And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
John wrote as an eyewitness of the Word of life whom he heard and saw and handled when eternal life was manifested in flesh and blood, and he wrote these things for the stated purpose that the readers' joy may be full and complete. He writes in the simplest plain language with certainty as one who knows the truth is reality, keeping himself out of sight so the mind is centered on Christ as the all and in all. That full joy comes through fellowship with those who saw and heard in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, leading on to fellowship with one another as believers walk in the light. The message declares that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so walking in the light as He is in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus, while claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth. What is written is not for continuing in sin but that they sin not, having an Advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for the sins of the world, known by keeping His commandments and walking even as He walked.
Eyewitness Writing and Setting
The purpose stated is to write about the Word of life whom the witnesses heard, saw with the eyes, looked upon and handled, the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested when divinity was clothed with humanity and became flesh and blood. That declaration of what was seen and heard was written to bring readers into fellowship with the witnesses in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so that by that fellowship their joy may be full and complete.
What was written is true practical godliness in the simplest language, yet with depth, to real men and women to bring them into contact with a real, living God, showing what God is doing and what man must do to meet His requirements. It is spoken plainly, positively, decidedly and with certainty, not hesitatingly, as by one who knows the truth is reality, testifying what is known because God has spoken it. Self is kept out of sight, with his own name never mentioned, so the reader's mind is centered not on the writer but on the comprehensive truths presented, on Christ the Mediator and Giver of the Word as the center, the all and in all, the foundation and object of faith and hope.
He wrote as an old man nearly one hundred years old who had been with Christ and had lived on earth as one who had seen Him who is invisible, counting it a most blessed experience and loving to relate it often. Having beheld the divine light he could not keep silent but continued to speak of it even in old age. His glad message of the crucified and risen Saviour was repeated over and over to hold young believers steady when persecution endangered their hold on Christ, as an example of how God uses aged workers to bear a firm, decided testimony.
The written eyewitness testimony was secured by the Holy Spirit bringing all things to remembrance as Christ promised before He left His disciples, to abide with them forever as the Spirit of truth. It confirms the teaching of the Old and New Testaments and preserves and delivers the same unchanging truth that was from the beginning. As books and written messages given by the help of God and by the help of the Holy Spirit, containing light from heaven and instruction given for nearly half a century, it provides a living witness to what the Scriptures say that will bear investigation and stand the test.
That witness is addressed down through the ages to the present time, handed down so believers now may have fellowship with those who bore it. It is addressed especially to those living in the last generation, that they may have fellowship with the apostles in fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ and have the message that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so their joy may be made complete.
Fellowship That Completes Joy
The things written in the preceding verses about the manifested life of Christ and fellowship with the Father and the Son are written for the stated purpose that the readers' joy may be full and complete. John wrote his testimony about the manifested eternal life so that those who receive it may share fellowship with the believers, the Father, and Jesus Christ, and have complete joy. The apostolic message is given so that believers' joy may be complete, and that joy is joined to fellowship with God who is light, with proclamation of the message of Christ and the truth as it is in Jesus.
Full joy comes through fellowship with those who saw and heard, in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. What was heard, seen with the eyes, looked upon and handled of the Word of life, the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested, is declared so that readers may have fellowship with the witnesses and with the Father and with His Son, and by that fellowship their joy may be full. That fellowship leads on to fellowship with one another as believers walk in the light, sharing fellowship with the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and one another. It is a word to be repeated to brethren in responsible positions to bring them into that fellowship and full joy. Every professed Christian is to bear testimony to the love revealed in the gift of the Saviour to redeem fallen man, glorifying God in His great gift, and as the soul takes it in more fully there will be renewed daily expressions of thanksgiving and praise from converted sanctified lips, receiving Christ, walking in His footsteps, glorifying His name, and becoming more Christlike in character daily.
Communion with God is the life of the soul and gives a genuine daily experience that makes joy full. This communion is not merely words or profession, nor words clothed in beautiful language without meaning, but a genuine daily experience that makes words of real value. Union with Christ is shown in spirit, words, and actions, bearing good fruit in unity and fellowship with Christ and with one another as branches of the living vine, and giving clear force to testimony that God is light and has no darkness.
