1 João 1

1 João 1:8

Pink put it slightly differently, writing that "It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors." John Blanchard adds that "Sin denies man the power of God in this life and the presence of God in the next." THE DOCTRINE OF SIN: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? James Denney emphasizes the danger of continual denial of sin "There is in truth only one religious problem in the world—the existence of sin. Similarly there is only one religious solution to it—the atonement. Comments: Failure to recognize one's personal sin leads to failure to recognize one's personal need for a Perfect Savior! Jussely said it this way "The doctrine of sin is the foundation of the doctrine of grace." Kierkegaard adds "Christianity begins with the doctrine of sin." Related Resources: See Doctrine of Sin in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia See Doctrine of Sin in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology If (ean) (ean) is a preposition which identifies a third class conditional clause which means "(If)… and it may be true or may not be true." A conditional clause in Greek is formed by combining a preposition with a specific verb mood, in this case combining ean with the subjunctive mood, the mood of probability ("we say" is in the subjunctive mood). SUMMARY OF JOHN'S "IF" STATEMENTS NEGATIVE (False) POSITIVE (True) 1 1Jn 1:6+ If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness 1Jn 1:7+ but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light 2 1Jn 1:8+ If we say that we have no sin 1Jn 1:9+ If we confess our sins 3 1Jn 1:10+ If we say that we have not sinned 1Jn 2:1+ And if anyone sins There are other "if" statements but these constitute the first and major group. We say (epo) is the first person plural which indicates that John is including himself in this suppositional statement. Some would take this "we" use this as an argument to state that John is not making a distinction between believers and unbelievers in this section. There is however another way to explain John's use of "we" which is very compatible with the context. As discussed in more detail elsewhere (See notes on "Who is We in First John 1?"), John uses the first person plural "we" to gently come alongside the "little children" to whom the epistle is addressed. Kress writes that John uses "we" in this "hypothetical scenario to gently shepherd the flock which may be in contact with such people who make these types of outrageous claims. He addresses the issue in a very pastoral, yet clear way. S Lewis