1 John Commentary Template

1 John Chapter 1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life
was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life,
which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard
we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our
joy may be complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him

is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie
and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say
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 our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John starts echoing both the gospel of John and Genesis: beginning. It connects the
beginning, which we know from both Genesis and John is rooted in the word of God, to the
very real experiences of the author(s) of the letter. The letter begins, in very Johannian fashion,
written as a “we”. Similar to the gospel, this is a communal communication expressing the very
real and practical concerns that the community has for itself. The authors begin by connecting
themselves in practical ways to the word of God: they have seen it with their eyes, touched it
with their hands, they have heard it with their ears. This very personal connection is brought to
the community being addressed - they to bene t from the experiences of the authors. The text
continues with another strong theme from the prologue of the gospel: that of light and dark.
These themes move from being centered on the “Word” in John 1 to now applying to our own
behavior. We are expected to “walk” in the same manner that Jesus did. Darkness and light are
now equated with our decision making and behavior. This section o ers a way forward when
we sin - confession. Confession is powerful in these verses and serves as the antithesis to the
self-deceptive sentiment that “nothing is wrong with me.” Instead, the authors encourage us to
confess - to bring others into our own mistakes and sins - so that Jesus might cleanse us. This
section is a powerful acknowledgement that even while walking “in the light,” there is still
potential to sin - make a mistake. This should not be an opportunity to hide out of shame, lying
and being deceptive about shortcomings. Rather, it is an opportunity to be made clean and to
experience the power of forgiveness available in a community that acknowledges Jesus as
Lord.
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