The Word Made Fresh
1Concerning the word of life, we declare to you that which was from the beginning which we have heard and which we have seen with our own eyes and touched with our own hands. 2This life was revealed. We have seen it and can testify to it, and we proclaim the eternal life that belongs to the Father and was made known to us. 3We are telling you what we have seen and heard so that you may join us. We are in fellowship with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. 4We are writing this so that your joy may be complete.
5This is the word we have heard from him and now proclaim to you; God is light. There is no darkness at all in him. 6If we claim to be in fellowship with him while we still walk in darkness we lie, and are not doing what is true. 7But if we walk in the light as he himself does, we have a relationship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son washes us clean of every sin. 8If we claim to be sinless we are only deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9But if we confess our sins, he who is faithful and fair will forgive us and wash away all our unrighteousness. 10If we claim that we haven’t sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his word is not in us.
Commentary
1-4: Ancient witnesses believed that the gospel of John, the three letters of John and the apocalypse of John were all composed by John, son of Zebedee, a disciple of Jesus. While it is impossible to assert the authorship with any certainty there is general agreement that the three letters of John were likely penned by the same author, and that the style and content of the letters match well with the gospel. The author does not identify himself (in 2 and 3 John he refers to himself only as “the elder”). The opening is unlike any of the other epistles, diving right into the revealed identity of Jesus and claiming to be an eyewitness to his ministry. The purpose of the letter, he says, is to provide a connection between Jesus and the readers so that they, too, may have “fellowship with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ” and with those who were witnesses.
5-10: There are 10 pairs of hypothesis and conclusion (“if-then”) statements in 1 John; five are in these verses. Verse 5, of course, is very reminiscent of the opening verses of John’s gospel, then follows the series of “if-then” statements. If we say we have fellowship with Christ while we live in sin, we lie. If we walk in the light (believe in Jesus), we have fellowship with one another. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we confess our sins, he will forgive us. And if we say we have not sinned, we make Christ a liar. In other words, we need Jesus.
Takeaway
Simply put, to “walk in the light” means to see the world and the people around us with the eyes of Jesus; with compassion and kindness.