christ
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:3">ver. 3</A>),
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and joy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:4">ver. 4</A>.
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A description of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:5">ver. 5</A>.
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How we are thereupon to walk,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:6">ver. 6</A>.
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The benefit of such walking,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:7">ver. 7</A>.
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The way to forgiveness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:9">ver. 9</A>.
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The evil of denying our sin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Apostolic Testimony.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
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we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
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hands have handled, of the Word of life;
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2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen <I>it,</I> and bear
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witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the
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Father, and was manifested unto us;)
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3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that
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ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship
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<I>is</I> with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
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4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
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full.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The apostle omits his name and character (as also the author to the
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Hebrews does) either out of humility, or as being willing that the
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Christian reader should be swayed by the light and weight of the things
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written rather than by the name that might recommend them. And so he
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begins,</P>
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<P>
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I. With an account or character of the Mediator's person. He is the
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great subject of the gospel, the foundation and object of our faith and
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hope, the bond and cement that unite us unto God. He should be well
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known; and he is represented here,
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1. <I>As the Word of life,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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In the gospel these two are disjoined, and he is called first <I>the
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Word,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:1">John i. 1</A>,
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and afterwards <I>Life,</I> intimating, withal, that he is
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<I>intellectual life. In him was life, and that life was</I>
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(efficiently and objectively) <I>the light of men,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:4">John i. 4</A>.
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Here both are conjoined: <I>The Word of life,</I> the vital Word. In
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that he is the Word, it is intimated that he is the Word of some person
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or other; and that is God, even the Father. <I>He is the Word of
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God,</I> and so he is intimated to issue from the Father, as truly
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(though not in the same manner) as a word (or speech, which is a train
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of words) from a speaker. But he is not a mere vocal word, a bare
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<B><I>logos prophorikos,</I></B> but a vital one: <I>the Word of
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life,</I> the living word; and thereupon,
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1. <I>As eternal life.</I> His duration shows his excellency. He was
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from eternity; and so is, in scripture-account, necessary, essential,
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uncreated life. That the apostle speaks of his eternity, <I>à
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parte ante</I> (as they say) and as <I>from everlasting,</I> seems
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evident in that he speaks of him as he was in and from the beginning;
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when he was then with the Father, before his manifestation to us, yea,
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before the making of all things that were make; as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:2,3">John i. 2, 3</A>.
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So that he is the eternal, vital, intellectual Word of the eternal
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living Father.
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3. <I>As life manifested</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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manifested in the flesh, manifested to us. The eternal life would
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assume mortality, would put on flesh and blood (in the entire human
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nature), and so dwell among us and converse with us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:14">John i. 14</A>.
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Here were condescension and kindness indeed, that eternal life (a
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person of eternal essential life) should come to visit mortals, and to
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procure eternal life for them, and then confer it on them!</P>
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<P>
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II. With the evidences and convictive assurances that the apostle and
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his brethren had of the Mediator's presence and converse in this world.
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There were sufficient demonstrations of the reality of his abode here,
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and of the excellency and dignity of his person in the way of his
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manifestation. <I>The life, the word of life, the eternal life,</I> as
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such, could not be seen and felt; but the life manifested might be, and
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was so. The life was clothed with flesh, put on the state and habit of
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abased human nature, and as such gave sensible proof of its existence
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and transactions here. The divine life, or Word incarnate, presented
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and evinced itself to the very senses of the apostles. As,
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1. To their ears: <I>That which we have heard,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:1,3"><I>v.</I> 1, 3</A>.
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The life assumed a mouth and tongue, that he might utter words of life.
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The apostles not only heard of him, but they heard him himself. Above
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three years might they attend his ministry, be auditors of his public
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sermons and private expositions (for he expounded them in his house),
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and be charmed with the words of him who spoke as never man spoke
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before or since. The divine word would employ the ear, and the ear
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should be devoted to the word of life. And it was meet that those who
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were to be his representatives and imitators to the world should be
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personally acquainted with his ministrations.
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2. To their eyes: <I>That which we have seen with our eyes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:1-3"><I>v.</I> 1-3</A>.
