1That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2(and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
5This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and don’t tell the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
John now contrasts the hating Christian with the loving Christian. He states two truths about a Christian who hates other Christians. That person both experiences the spiritual darkness that comes from the sin of hatred and functions spiritually in the sphere of sin, darkness, rather than light. The following statement is telling. The hating Christian is lost. His sinful state keeps him from seeing where he is going or what he is doing. It is like he is lost in the woods at night and cannot see the trees before he runs into them. He is consistently “stumbling” and falling into sin and keeping himself from fellowship with God.
The question must be asked, what about 1:9’s promise for cleansing from all unrighteousness? Though he confesses known sins and would normally be restored by Jesus to a state of holiness that allows God and the believer to commune with each other, a believer’s continuous state of hatred immediately cancels out the effects of the confession. That hatred keeps the believer out of the sphere of light. And, as long as this “darkness” keeps him from seeing his sin, he will continue to stumble and fail to obey God’s command, which he heard from the beginning of his salvation.
Some Christians may respond to this by wondering if they are truly Christians. John will address that with his readers in the next three verses. However, John warns those who hate their Christian “brother.” One cannot be unregenerate and hate a Christian “brother.” Both must be God’s children to be brothers. Even so, John pauses to reassure his readers.