That full joy belongs with accountability to God, singleness of purpose in the short working time, and wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness. It belongs with walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature, holding the plain Thus saith the Lord without crowding the mind, obtaining genuine experience now, and walking humbly with God. It belongs with walking in the light where God is light with no darkness, confessing sin to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Light, Cleansing, and Obedience
The joy John writes to make full rests on the declaration that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. The Lord does not want His people to walk in darkness and perplexity but to know the truth as it is in Jesus and to proclaim it wherever they go by word of mouth and by life practice. That message of manifested eternal life and fellowship with the Father and His Son is written so that those who receive it may have full joy, an experience every soul may have. These plain truths belong especially to those living in the last generation and in the last days, and beautiful theories cannot supply what they promise unless the love of Christ is in the heart, for loss of that love is loss of all things.
Walking in the light as He is in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. Confessing sins brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. Claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth. Saying there is no sin is self-deception, and saying sin has not been committed makes God a liar. That full joy in the light where God is light with no darkness belongs with accountability to God, singleness of purpose in the short working time, wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature, holding the plain Thus saith the Lord without crowding the mind, obtaining genuine experience now, and walking humbly with God.
The Holy Spirit applies this word to the heart to expose selfishness, accusation and darkness, to expel Satan from the soul temple, and to bring the richest blessing of abiding fellowship with Jesus. These precious assurances are appreciated by the repentant sinner who comes to Christ trusting His merits, cleansed from sin by His blood in the better covenant, and receiving from Him power to become a son of God with His perfect law put in the heart.
What is written in the first chapter is to be carefully read first because it makes clear what is written in the second chapter. These things are not written for continuing in sin or transgressing the law but that they sin not. They point to having an advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for the sins of the world, to knowing God by keeping His commandments, and to walking even as Christ walked.
The passage belongs to a message of warning that declares the love of God in giving His only begotten Son to the world, not to save men in their sins but to take away the sin of the world through obedience to the truth, a message that brings great solemnity. It stands as a call to the obligation resting on everyone to strive for mastery over self, refusing to be led by inclination or selfish desires.
Belief in Christ as a personal Saviour is the only salvation provided for the sinner. It means Christ died to make an atonement for sins and now stands at His Father's right hand pleading for sinners, and His intercession prevails to take away sins. To all who receive Him He gives power to become the sons of God, and without His paid redemption price none could be saved. Because He lives to make intercession, those who are obedient to His will shall live also, and He will keep them from falling.
Proclaiming Message Today
These things were written to bring readers into fellowship with those who heard, saw, looked upon and handled the Word of life, into their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so that joy may be full, and that word is to be repeated to brethren in responsible positions to bring them into that same fellowship and full joy. That fellowship makes joy full and calls for earnest, positive preaching with persuasive entreaties, speaking what is known and testifying what is truth because God has spoken it, in short, pointed messages spoken with certainty that the truth is reality and bringing people to decision to walk in the light where God is light and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Entering and sharing that fellowship belongs with walking in the light as God is light, having fellowship with one another, confessing sin, and being cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ.
John writing as an old man nearly one hundred years old is the example of how God uses aged workers to bear a firm, decided testimony. He wrote what he had heard, seen, looked upon and handled of the Word of life, the manifested eternal life, to bring others into the same fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ so that their joy may be full, repeating over and over the glad message of the crucified and risen Saviour to hold young believers steady when persecution endangered their hold on Christ. Those who have stood long and faithfully amid storm and trial continue to use their abilities and gifts in God's work and declare what they have experienced so that joy may be full, and aged servants continue John's work by bearing witness to what they have seen and heard and sharing the message about the manifested life in Christ, fellowship with the Father and the Son, and walking in the light. Staunch pioneer workers, worn out and disappointed in hard service, are to bear to others this written testimony given so that hearers may have fellowship with the witnesses and with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ and so be made complete in joy. Aged believers with many infirmities can still have full joy because they can still bear witness for Christ, praising the Lord who brought them through many trying, difficult places and preserved them to continue testifying for Him, and what is written in the first chapter to bring full joy is reason to praise God for the opportunity even amid infirmities to continue bearing witness for Him.