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The Word would become visible, would not only be heard, but seen, seen
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publicly, privately, at a distance and at nearest approach, which may
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be intimated in the expression, <I>with our eyes</I>--with all the use
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and exercise that we could make of our eyes. We saw him in his life and
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ministry, saw him in his transfiguration on the mount, hanging,
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bleeding, dying, and dead, upon the cross, and we saw him after his
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return from the grave and resurrection from the dead. His apostles must
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be eye-witnesses as well as ear-witnesses of him. <I>Wherefore, of
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these men that have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord
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Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John,
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must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:21,22">Acts i. 21, 22</A>.
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<I>And we were eye-witnesses of his majesty,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:16">2 Pet. i. 16</A>.
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3. To their internal sense, to the eyes of their mind; for so
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(possibly) may the next clause be interpreted: <I>Which we have looked
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upon.</I> This may be distinguished from the foregoing perception,
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<I>seeing with the eyes;</I> and may be the same with what the apostle
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says in his gospel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:14"><I>ch.</I> i. 14</A>),
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<I>And we beheld</I>--<B><I>etheasametha,</I></B> <I>his glory, the
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glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.</I> The word is not
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applied to the immediate object of the eye, but to that which was
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rationally collected from what they saw. "What we have well discerned,
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contemplated, and viewed, what we have well known of this Word of life,
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we report to you." The senses are to be the informers of the mind.
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4. To their hands and sense of feeling: <I>And our hands have
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handled</I> (touched and felt) <I>of the Word of life.</I> This surely
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refers to the full conviction our Lord afforded his apostles of the
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truth, reality, solidity, and organization of his body, after his
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resurrection from the dead. When he showed them his hands and his side,
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it is probable that he gave them leave to touch him; at least, he knew
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of Thomas's unbelief, and his professed resolution too not to believe,
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till he had found and felt the places and signatures of the wounds by
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which he died. Accordingly at the next congress he called Thomas, in
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the presence of the rest, to satisfy the very curiosity of his
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unbelief. And probably others of them did so too. <I>Our hands have
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handled of the Word of life.</I> The invisible life and Word was no
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despiser of the testimony of sense. Sense, in its place and sphere, is
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a means that God has appointed, and the Lord Christ has employed, for
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our information. Our Lord took care to satisfy (as far as might be) all
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the senses of his apostles, that they might be the more authentic
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witnesses of him to the world. Those that apply all this to the hearing
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of the gospel lose the variety of sensations here mentioned, and the
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propriety of the expressions, as well as the reason of their
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inculcation and repetition here: <I>That which we have seen and heard
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declare we unto you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The apostles could not be deceived in such long and various exercise of
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their sense. Sense must minister to reason and judgment; and reason and
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judgment must minister to the reception of the Lord Jesus Christ and
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his gospel. The rejection of the Christian revelation is at last
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resolved into the rejection of sense itself. <I>He upbraided them with
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their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not those
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who had seen him after he had risen,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+16:14">Mark xvi. 14</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. With a solemn assertion and attestation of these grounds and
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evidences of the Christian truth and doctrine. The apostles publish
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these assurances for our satisfaction: <I>We bear witness, and show
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unto you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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<I>That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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It became the apostles to open to the disciples the evidence by which
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they were led, the reasons by which they were constrained to proclaim
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and propagate the Christian doctrine in the world. Wisdom and integrity
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obliged them to demonstrate that it was not either private fancy or a
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cunningly-devised fable that they presented to the world. Evident truth
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would open their mouths, and force a public profession. <I>We cannot
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but speak the things which we have seen and heard,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:20">Acts iv. 20</A>.
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It concerned the disciples to be well assured of the truth of the
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institution they had embraced. They should see the evidences of their
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holy religion. It fears not the light, nor the most judicious
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examination. It is able to afford rational conviction and solid
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persuasion of mind and conscience. <I>I would that you knew what great
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conflict</I> (or concern of mind) <I>I have for you, and for those at
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Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that
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their hearts might be knit together in love, and unto all riches of
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full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery
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of God, even of the Father, and of Christ,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+2:1,2">Col. ii. 1, 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. With the reason of the apostle's exhibiting and asserting this
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summary of sacred faith, and this breviate of evidence attending it.
