The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 19

II. THE co!s'SEQUENOES OF FELLow·snrr WITR GoD. 1. Fellowship with the saints. "We hn,·c fellowship one with another." The reality of our communion with God is attcste.l _by our communion of love with those who nrc his. Walking in the sphere of truth, nghteousnrs,, nnd love, we have fellowship with nil those who walk in tho same sphere. All who walk in the light are one in their deepest sympathies, in their most st-eaJfast principles, in their mo,t important aims, and in thoir highest nspir:i.- tions; they are one io character, in service, and in destiny. Hence their communion with each other is genuine, vital, and blessed. 2. Sanctificalwn through tlte Saviour, "And the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin." This implies that even they who wnlk in the light need cleansing from sin. "The requirement that we walk in the light, is confronted by the fact that in us there still is sin and darkness." Notice: (1) The po"·er hy which we are cleansed. "Tho blood of Jesus bis Son," Not the mate1ial blood of Jesus, but his blood in its moral si,.uific:mce and strencrth. 0 "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. xvii. 11); "The blood is the life" (D~ut. xii. 23). The blood of Jesus denotes the sacrifice of tho life of Jesus for us. 'l'hc power of that sacrifice is chietly the power of holy aud purifying love. It is the fullest and mightiest expression of the infinite love of God the Father toward us, who "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all;" and of the infiuite love of Jesus his Son toward us in his voluntary self-sacrifice. "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own posses- sion, zealous of good works." Holy love receil'ed into the heart, by its own essentinl nature, is cleansing in its influence. In proportion as the love of God in the death of Jesus Christ is heartily believed, will sin be hated and holiness loved and cultivated. (2) The progressiveness of this cleansing. "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us.'' 'l'he apostle uses the present tense. He does not write "cleansed," or "bath cleansed," but" is cleansing us.'' The cleansing is not accomplished at once and for ever. It is a continual process. The precious blood of Christ exerts its purifying and sanctifying influence until the heart and the life are thoroughly cleansed fiom all sin. (3) The thoroughness of this cleansing. "Cleanseth us from all sin." No sin-stains are so deep as to defy its power. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," etc. (Isa. i. 18; cf. Ezek. xxxvL 25; Heb. ix. 13, 14). Let our earnest endeavour be to walk in the light, and to trust in the great and gracious Saviour.-W. J. Vers. 8-10.-Man's attitude towards his own sins. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves," etc. It is implied that man is a sinner, that even Christian men "have sin." The renewed nature is not, in our present condition, an altogether sinless nature. The saintly apostle includes himself in the "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves," etc. But this is not the same moral condition as "walking in the darkness" (ver. 6). In that condition the man "is in the darkness;" in this, the sin is in the man. In that, darkness is the moral region in which the sinner lives and moves and has his being; in this, be lives and walks in the light, but is not altogether free from sin. Our text sets before us two contrasted attitudes of men towards their own sins. I. THE DENIAL OF PERSONAL SINS. "If we say that we have no sin," etc. (ver. 8). "If we say that we have not sinned,'' etc. (ver. 10). Notice: 1. This denial itself. It may be made variously. (1) By affirming that we are free from sin. There may be persons whose view of the exalted claims of God's holy law is so deficient, and whose estimate of their own character and conduct is so exa)!;gerated, that they think and assert that t.hey have no sin. (2) Dy pleading the merit of certain good actions as a set-off against our sins. In this case certain small and venial sins are acknow- ledged, but very many virtuous and generous deeds are claimed, and gr_eat merit is ascribed to them, and they are held to far more than counterbalance the slight offences. Or, like the Pharisee (Luke xviii. 11, 12), a man may conclude that he has no sin b_y comparing himself and his good works with others whom he deems very much his inferiors. (3) By extenuating the character of sin. '!'here are not a few who virtually deny the fact of sin e.)~"getbcr. What the Bible calls sin they speak of 11.s misdirec- tion, imperfect Jevelopment, inherited tendencies to errors of life; and thuR thoy seek to get rid of personal guilt. 2. The consequencu of this denial. (1) The sclf-dece.rtion ou. 1. 1-10.J 'l'HE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. 15