God appoints human agents as channels through which the waters of life flow and as depositories of sacred truth, co-laborers with Christ in spreading light through the ages, so their written eyewitness testimony to the eternal life that was with the Father and was manifested is to be respected, received with gratitude, and not depreciated for mistakes. Every professed Christian is to bear testimony to the love revealed in the gift of the Saviour to redeem fallen man, glorifying God in His great gift. As the soul takes it in more and more fully there will be renewed daily expressions of thanksgiving and praise from converted sanctified lips, receiving Christ Jesus, walking in His footsteps, glorifying His name, and becoming more and more Christlike in character daily.
Applying God's precious truth to one's own individual case gives blessing and consolation that completes joy and leaves no room for murmuring and complaining. Training the tongue to complain forfeits many precious blessings that come through exercising patience.
That writing with its message that God is light with no darkness at all, that claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth, that walking in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, that saying there is no sin is self-deception, that confessing sin brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness, and that saying sin has not been committed makes God a liar, is appropriate for this time when sin must be called by its right name. It meets unconverted men seeking their own glory as originators of new theories that deny the truth given for the past fifty years and confirmed by the Holy Spirit, warns against starting a new track by using Scripture to support error and leading minds into confusion away from truths to be indelibly impressed, and urges falling into line, walking in the light, and holding fast to the faith. These plain truths belong especially to those living in the last days, and beautiful theories cannot supply what they promise unless the love of Christ is in the heart, for loss of that love is loss of all things. The Lord does not want His people to walk in darkness and perplexity but to know the truth as it is in Jesus and to proclaim that truth wherever they go, revealing Jesus to the world both by word of mouth and by life practice, in harmony with speaking the truth in love and growing up into Christ the Head with the whole body joined together and built up in love.
The full joy of fellowship with the Father and the Son, walking in God's light and being cleansed from sin through Jesus, is an experience every soul may have.
John wrote as an eyewitness of the Word of life whom he heard and saw and handled when eternal life was manifested in flesh and blood, and he wrote these things for the stated purpose that the readers' joy may be full and complete. He writes in the simplest plain language with certainty as one who knows the truth is reality, keeping himself out of sight so the mind is centered on Christ as the all and in all. That full joy comes through fellowship with those who saw and heard in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, leading on to fellowship with one another as believers walk in the light. The message declares that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so walking in the light as He is in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus, while claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth. What is written is not for continuing in sin but that they sin not, having an Advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for the sins of the world, known by keeping His commandments and walking even as He walked.
Eyewitness Writing and Setting
The purpose stated is to write about the Word of life whom the witnesses heard, saw with the eyes, looked upon and handled, the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested when divinity was clothed with humanity and became flesh and blood. That declaration of what was seen and heard was written to bring readers into fellowship with the witnesses in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so that by that fellowship their joy may be full and complete.
What was written is true practical godliness in the simplest language, yet with depth, to real men and women to bring them into contact with a real, living God, showing what God is doing and what man must do to meet His requirements. It is spoken plainly, positively, decidedly and with certainty, not hesitatingly, as by one who knows the truth is reality, testifying what is known because God has spoken it. Self is kept out of sight, with his own name never mentioned, so the reader's mind is centered not on the writer but on the comprehensive truths presented, on Christ the Mediator and Giver of the Word as the center, the all and in all, the foundation and object of faith and hope.
He wrote as an old man nearly one hundred years old who had been with Christ and had lived on earth as one who had seen Him who is invisible, counting it a most blessed experience and loving to relate it often. Having beheld the divine light he could not keep silent but continued to speak of it even in old age. His glad message of the crucified and risen Saviour was repeated over and over to hold young believers steady when persecution endangered their hold on Christ, as an example of how God uses aged workers to bear a firm, decided testimony.