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This reason is twofold:--</P>
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<P>
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1. That the believers of it may be advanced to the same happiness with
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them (with the apostles themselves): <I>That which we have seen and
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heard declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The apostle means not personal fellowship nor consociation in the same
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church-administrations, but such as is consistent with personal
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distance from each other. It is communion with heaven, and in blessings
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that come thence and tend thither. "This we declare and testify, that
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you may share with us in our privileges and happiness." Gospel spirits
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(or those that are made happy by gospel grace) would fain have others
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happy too. We see, also, there is a fellowship or communion that runs
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through the whole church of God. There may be some personal
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distinctions and peculiarities, but there is a communion (or common
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participation of privilege and dignity) belonging to all saints, from
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the highest apostle to the lowest believer. As there is the same
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precious faith, there are the same precious promises dignifying and
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crowning that faith and the same precious blessings and glories
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enriching and filling those promises. Now that believers may be
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ambitious of this communion, that they may be instigated to retain and
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hold fast the faith that is the means of such communion, that the
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apostles also may manifest their love to the disciples in assisting
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them to the same communion with themselves, they indicate what it is
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and where it is: <I>And truly our fellowship</I> (or communion) <I>is
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with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.</I> We have communion with
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the Father, and with the Son of the Father (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Jo+1:3">2 John 3</A>,
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he is most emphatically styled) in our happy relation to them, in our
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receiving heavenly blessings from them, and in our spiritual converse
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with them. We have now such supernatural conversation with God and the
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Lord Christ as is an earnest and foretaste of our everlasting abode
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with them, and enjoyment of them, in the heavenly glory. See to what
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the gospel revelation tends--to advance us far above sin and earth and
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to carry us to blessed communion with the Father and the Son. See for
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what end the eternal life was made flesh--that he might advance us to
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eternal life in communion with the Father and himself. See how far
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those live beneath the dignity, use, and end of the Christian faith and
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institution, who have not spiritual blessed communion with the Father
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and his Son Jesus Christ.</P>
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<P>
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2. That believers may be enlarged and advanced in holy joy: <I>And
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these things write we unto you that your joy may be full,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The gospel dispensation is not properly a dispensation of fear, sorrow,
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and dread, but of peace and joy. Terror and astonishment may well
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attend mount Sinai, but exultation and joy mount Zion, where appears
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<I>the eternal Word, the eternal life,</I> manifested in our flesh. The
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mystery of the Christian religion is directly calculated for the joy of
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mortals. It should be joy to us that the eternal Son should come to
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seek and save us, that he has made a full atonement for our sins, that
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he has conquered sin and death and hell, that he lives as our
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Intercessor and Advocate with the Father, and that he will come again
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to perfect and glorify his persevering believers. And therefore those
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live beneath the use and end of the Christian revelation who are not
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filled with spiritual joy. Believers should rejoice in their happy
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relation to God, as his sons and heirs, his beloved and adopted,--in
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their happy relation to the Son of the Father, as being members of his
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beloved body, and coheirs with himself,--in the pardon of their sins,
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the sanctification of their natures, the adoption of their persons, and
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the prospect of grace and glory that will be revealed at the return of
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their Lord and head from heaven. Were they confirmed in their holy
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faith, how would they rejoice! <I>The disciples were filled with joy,
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and with the Holy Ghost,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:52">Acts xiii. 52</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Apostolic Testimony.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
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|
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
|
|
all.
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|
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in
|
|
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
|
|
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
|
|
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
|
|
Son cleanseth us from all sin.
