First False Claim - Part 4
1 John 1:7
1 John 1:7
By Pastor Dave Farmer
TOPIC #20 THE FIRST FALSE CLAIM - PART 4
Review
This study focuses on verse 7. We are following John’s outline. First, The Alleged claim “if we [including myself] claim, 1 John 1:6a. Topic #17.” Second, The Alarming Contradiction, “to have fellowship with Him and walk in the sphere of darkness, 1 John 1:6b Topic#18.” Third, The Admonishing Censure, "[then] We [including myself] are lying to ourselves and are not practicing the truth [Bible Doctrine], 1John 1:6c. Topic#19.” Now The Amazing Cure, Topic #20:
1 John 1:7
But if we [inclusive use of we] walk in the sphere of light, just as He [Christ] Himself continuously [lives] in the sphere of light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His unique Son cleanses us from all sin.
There are five elements found in this verse. First, The Contrast of Fellowships – “but if we [inclusive use of we] walk in the sphere of light.” Secondly, Conforming to the Father - “just as He [Christ] Himself continuously [walks] in the light.” Thirdly, The Circle of Fellowship – “we have fellowship with one another.” Fourthly, Celebrating the Victory – “and the blood of Jesus His Son.” Fifthly, Cleansing from Grace – “cleanses us from all sin.”
First, The Contrast of Fellowships
According to John, and by divine inspiration from God the Holy Spirit, two fellowships exist for the believer or as Paul asks, “what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14.”
We choose between the two fellowships. One sphere is fellowship with the flesh, the world, and the devil. This is the path of darkness where we are motivated by pride, self-righteous arrogance, and blinded to the truth of God’s Word. 1 This is a road that leads to ruin, and as you continue on it, only misery and divine discipline will result. 2 The Scripture warns:
Proverbs 16:25
There is a way which seems right to a man [a person], But its end is the way of death.
And Jesus warned:
Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
John will teach us:
1 John 2:15
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
The last verse of this epistle paints a grim picture:
1 John 5:19
We know that we are of [belong to ] God and that the whole world [cosmos diabolicus] lies in the power of [grip or influence] the evil one [Satan].
Walking in the Light
John teaches us to walk in the sphere of light. This is such an important Biblical concept that an attempt, to be sure an unskilled one, is made to draw these Biblical ideas. There is a copy in the “Reference section” called “Fellowship Illustrations.” [It is suggested that you print out a copy of this illustration and use it as a guide for these studies.] Figure A shows the absolute concept of spirituality. You are living inside the Circle of Light, or you are inside the sphere of Darkness. When we walk in the light, we are inside the Circle of Fellowship. We are placed there when we accept Jesus as Savior. Fellowship begins with God in the light or inside the Circle of Fellowship, as illustrated in “Figure B.”
This sphere of fellowship, living in the light or as Jesus taught abiding in the Vine, comes with magnificent resources to aid us in maintaining our fellowship with our Lord. First, the positive believer discovers through the ministry of the Word of God, the Will of God, and they are guided by that Truth throughout their lives. The ministries of God the Holy Spirit get underway while we are in the light and profoundly change us. When we are filled with the Spirit [living inside the Circle of Fellowship], He transforms us into a likeness of Christ. Remember, the Spirit of God is at work within us challenging and changing our thinking, making our minds, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, viewpoints conform to the mind of Christ. 3 When we walk in the light, true fellowship with Christ is experienced. Dr. Barackman (a mentor and friend) states it this way:
The life of practical faith is one in which we share everything with the Lord-our work, problems, duties, recreation, aspirations, fears, and we depend upon Him to help us handle these things in a Way which will please Him and will glorify the Father. Whatever need we may have; we can look to Him to satisfy this or to give us the grace to deal with it (Jn. 7:37-39; 2 Cor. 12:8-10).
This kind of faith does not eliminate personal activity or responsibility, for God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. We still must make preparation, attend to duty, wage battle, secure a livelihood, and bear adversity. But in all of these, we must look to the Lord for direction and help in order that we might please Him. To function independently of Him is to sin (Rom. 14:23; cp. Jn. 8:28). 4
Jesus taught John and the other disciples this principle in the upper room through the Parable of the Vine.
John 15:4
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
This parable has many amazing and wonderful points of doctrine which are beyond our present study, but suffice it to say, abiding in Jesus is equal to residing inside the Circle of Fellowship. It is critical to understand the similarity of terms. So again, living or residing inside the Circle of Fellowship is the same as abiding in Jesus, abiding in the vine. They are synonymous terms.
Jesus teaches that when we abide in Him, He will provide all that we need to live for Him. Our part is to surrender to His leadership, obey His directions, exercise faith in Him, and daily commune with Him. It is vital that we yield ourselves to Him daily, for when we fail to do so, we will yield to the demands of the sin nature and give the devil a foothold over us, Romans 6:12-14; Ephesians 4:26,27.