The written eyewitness testimony was secured by the Holy Spirit bringing all things to remembrance as Christ promised before He left His disciples, to abide with them forever as the Spirit of truth. It confirms the teaching of the Old and New Testaments and preserves and delivers the same unchanging truth that was from the beginning. As books and written messages given by the help of God and by the help of the Holy Spirit, containing light from heaven and instruction given for nearly half a century, it provides a living witness to what the Scriptures say that will bear investigation and stand the test.
That witness is addressed down through the ages to the present time, handed down so believers now may have fellowship with those who bore it. It is addressed especially to those living in the last generation, that they may have fellowship with the apostles in fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ and have the message that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, so their joy may be made complete.
Fellowship That Completes Joy
The things written in the preceding verses about the manifested life of Christ and fellowship with the Father and the Son are written for the stated purpose that the readers' joy may be full and complete. John wrote his testimony about the manifested eternal life so that those who receive it may share fellowship with the believers, the Father, and Jesus Christ, and have complete joy. The apostolic message is given so that believers' joy may be complete, and that joy is joined to fellowship with God who is light, with proclamation of the message of Christ and the truth as it is in Jesus.
Full joy comes through fellowship with those who saw and heard, in their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. What was heard, seen with the eyes, looked upon and handled of the Word of life, the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested, is declared so that readers may have fellowship with the witnesses and with the Father and with His Son, and by that fellowship their joy may be full. That fellowship leads on to fellowship with one another as believers walk in the light, sharing fellowship with the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and one another. It is a word to be repeated to brethren in responsible positions to bring them into that fellowship and full joy. Every professed Christian is to bear testimony to the love revealed in the gift of the Saviour to redeem fallen man, glorifying God in His great gift, and as the soul takes it in more fully there will be renewed daily expressions of thanksgiving and praise from converted sanctified lips, receiving Christ, walking in His footsteps, glorifying His name, and becoming more Christlike in character daily.
Communion with God is the life of the soul and gives a genuine daily experience that makes joy full. This communion is not merely words or profession, nor words clothed in beautiful language without meaning, but a genuine daily experience that makes words of real value. Union with Christ is shown in spirit, words, and actions, bearing good fruit in unity and fellowship with Christ and with one another as branches of the living vine, and giving clear force to testimony that God is light and has no darkness.
That full joy belongs with accountability to God, singleness of purpose in the short working time, and wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness. It belongs with walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature, holding the plain Thus saith the Lord without crowding the mind, obtaining genuine experience now, and walking humbly with God. It belongs with walking in the light where God is light with no darkness, confessing sin to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Light, Cleansing, and Obedience
The joy John writes to make full rests on the declaration that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. The Lord does not want His people to walk in darkness and perplexity but to know the truth as it is in Jesus and to proclaim it wherever they go by word of mouth and by life practice. That message of manifested eternal life and fellowship with the Father and His Son is written so that those who receive it may have full joy, an experience every soul may have. These plain truths belong especially to those living in the last generation and in the last days, and beautiful theories cannot supply what they promise unless the love of Christ is in the heart, for loss of that love is loss of all things.
Walking in the light as He is in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. Confessing sins brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. Claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth. Saying there is no sin is self-deception, and saying sin has not been committed makes God a liar. That full joy in the light where God is light with no darkness belongs with accountability to God, singleness of purpose in the short working time, wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature, holding the plain Thus saith the Lord without crowding the mind, obtaining genuine experience now, and walking humbly with God.
The Holy Spirit applies this word to the heart to expose selfishness, accusation and darkness, to expel Satan from the soul temple, and to bring the richest blessing of abiding fellowship with Jesus. These precious assurances are appreciated by the repentant sinner who comes to Christ trusting His merits, cleansed from sin by His blood in the better covenant, and receiving from Him power to become a son of God with His perfect law put in the heart.
What is written in the first chapter is to be carefully read first because it makes clear what is written in the second chapter. These things are not written for continuing in sin or transgressing the law but that they sin not. They point to having an advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for the sins of the world, to knowing God by keeping His commandments, and to walking even as Christ walked.
The passage belongs to a message of warning that declares the love of God in giving His only begotten Son to the world, not to save men in their sins but to take away the sin of the world through obedience to the truth, a message that brings great solemnity. It stands as a call to the obligation resting on everyone to strive for mastery over self, refusing to be led by inclination or selfish desires.