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|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The apostle, having declared the truth and dignity of the author of the
|
|
gospel, brings a message or report from him, from which a just
|
|
conclusion is to be drawn for the consideration and conviction of the
|
|
professors of religion, or professed entertainers of this glorious
|
|
gospel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is the message or report that the apostle avers to come from
|
|
the Lord Jesus: <I>This then is the message which we have heard of
|
|
him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
of his Son Jesus Christ. As he was the immediate sender of the
|
|
apostles, so he is the principal person spoken of in the preceding
|
|
context, and the next antecedent also to whom the pronoun <I>him</I>
|
|
can relate. The apostles and apostolical ministers are the messengers
|
|
of the Lord Jesus; it is their honour, the chief they pretend to, to
|
|
bring his mind and messages to the world and to the churches. This is
|
|
the wisdom and present dispensation of the Lord Jesus, to send his
|
|
messages to us by persons like ourselves. He that put on human nature
|
|
will honour earthen vessels. It was the ambition of the apostles to be
|
|
found faithful, and faithfully to deliver the errands and messages they
|
|
had received. What was communicated to them they were solicitous to
|
|
impart: <I>This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
|
|
declare unto you.</I> A message from the Word of life, from the eternal
|
|
Word, we should gladly receive: and the present one is this (relating
|
|
to the nature of God whom we are to serve, and with whom we should
|
|
covet all indulged communion)--<I>That God is light, and in him is no
|
|
darkness at all,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
This report asserts the excellency of the divine nature. He is all that
|
|
beauty and perfection that can be represented to us by light. He is a
|
|
self-active uncompounded spirituality, purity, wisdom, holiness, and
|
|
glory. And then the absoluteness and fulness of that excellency and
|
|
perfection. There is no defect or imperfection, no mixture of any
|
|
thing alien or contrary to absolute excellency, no mutability nor
|
|
capacity of any decay in him: <I>In him is no darkness at all,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or this report may more immediately relate to what is usually called
|
|
the moral perfection of the divine nature, what we are to imitate, or
|
|
what is more directly to influence us in our gospel work. And so it
|
|
will comprehend the holiness of God, the absolute purity of his nature
|
|
and will, his penetrative knowledge (particularly of hearts), his
|
|
jealousy and injustice, which burn a a most bright and vehement flame.
|
|
It is meet that to this dark world the great God should be represented
|
|
as pure and perfect light. It is the Lord Jesus that best of all opens
|
|
to us the name and nature of the unsearchable God: <I>The
|
|
only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, the same hath
|
|
declared him.</I> It is the prerogative of the Christian revelation to
|
|
bring us the most noble, the most august and agreeable account of the
|
|
blessed God, such as is most suitable to the light of reason and what
|
|
is demonstrable thereby, most suitable to the magnificence of his works
|
|
round about us, and to the nature and office of him that is the supreme
|
|
administrator, governor, and judge of the world. What more (relating to
|
|
and comprehensive of all such perfection) could be included in one word
|
|
than in this, <I>God is light, and in him is no darkness at all?</I>
|
|
Then,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. There is a just conclusion to be drawn from this message and
|
|
report, and that for the consideration and conviction of professors of
|
|
religion, or professed entertainers of this gospel. This conclusion
|
|
issues into two branches:--
|
|
|
|
1. For the conviction of such professors as have no true fellowship
|
|
with God: <I>If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in
|
|
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.</I> It is known that to walk,
|
|
in scripture account, is to order and frame the course and actions of
|
|
the moral life, that is, of the life so far as it is capable of
|
|
subjection to the divine law. <I>To walk in darkness</I> is to live and
|
|
act according to such ignorance, error, and erroneous practice, as are
|
|
contrary to the fundamental dictates of our holy religion. Now there
|
|
may be those who may pretend to great attainments and enjoyments in
|
|
religion; they may profess to have communion with God; and yet their
|
|
lives may be irreligious, immoral, and impure. To such the apostle
|
|
would not fear to give the lie: <I>They lie, and do not the truth.</I>
|
|
They belie God; for he holds no heavenly fellowship or intercourse with
|
|
unholy souls. What communion hath light with darkness? They belie
|
|
themselves, or lie concerning themselves; for they have no such
|
|
communications from God nor accesses to him. There is no truth in their
|
|
profession nor in their practice, or their practice gives their
|
|
profession and pretences the lie, and demonstrates the folly and
|
|
falsehood of them.
|
|
|
|
2. For the conviction and consequent satisfaction of those that are
|
|
near to God: <I>But, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship one
|
|
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
|
|
all sin.</I> As the blessed God is the eternal boundless light, and the
|
|
Mediator is, from him, the light of the world, so the Christian
|
|
institution is the great luminary that appears in our sphere, and
|
|
shines here below. A conformity to this in spirit and practice
|
|
demonstrates fellowship or communion with God. Those that so walk show
|
|
that they know God, that they have received of the Spirit of God, and
|
|
that the divine impress or image is stamped upon their souls. <I>Then
|
|
we have fellowship one with another,</I> they with us and we with them,
|
|
and both with God, in his blessed or beatific communications to us. And
|
|
this is one of those beatific communications to us--that his Son's
|
|
blood or death is applied or imputed to us: <I>The blood of Jesus
|
|
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.</I> The eternal life, the
|
|
eternal Son, hath put on flesh and blood, and so became Jesus Christ.