Secondly, Conforming to the Father “just as He [Christ] Himself continuously [lives] in the Light.”
John reveals the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ walked in the light. There existed a Circle of Fellowship for the Lord given to Him by the Father. Our Lord continually resided inside that Circle of Fellowship during His life on earth. He chose the divine plan rather than His own self-interest. He followed the leading of the Father and never spoke or acted independent of Him, John 5:30; 8:28; 14:10. In this Epistle, John is emphasizing the Humanity of Christ, which was being attacked, not His deity. The point of doctrine to remember is that Jesus resided and functioned inside the Circle of Fellowship, walking in the light of His Father. He did this every day, moment by moment, perfectly. This was the requirement so that He could go to the cross and be the Savior of the world, 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15.
Thirdly, Communing with God – “then we [inclusive use of we] have fellowship with one another.”
The fact to be understood is that communion with God only takes place inside the Circle of Fellowship for “God as to His nature is light, and there is no darkness in Him, not one bit” 1 John 1:5. In the article on the exegesis of verse seven, there is an explanation why “one another” refers to the vertical concept of fellowship between the believer and our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, this fellowship is not automatic but requires our joining in the Father’s plan and sharing our lives with the Lord. As stated in a previous article:
Our Lord set the example for us in His relationship with the Father. He demonstrated what fellowship looks like and we are to imitate Him. We are to become in our attitudes, in our actions, in our decisions, in word and deed, like Him in all manner of conduct. This is what John means by Fellowship. It is to pursue with your whole heart a lifestyle of Christlikeness.
What an extraordinary blessing. Look what the Father has created for us so that we might commune with Him! He gave us all the Circle of Fellowship.
Fourthly, Celebrating the Victory – “and the blood of Jesus His Son.”
The word “blood” is used a majority of times in the New Testament as representing the sacrificial, substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. In those passages, the phrases, “the blood of Christ, the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Lord, the blood of the Lamb, His blood, My blood, or the blood of the cross” all speak of the unfathomable merits of His atoning death to which we are the beneficiaries. It connotes, not the blood within his veins and that which his heart pumped, but is figurative language depicting not only His death but the very ground for all the blessings and benefits His death provides. Bullinger calls this a double metonymy for blood equals His death, but also the merits of that death. 5
The old hymns, which we love to sing, and many times with tears, draw upon the sacrificial system in the Old Testament where the literal blood of the sacrificial animal was shed. These hymns are filled with emotional phrases which associate Christ’s death on the cross to be analogous to those animal sacrifices. This notion permeates many of the old hymns. Who hasn’t sung with great delight in “Nothing But The Blood of Jesus.” The refrain says, “Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Perhaps you have sung Williams Cowper’s hymn, “There is a fountain.” The first verse reads, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” We are not attempting to correct the theology of these hymns, but to point out how the Blood of Christ is used in the New Testament.
The blood of Christ has permanent and eternal results toward God, toward Sin, toward Believers, and toward Satan. At this time, we can only provide a versified outline, but will be posting in the doctrinal section at a later time “The Doctrine of the Blood.” A portion of that appears here:
1. Toward God
a. Propitiation - the death of Christ was a propitiation to God for our sins:
Romans 3:25
whom God [the Father] displayed publicly [Christ Jesus hanging on the cross] as a propitiation in His blood through faith.
b. His death reconciled us to God:
Colossians 1:19–20
19] For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20] and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Our sins are an offense to God and the cause of His wrath toward us, but that hostility has been removed by the death of Christ so that we now have peace with God.
2. Toward Sin
a. His death provided for our redemption:
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
The blessing of this is twofold: We are delivered from the debt of our sins, and we are now free to serve God. As Paul writes in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
3. Toward ALL Believers
Standing entirely upon the merits of Christ’s death provides numerous benefits:
a. His death established a New Covenant: Matthew 26:28 [parallel Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20]; 1 Corinthians 11:25, 27; Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 13:20.
1 Corinthians 11:25
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
b. His death justified us:
Romans 5:9
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
c. Brought us near to Christ:
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
d. His death is the basis for our sanctification:
Hebrews 13:12
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
e. His death is the basis of our fellowship with God:
1 Corinthians 10:16
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
Hebrews 10:19
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
f. His death is the bases for our cleansing from sin, those committed as a child of God. 1 John 1:7:
1 John 1:7
but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The principle here is that we have been saved so that we might serve God.
4. Toward Satan
a. The basis for our victory:
Revelation 12:11
“And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
As John will explain, one of the purposes of the First Advent was to destroy the works of the devil, 1 John 3:8.
