The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 34

HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1, 2.-Gorl's remedy for sin. Connecting link: The being without sin, although that to which we cannot as yet pretenrl without frustrating the purpose of God's revela- tion of himself, is nevcrUielcss a point to be aimed at in our advance in and towards the light, and is the purpose of the apostle in unfolding his teachings. Hence there immediately suggests itself the following topic-The completeness of the Divine provision /01· the forgiveness and cure of sin. It is by no means an unimportant part of the evidence of the Divine origin of the gospel that, while nowhere else is sin viewed so seriously yet nowhere else is its cure provided for so radically. .And whereas one of the first lessons a man has to learn jg that of the terrible evil of sin, the next in order is that of its possible removal. To learn how deeply· be is snnk in it, without being shown how he may rise above it, would plunge a man either into morbid indifference or into bitter and hopeless despair. On the other hand, to point out the greatness of the remedy to one who sees not the depth of the evil it is designed to meet, would be but to speak to inappreciative ears. Consequently, the preacher has to dwell on both in turn. Hence, lest any one should have been brought by the apostle's teaching to so vivid a sense of sin's pervasive poisoning as to despair of ever attaining to the end indicated in ver. 1, "that ye sin not," the apostle seems to say, "Of this you need not despair, for God's provision is so complete. If any man sin," etc. Hence two lines of thought may be indicated here. I. \VHAT IS TilIS DIVINE REMEDY FOR SIN? Here the apostle gives us three steps, each succeeding one an advance on the former. 1. The entire work of God in providing a remedy for sin centres in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Let each word in the apostle's phrase have its full weight and meaning expanded as far as possible.) (1) Jesus-the Saviour. (2) Christ-the .Anointed One, the Messiah. (3) The Righteoi1s One-One who, being perfectly righteous, was so far fitted to undertake the sinner's cause; One who, being the Son of man, could represent earth to heaven, and who, being also the Son of God, could represent heaven to earth. In this mntual representativeness is the fitness of his mediation. As such: 2. His work is represented here as twofold. (1) He is a Propitiation. It is all-important to indicate here the wide distinction between the classical and the Rcriptural conceptions attached to this word (see W cstcott, i,, Zoe.). In the one case man seeks to propitiate an offended and incensed Deity. In the other ease the "Righteous Father" himself reconciles the world to himself by the giving up of his own Son to do a work which should at once clear the great Ruler from all con- nivance at sin, and thus open the way for a reception of the penitent sinner in abound- ing love and in perfect righteousness. [The student should study the entire Scripture usage of the words IAalTµ.os, IAalTT{ipwP; ,.i:ii, n,l:l:ii,] Nor should we confine ourselves to the thought that something that Ch~i~t did was the propitiation. He is the Propitiation. Kai a.b..bs 'IM,,rµ.os l,rTw; He himself is, abidingly, the Propitiation. The propitiation is not simply an act once done; but the ever-living Saviour himself, who died for us and rose again. He covers sin with the mantle of his own forgiving love, having the infinite right to do it as the Priest upon his throne. (2) Jesus Obrist the Righteous One is also an .Advocate (nap&1eA71Tos). 'l'he word" Paraclete" is one of wide significance, It would apply to one who undertook a cause on behalf of another- stood by him through all difficulties, and saw him safely through. The word is translated "Comforter" in John xiv.; here "Advocate." Neither is inaccurate; both are too limited, The Lord Jesus Christ, who came to us from the Father, is now our Intercessor with him. (For the glory of this office, cf. Heh. vii. For the contents of the pleading, see John xvii.) Of its method in detail we can form no conception; but we know that, if our came is undertaken by the Lord Jesus, he wil\ carry ii throuo-h 0 and we shall prevail through him I 3. The propitiation is for the sins of tha whole ;orld. How unscriptuml does any limitation of the merciful intent of the atonament seem in the presence of such phrases as this! The advocacy i~ rnr ,11 I 30 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. [orr. n, 1-29,