Understanding 1 John 1 - A Most Mistaught and Misunderstood Passage of Holy Scripture

....a mainstream Christian blasphemy no less, and they just keep on coming folks!

So what's wrong with mainstream Christian teaching on this letter of John? Everything is the answer to that dear people. How can this be so I hear you ask? Quite simply because 1 John 1 is not addressed to saved people or Born Again Believers! Again, how can this be I hear you say, and if it is not addressed to Spirit Born believers, how have Bible scholars', 'ministers', 'pastors' and Mickey Mouse theologians missed this crucial understanding of God's Holy Word? Under the title Recipientsin the NIV Study Bible they clearly state that 1 John is aimed at believers, but notice, they conveniently choose 1 John Chapter 2 to erroneously prove their point i.e. they go straight to Chapter 2 and in the process by-pass Chapter 1 completely. Why do they do that? Easy, the NIV is the work of a committee, a committee of know nothing Bible intellectuals and theologians who were/are men with their own agendas - the Cainite-Judeo-Christian Religious agenda. Unfortunately this agenda is not The Lord Jesus Christ's agenda and it never was - nor could it ever be.

Now, there are two factors of error or gross misunderstanding at work here. The first and most important factor is the error of reading the epistles of the New Testament as if they were, and are, written for the benefit of the regenerated alone or only to those who are Born Again. In fact, this is a common failure of most so called Christian teaching. The second factor of error, which leads to the first error is this: Paul's epistles are mostly aimed at the converted or those being called; that is, those who are Spiritually aware, so the above mentioned authorities' jump to the conclusion that all the epistles that follow Paul's epistles are also written to the same audience; to learners (disciples), Spiritual beginners (babes in Christ) and mature Born Again believers (mature sons and daughters) alike. This is what I call one size fits all' preaching or, preaching as if to people all with same level of Spiritual maturity and understanding, but as I will prove, this is definitely not the case and especially in 1 John 1 when we compare it with 1 John 2 and the chapters that follow.

As an example, let's consider this; everyone is in church on a Sunday and a Spiritual message is delivered. Now this message maybe for those new to The Faith, or it maybe for Spiritual children, or it maybe for mature believers; some will say "is there a difference?" Well Paul certainly thought there was because at times he withheld his meaty teaching from certain congregations because they weren't ready for it:

1 Corinthians 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

I have only ever met one minister who differentiated or separated his flock for teaching. Why did he do this? After I have explained 1 John 1 I hope you will understand why he did.

So if 1 John 1 is not aimed at Born Again Believers, to whom is it aimed and what is the issue at stake here in this passage of Holy Scripture? Is the issue sin? Well yes, of course it is, but then again, no, it's more than that. The emphasis is more to do with awareness of sin, the ability to recognise sin and thereafter ones attitude toward that sin, a preparedness to admit to being a sinner, a willingness to confess those sins for the first time honesty and truthfulness. This means being prepared to not live in a state of denial; a state of mind of not kidding oneself Truthfulness, but before I get into the meat of this passage we need to understand the opening verses of 1 John 1, because these are the very verses that mainstream Christian 'experts' read over and/or ignore. If they do read them, then they are completely oblivious to the importance of them, and in doing this they lay a deadly spiritual trap for themselves and, worse, they lay a deadly spiritual trap for their flocks. So let's now read these crucial opening verses of 1 John 1 and fully take in what they are saying:

1 John 1:1-5 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; Verse 2; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.) Verse 3; That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Verse 4; And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. Verse 5; This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

Look at these opening verses carefully. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard..." John is immediately setting the thrust, style and approach of this letter, or as some have commented - this sermon a letter to be read aloud to the Churches, but what is the thrust or approach of this letter? Why, it's as if it is all new to the listeners and, of course, it is. The first five verses amount to a declaration and the word declare' appears twice; verses 3 & 5. Now only new news is declared no one ever declares old news, so the opening gambit of these verses must be for the benefit of those who have not heard this message before; they were new to this message and teaching. Why would John declare' this news to those already converted - to those already Born Again? They already believe, don't they? Have they not heard this message before? Of course they have, they knew very well that the Apostle John was an original disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you not noticed, too, the other important point here, a point even more important than it being a declaration? I have put it in bold text and underlined it along with the word 'declare', i.e. "That you also may have fellowship with us". We need to understand this massively important point folks! This is telling us that these people are not yet in fellowship with the brethren of that Church; they are not yet in fellowship with the congregation of that church area and if you ignore this Truth then you do so at your peril.

OK, let's now move on to the meaty part of this chapter, and notice, John opens it with the word IF' (the biggest word in the world!) and he says it five times.So let's go through these five verses, one by one, and reveal the real message or The Truth within them:

1) Verse 6: "IFwe say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not The Truth:"

Straight away, John is stating an obvious fact; how can we say we have fellowship with The Lord Jesus Christ and walk in darkness; it's impossible and it is a total contradiction in terms and in contradiction to Spiritual Truth and reality? So who are they that walk in darkness? Who do you think they are; the fairies at the bottom of your garden!!?? Why, it's those who are still in the world and are of the world and are not saved they are the lost, they are those who live in darkness and they walk in darkness and, therefore, cannot "do The Truth". Why can't they "do The Truth", because The Truth is not in them? Why and how is the Truth not in them, because they have not been called of the Father to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit!? They are not as yet Born Again or Born from above. So why did John make this challenging, opening statement? Why, to help these potential new converts to examine themselves to see if the Father was calling them to His Son or not to see if they were "doing The Truth" or had a Father God given inner desire to do The Truth. Furthermore, if we say we have fellowship with Him and we are not disciples or Born Again, then we are liars plain and simple.