Belief in Christ as a personal Saviour is the only salvation provided for the sinner. It means Christ died to make an atonement for sins and now stands at His Father's right hand pleading for sinners, and His intercession prevails to take away sins. To all who receive Him He gives power to become the sons of God, and without His paid redemption price none could be saved. Because He lives to make intercession, those who are obedient to His will shall live also, and He will keep them from falling.
Proclaiming Message Today
These things were written to bring readers into fellowship with those who heard, saw, looked upon and handled the Word of life, into their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so that joy may be full, and that word is to be repeated to brethren in responsible positions to bring them into that same fellowship and full joy. That fellowship makes joy full and calls for earnest, positive preaching with persuasive entreaties, speaking what is known and testifying what is truth because God has spoken it, in short, pointed messages spoken with certainty that the truth is reality and bringing people to decision to walk in the light where God is light and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Entering and sharing that fellowship belongs with walking in the light as God is light, having fellowship with one another, confessing sin, and being cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ.
John writing as an old man nearly one hundred years old is the example of how God uses aged workers to bear a firm, decided testimony. He wrote what he had heard, seen, looked upon and handled of the Word of life, the manifested eternal life, to bring others into the same fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ so that their joy may be full, repeating over and over the glad message of the crucified and risen Saviour to hold young believers steady when persecution endangered their hold on Christ. Those who have stood long and faithfully amid storm and trial continue to use their abilities and gifts in God's work and declare what they have experienced so that joy may be full, and aged servants continue John's work by bearing witness to what they have seen and heard and sharing the message about the manifested life in Christ, fellowship with the Father and the Son, and walking in the light. Staunch pioneer workers, worn out and disappointed in hard service, are to bear to others this written testimony given so that hearers may have fellowship with the witnesses and with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ and so be made complete in joy. Aged believers with many infirmities can still have full joy because they can still bear witness for Christ, praising the Lord who brought them through many trying, difficult places and preserved them to continue testifying for Him, and what is written in the first chapter to bring full joy is reason to praise God for the opportunity even amid infirmities to continue bearing witness for Him.
God appoints human agents as channels through which the waters of life flow and as depositories of sacred truth, co-laborers with Christ in spreading light through the ages, so their written eyewitness testimony to the eternal life that was with the Father and was manifested is to be respected, received with gratitude, and not depreciated for mistakes. Every professed Christian is to bear testimony to the love revealed in the gift of the Saviour to redeem fallen man, glorifying God in His great gift. As the soul takes it in more and more fully there will be renewed daily expressions of thanksgiving and praise from converted sanctified lips, receiving Christ Jesus, walking in His footsteps, glorifying His name, and becoming more and more Christlike in character daily.
Applying God's precious truth to one's own individual case gives blessing and consolation that completes joy and leaves no room for murmuring and complaining. Training the tongue to complain forfeits many precious blessings that come through exercising patience.
That writing with its message that God is light with no darkness at all, that claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is lying and not doing the truth, that walking in the light brings fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, that saying there is no sin is self-deception, that confessing sin brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness, and that saying sin has not been committed makes God a liar, is appropriate for this time when sin must be called by its right name. It meets unconverted men seeking their own glory as originators of new theories that deny the truth given for the past fifty years and confirmed by the Holy Spirit, warns against starting a new track by using Scripture to support error and leading minds into confusion away from truths to be indelibly impressed, and urges falling into line, walking in the light, and holding fast to the faith. These plain truths belong especially to those living in the last days, and beautiful theories cannot supply what they promise unless the love of Christ is in the heart, for loss of that love is loss of all things. The Lord does not want His people to walk in darkness and perplexity but to know the truth as it is in Jesus and to proclaim that truth wherever they go, revealing Jesus to the world both by word of mouth and by life practice, in harmony with speaking the truth in love and growing up into Christ the Head with the whole body joined together and built up in love.
The full joy of fellowship with the Father and the Son, walking in God's light and being cleansed from sin through Jesus, is an experience every soul may have.