These many blessings come from the Grace of God based upon the victorious death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. As the old hymn writer reminds us:
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb 6
Fifthly, Cleansing From Sin – “cleanses us from all sin.”
John focuses on one of the many blessings the victorious death of Christ brings to believers, and that is “cleansing from personal sin. Cleansing is a metaphor whereby physical cleanliness is a picture of forgiveness, having one’s sins forgiven. Cleansing equals forgiveness. There are two aspects of forgiveness taught in the Scriptures:
Judicial Forgiveness or Cleansing.
First, when you believed in Jesus Christ, you had instant forgiveness of all your sins, past, present, and future, Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19. This is called Judicial Forgiveness. John is not talking about this aspect of forgiveness or cleansing, but because of its importance, let us summarize the Biblical teaching on this. 1. God judicially forgave us of all our sins at our salvation. 2. Because we were indebted to God for our sins (Romans 6:23) and had no resources to pay off this debt (Matthew 25:46), the Lord Jesus paid this debt for us by His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Based on His death, God can forgive us judicially. Forgive means that the debt is canceled, “we are no longer under condemnation.” The sentence of spiritual death has been removed (Romans 8:1). Being now in Christ, we are beyond the reach of any charge made against us before God (Romans 8:33,34).
Parental Forgiveness or Cleansing.
Secondly, as believers, we are going to need daily cleansing from personal sin. What great relief to know that our Heavenly Father forgives us of “all [kinds of] sin.” The regular maintenance for personal sin in the life of a believer is coming up and found in 1 John 1:9 “confessing our sins to God.” We will see that in 1 John 1:9, two kinds of sins are mentioned, known and unknown sins or as Dr. Wuest calls them sins of commission and sins of ignorance. 7
Conclusion
The First False Claim suggests that personal sin is not a concern for it does not affect our fellowship with God. This idea is false. What John taught was just the opposite. Liberal Christianity teaches the same Gnostic lies; humanity at its center is good. The atoning cure for our positive demerit before God is the substitutionary, sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
ENDNOTES
1 Review case studies found in Topic #19 Click Here
2 Review Topic #18, “The Awful Consequences of Sin.” Click Here
3 Jay Adams, More Than Redemption, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, Phillipsburg, NJ (1979) p.264.
4 Floyd Barackman, Practical Christian Theology, Fleming H. Revell Co, Old Tappan, NJ (1981) p. 314-317.
5 “The blood of Christ” is always a figure of speech. The Greek lexicographer, Walter Bauer, devotes an entire paragraph to the figurative use of the word in relation to Christ. He describes “the blood and life as an expiatory sacrifice . . . especially the blood of Jesus as a means of expiation.” Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, trans. William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957), p. 22-23.]
Likewise, Vine states, “the blood of Christ . . . betokens His death by the shedding of His ‘blood’ in expiatory sacrifice.” W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr., Vine 's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1985), p.135.
Bullinger categorizes phrases such as “justified by His blood” (Rom. 5:9), “redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7), “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13), and “released us from our sins by His blood” (Rev. 1:5) as double metonymy referring to the “merits of His atoning death.” According to Bullinger, a “Metonymy is a figure of speech by which one name or noun is used instead of another, to which it stands in a certain relation. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968), 610-11.
Further, Kittel’s Theological Dictionary confirms that “the blood of Christ in the New Testament is simply a pregnant verbal symbol for the saving work of Christ.” Johannes Behm, aima in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel; trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 1:175.] “Pregnant verbal symbol” means figurative language. In other words, Christ did not bleed to death to pay the penalty of sin. The term, blood of Christ, is a metaphor for His atoning death in which He received the judgment that removed the penalty of sin. In Kittel’s one-volume lexicon, he says “The blood of Christ is supremely significant in the NT (1 Cor. 10:16; Eph. 2:13)—not his material blood, but its shedding in violent death. Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 26). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
Again, from another Lexicon, we read, “But in such contexts in which αἷμα is used in speaking of the death of Christ, there is no doubt an additional component derived from the occurrence of αἷμα in contexts speaking of atoning sacrifice. Therefore, one may analyze the meaning of αἷμα in such contexts as meaning ‘sacrificial death’ and not merely physiological death. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 264). New York: United Bible Societies.
6 Osbeck, K. W. (1996). Amazing grace: 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (p. 93). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
7 “And while we are having this fellowship with Him, the blood of Jesus, His Son, keeps constantly cleansing us from sins of omission, sins of ignorance, sins we know nothing about in our lives and for the reason that we have not grown in grace enough to see that they are sin. These would prevent our fellowship with God if this divine provision of the constant cleansing away of the defilement of sin in our lives was not taken care of by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So holy is the God with whom we have fellowship. Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 13, p. 103). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.”