2) Verse 7: "ButIF 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."

Now what is John saying here when he says: "If we walk in The Light, as He is in the Light"? Let's be clear, the second usage of the word in' here is a poor translation, because the Lord Jesus Christ is The Light, so He has to be able to walk in' The Light for all The Light emanates from Him in the first place. The Lord Jesus Christ never walked in light that came from elsewhere or from another source, and I will rewrite verse 5 for the proof of this fact:

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Returning to verse 7, what is John saying here? He is saying If we?' Well, do we or don't we, do we walk in The Light or not, or perhaps more importantly; how can we walk in The Light? That's easy, or maybe it's not so easy. We begin to walk in The Light if The Father is calling us to His Son and then by confessing our sins, being baptised and receiving the Holy Spirit and becoming a Born Again son or daughter of God. Now we walk in The Light. Now we have fellowship one with another as brothers and sisters as Jesus' Blood has cleansed us from; now notice this - ALL SIN. All sin means all sin, not some of our sins but all of them!! Past, present and future, and don't let any blasphemer tell you otherwise.

3) Verse 8: "IFwe say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and The Truth is not in us."

Now, dear people, pay special attention for this is the humdinger verse that gets used most often to keep sons and daughters of God in bondage to mainstream Christian salvation by process - SLAVE-ATION.

Moreover, here's a crucial question: What type of man or woman is going to say they have no sin? Is a non believer going to say this, or someone the Father is calling? Is an unbeliever going to say they have no sin? Or, in this case, are these potential converts going to admit that they are sinners or not; are they going to say that they have no sin or confess that they do have sin? If they are going to say they have no sin they are then deceiving themselves. In this scenario of 1 John 1 the Father is probably calling some of them, and this question will challenge them and convict them, but not the others. Some of them will not have The Truth and some of them will have The Truth, so who is not going to be truthful? Now notice the last part "The Truth is not in us". If The Truth is not in someone, then they are of the world; unsaved and not Born Again; they do not have the indwelling of The Holy Spirit. Now, if the Father is calling someone [see John 6:44; John 6:65], this potential convert's awareness of sin is automatically enlivened, or he or she will be immediately made aware of sin in their lives and for the first time. Anyone being called by The Father and reading this passage of Scripture, too, will also be convicted of their sins for the first time in their lives if they are being called. This is the whole purpose of 1 John 1.

If, on the other hand, we think this verse applies to True Believers or to those already Born Again, let's try and apply it to them and see if it makes any sense. As an aside, I ask this question, for there are multiple thousands of mainstream Christians out there, who have been Baptised (albeit erroneously into the trinity) and do believe that this verse applies to them, and then they wonder why they find no relief from guilt and no peace the peace that passeth all understanding. This, too, is why they spend so much futile time and effort: "trying to get right with God!!" This also means they do not live under grace.

OK, I've digressed a little there, but a necessary digression. So, is a Born Again son or daughter of God going to say they have no sin? Hello! Excuse me! Well, let's answer it this way, for the first thing a switched on believer will say to this question is something like this: I have a body of sin that sins, but I, the Born Again Spiritual new man, do not sin because I cannot sin, so that means I can tell you quite plainly that I have no sin, apart from the sin in my body of sin which is no longer me, it's just a vessel that I reside in until I am resurrected and my body of sin dies. This also means that by telling you I have no sin I cannot be deceiving myself and The Truth is definitely in me. Please read my articles: "The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ - His True Grace, Not the Watered Down Religious Version! - Parts 1 & 2" for the details of the miracle of what it means to truly live under grace.

Now bearing all this in mind, can you now see the nonsense of trying to apply this verse to Born Again believers? This verse can only apply to those approaching the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time potential new converts. John is using this statement to invoke or prompt repentance within the hearts and minds of these new people whom The Father may, or may not, be calling to His Son.

4) Verse 9: "IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from allunrighteousness." (emphasis mine)

John says, if we confess our sins. Now when do we do that? Well we know don't we, at the time of our calling and/or at the time of our Baptism? We need to understand, too, that confession of sins is a one off event, repetitive confession of sins is not required of Born Again sons and daughters of God. Please see my article for the proof of this Biblical truth: "Are We Supposed To Repetitively Confess Our Sins, and Is It Commanded?"

Moving on, John then tells us that if we do confess our sins The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, not some or only part of our unrighteousness, but all of our unrighteousness.

We must understand this solid foundation, that Born Again sons and daughters of God have already confessed their sins, they are now walking in The Light and The Truth is now in them, so why would John re-teach this fundamental again, is he into preaching to the converted? No. True Believers who keep on believing and keeping their hope in Him are cleansed of all their sins (1 John 3:3). This cleansing takes place at Baptism followed by receiving the gift of The Holy Spirit. Verse 9, as with the whole of 1 John 1, can only apply to those new to the Faith and/or non believers being called and John here is encouraging those who were hearingthe message for the first time to confess their sins and repent, again, for the first and only time.

5) Verse 10: "IF we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and his Word is not in us."

This verse just confirms and sums up what has already been said, with the added dimension of telling new converts that if they haven't acknowledged their sins and admitted that they are sinners and yet profess to be in The Truth and walking in The Light, they make Our Lord out to be a liar as well. Furthermore, His Word and Truth are not in them. By contrast, how could this verse apply to Born Again sons and daughters of God? Quite simply, it couldn't, because those Born of God do have The Truth in them and thereby walk in The Light and cannot sin, so this statement could only be aimed at or only apply to those being called out of this world of sin and into His glorious Light. Always remember folks that The Light cannot live with darkness - it's an impossibility.

Understanding 1 John 1 - A Most Mistaught and Misunderstood Passage of Holy Scripture

By: Charles Crosby

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