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生命之道

论到太初就已经存在的生命之道,就是我们所听见,亲眼所看见,仔细观察过,亲手摸过的; 这生命已经显现出来,我们见过了,现在也作见证,并且向你们宣扬这本来与父同在,又向我们显现过的永远的生命。 我们把所看见所听见的向你们宣扬,使你们也可以和我们彼此相通。我们是与父和他的儿子耶稣基督彼此相通的。 我们写这些事,是要使我们的喜乐充足。

 神是光

 神是光,在他里面毫无黑暗;这就是我们从他那里听见,现在传给你们的信息。 我们若说自己与他彼此相通,却行在黑暗里,就是说谎话,不实行真理了。 我们若行在光中,像他在光中一样,就彼此相通,他儿子耶稣的血也洁净我们脱离一切罪。 我们若说自己没有罪,就是自欺,真理就不在我们里面了。 我们若承认自己的罪, 神是信实的、公义的,必定赦免我们的罪,洁净我们脱离一切不义。 10 我们若说自己没有犯过罪,就是把 神当作说谎的,他的道就不在我们心里了。

1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

3-4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

Walk in the Light

This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

I. Prologue

Chapter 1

The Word of Life[a]

What was from the beginning,
    what we have heard,
    what we have seen with our eyes,
    what we looked upon
    and touched with our hands
    concerns the Word of life—(A)
for the life was made visible;
    we have seen it and testify to it
    and proclaim to you the eternal life
    that was with the Father and was made visible to us—(B)
what we have seen and heard
    we proclaim now to you,
    so that you too may have fellowship with us;
    for our fellowship is with the Father
    and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(C)
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.(D)

II. God As Light

God Is Light. Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light,[b] and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.(E) But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.(F) If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves,[c] and the truth is not in us.(G) If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.(H) 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 1:1–4 There is a striking parallel to the prologue of the gospel of John (Jn 1:1–18), but the emphasis here is not on the preexistent Word but rather on the apostles’ witness to the incarnation of life by their experience of the historical Jesus. He is the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1; cf. Jn 1:4), the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible (1 Jn 1:2; cf. Jn 1:14), and was heard, seen, looked upon, and touched by the apostles. The purpose of their teaching is to share that life, called fellowship…with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, with those who receive their witness (1 Jn 1:3; Jn 1:14, 16).
  2. 1:5–7 Light is to be understood here as truth and goodness; darkness here is error and depravity (cf. Jn 3:19–21; 17:17; Eph 5:8). To walk in light or darkness is to live according to truth or error, not merely intellectual but moral as well. Fellowship with God and with one another consists in a life according to the truth as found in God and in Christ.
  3. 1:8–10 Denial of the condition of sin is self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the continual possibility of sin’s recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance.

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

That which was from the beginning,(A) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,(B) which we have looked at and our hands have touched(C)—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared;(D) we have seen it and testify to it,(E) and we proclaim to you the eternal life,(F) which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,(G) so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(H) We write this(I) to make our[a] joy complete.(J)

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

This is the message we have heard(K) from him and declare to you: God is light;(L) in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,(M) we lie and do not live out the truth.(N) But if we walk in the light,(O) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.(P)

If we claim to be without sin,(Q) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.(R) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins(S) and purify us from all unrighteousness.(T) 10 If we claim we have not sinned,(U) we make him out to be a liar(V) and his word is not in us.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
  2. 1 John 1:7 Or every