|
|
Jesus Christ hath shed his blood for us, or died to wash us from our
|
|
sins in his own blood. His blood applied to us discharges us from the
|
|
guilt of all sin, both original and actual, inherent and committed: and
|
|
so far we stand righteous in his sight; and not only so, but his blood
|
|
procures for us those sacred influences by which sin is to be subdued
|
|
more and more, till it is quite abolished,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:13,14">Gal. iii. 13, 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Jo1_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Jo1_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Jo1_10"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Confession and Forgiveness.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
|
|
truth is not in us.
|
|
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
|
|
<I>our</I> sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
|
|
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and
|
|
his word is not in us.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The apostle, having supposed that even those of this heavenly
|
|
communion have yet their sin, proceeds here to justify that
|
|
supposition, and this he does by showing the dreadful consequences of
|
|
denying it, and that in two particulars:--
|
|
|
|
1. <I>If we say, We have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
|
|
not in us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must beware of deceiving ourselves in denying or excusing our sins.
|
|
The more we see them the more we shall esteem and value the remedy.
|
|
<I>If we deny them, the truth is not in us,</I> either the truth that
|
|
is contrary to such denial (we lie in denying our sin), or the truth of
|
|
religion, is not in us. The Christian religion is the religion of
|
|
sinners, of such as have sinned, and in whom sin in some measure still
|
|
dwells. The Christian life is a life of continued repentance,
|
|
humiliation for and mortification of sin, of continual faith in,
|
|
thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and hopeful joyful
|
|
expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer
|
|
shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished for ever.
|
|
|
|
2. <I>If we say, We have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
|
|
is not in us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The denial of our sin not only deceives
|
|
ourselves, but reflects dishonour upon God. It challenges his veracity.
|
|
He has abundantly testified of, and testified against, the sin of the
|
|
world. <I>And the Lord said in his heart</I> (determined thus with
|
|
himself), <I>I will not again curse the ground</I> (as he had then
|
|
lately done) <I>for man's sake; for</I> (or, with the learned bishop
|
|
Patrick, <I>though) the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
|
|
youth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:21">Gen. viii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
But God has given his testimony to the continued sin and sinfulness of
|
|
the world, by providing a sufficient effectual sacrifice for sin, that
|
|
will be needed in all ages, and to the continued sinfulness of
|
|
believers themselves by requiring them continually to confess their
|
|
sins, and apply themselves by faith to the blood of that sacrifice. And
|
|
therefore, if we say either that we have not sinned or do not yet sin,
|
|
<I>the word of God is not in us,</I> neither in our minds, as to the
|
|
acquaintance we should have with it, nor in our hearts, as to the
|
|
practical influence it should have upon us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The apostle then instructs the believer in the way to the continued
|
|
pardon of his sin. Here we have,
|
|
|
|
1. His duty in order thereto: <I>If we confess our sins,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Penitent confession and acknowledgment of sin are the believer's
|
|
business, and the means of his deliverance from his guilt. And,
|
|
|
|
2. His encouragement thereto, and assurance of the happy issue. This is
|
|
the veracity, righteousness, and clemency of God, to whom he makes such
|
|
confession: <I>He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
|
|
cleanse us from all unrighteousness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
God is faithful to his covenant and word, wherein he has promised
|
|
forgiveness to penitent believing confessors. He is just to himself and
|
|
his glory who has provided such a sacrifice, by which his righteousness
|
|
is declared in the justification of sinners. He is just to his Son who
|
|
has not only sent him for such service, but promised to him that those
|
|
who come through him shall be forgiven on his account. <I>By his
|
|
knowledge</I> (by the believing apprehension of him) <I>shall my
|
|
righteous servant justify many,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:11">Isa. liii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is clement and gracious also, and so will forgive, to the contrite
|
|
confessor, all his sins, cleanse him from the guilt of all
|
|
unrighteousness, and in due time deliver him from the power and
|
|
practice of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
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