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1Jn_1:9. Not a mere antithesis of the previous verse, but an expansion of the thought; “there follows as conclusion not merely this, that we are then true, but the incomparably greater and surprisingly glorious thought that God then proves Himself actually towards us as the True, as the πιστὸς καὶ δίκαιος ” (Ebrard).
ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ] ὁμολογεῖν does not mean to recognise (Socinus: confiteri significat interiorem ac profundam suorum peccatorum agnitionem),[63] but to confess; of course it is manifest that the confession is not here spoken of as a purely outward act; still, at the same time, it is not sufficient to regard it merely as “an inward fact, which is founded on the whole internal tendency of the mind” (Neander); it is rather the real (even if not always vocal) expression of sins recognised within and confessed to oneself; here also it is the word in which the inner life has to operate.[64]
What are to be confessed are αἱ ἀμαρτίαι ἡμῶν , i.e. the sins of Christians, which are the particular manifestations of ἁμαρτίαν ἔχειν (so also Braune); therefore the plural.[65]
Ebrard rightly calls attention to the fact that John here mentions, as the subject of the confession, not the abstract ἁμαρτίαν ἔχειν , but ΤᾺς ἉΜΑΡΤΊΑς , i.e. the definite, concrete, single sins committed; “the mere confession in the abstract that we have sin would not have truth without the acknowledgment of the concrete particular sins, but would shrivel up into a mere phrase.”
πιστός ἐστι καὶ δίκαιος ] It is true God is both in Himself, He does not become so only when we confess our sins; but this confession is the condition on which He actually proves Himself to us as πίστος καὶ δίκαιος .[66] These two epithets are indeed not of the same signification, but still, as their combination proves, of cognate meaning. God is called ΠΙΣΤΌς , inasmuch as He, as the promise-maker, also fulfils what He has promised, Heb_10:23 : ΠΙΣΤῸς Ὁ ἘΠΑΓΓΕΙΛΆΜΕΝΟς ; Heb_11:11; especially as He accomplishes in believers the promise of blessing, which lies for them in the fact of their call, by conducting them through manifestation of His grace to the goal of their calling (according to Ewald, “inasmuch as He keeps His promise already repeatedly given in the O. T.”), 1Co_1:9 : ΠΙΣΤῸς Ὁ ΘΕΌς , ΔΙʼ ΟὟ ἘΚΛΉΘΗΤΕ ΕἸς ΚΟΙΝΩΝΊΑΝ ΤΟῦ ΥἹΟῦ ΑὐΤΟῦ ; 1Co_10:13; 2Co_1:18-21; 1Th_5:24 : ΠΙΣΤῸς Ὁ ΚΑΛῶΝ ὙΜᾶς , Ὃς ΚΑῚ ΠΟΙΉΣΕΙ ; 2Th_3:3. ΠΙΣΤΌς has this meaning here also, as results from the following ἽΝΑ Κ . Τ . Λ . Ebrard incorrectly calls the reference of the faithfulness of God here to His promises and prophecies an introduction of foreign ideas, and says “the subject here is faithfulness to the nature of truth and light, akin to His own nature, and which prevails in us, inasmuch as we confess our sins.”
God is described as ΔΊΚΑΙΟς in the N. T., inasmuch as He, for the realization of His kingdom of grace, gives to every one—without ΠΡΟΣΩΠΟΛΗΨΊΑ —what is due to him, according to the righteous judgment of God, in proportion to the position which he occupies toward God (or toward the kingdom of God), God being in this regarded as the Judge; the idea of the righteousness of God and that of His judicial activity are very closely connected; God is ὁ δίκαιος κριτής , 2Ti_4:8; He judges ἘΝ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝῌ , Act_17:31 (Rev_19:11), or ΔΙΚΑΊΩς , 1Pe_2:23; His ΚΡΊΣΙς is a ΚΡΊΣΙς ΔΙΚΑΊΑ , 2Th_1:5. The relation of the ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗ of God to His judicial activity is found throughout in the N. T., even where the former is the subject without the latter being expressly mentioned with it. As the manifestation of the ΔΙΚΑΊΑ ΚΡΊΣΙς of God consists in the righteous distribution of punishment and of blessing, it follows that ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗ is referred to not only where both of these are mentioned together (as in 2Th_1:5 seq.), but also where only one of the two is spoken of. God punishes as the δίκαιος , but He blesses also as the δίκαιος , no doubt in view of the realization of His kingdom, which depends upon the good obtaining the complete victory over the evil. Towards him who walks ἘΝ Τῷ ΣΚΌΤΕΙ , God shows Himself ΔΊΚΑΙΟς in that He ΚΑΤΑΚΡΊΝΕΙ him; towards him who walks ἘΝ Τῷ ΦΩΤΊ , by ever more and more removing from him everything that hinders his perfect ΚΟΙΝΩΝΊΑ ΜΕΤᾺ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ (namely, both his consciousness of guilt, and the ἈΔΙΚΊΑ which still clings to him), and by finally permitting him to inherit the perfect happiness which is prepared for those who love God (comp. 2Ti_4:8). Here God is called ΔΊΚΑΙΟς , inasmuch as His purpose is directed to allotting to those who, walking in light, confess their sins, that which is suitable for them, namely, the blessing mentioned in the following ἽΝΑ Κ . Τ . Λ . The meaning of ΔΊΚΑΙΟς is rightly stated by Baumgarten-Crusius, Düsterdieck, Brückner, and Braune;[67] on the other hand, it is incorrect to refer ΔΊΚΑΙΟς here to the punitive activity (Drusius: justus, quia vere punivit peccata nostra in filio suo), but also to explain it = bonis, lenis, aequus (Grotius, Lange, Carpzov, etc.), for δίκαιος never has this meaning in the N. T.; it is here of cognate meaning with ΠΙΣΤΌς ,[68] because the allotment of blessing bestowed in accordance with the δικαιοσύνη of God has been promised by Him, and is accomplished according to His promise; yet it must not therefore be regarded as synonymous with it (Hornejus: = in promissis servandis integer). Following Rom_3:26, some commentators have here interpreted it = δικαιῶν ; but this is so much the more unjustifiable, as that very passage by the juxtaposition of the two ideas proves their different meaning.[69] According to the Roman Catholic view, πιστός refers to the peccata mortalia, δίκαιος to the peccata venialia.[70]
ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ] ἵνα , not = “so that” (Castellio: ita Justus, ut condonet), has here (as in other passages of the N. T.) not retained strictly its idea of purpose, (hence not: “in order that”), but it states what is the aim of the divine faithfulness and justice to attain which these qualities operate on men; Luther therefore translates correctly: “that.” De Wette’s explanation, with which Braune agrees: “in the divine faithfulness lies the law or the will of forgiving sins,” is unsatisfactory, inasmuch as ἀφιέναι κ . τ . λ . is not merely the will, but the operation of the divine faithfulness and justice.
τὰς ἁμαρτίας refers back to ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας , thus: “the sins confessed by us.” The remission, i.e. the forgiveness, of sins is therefore, by virtue of the faithfulness of God, the first result of the confession; the second John describes by the words: καὶ καθαρίσῃ [71] ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας . Here the first thought is not repeated epexegetically (Semler), or only in figurative manner (Lange); but the words express the same thing as the corresponding words of the 7th verse, with which the 8th and 9th verses are in closest connection (Düsterdieck, Braune; Brückner does not explain himself definitely); καθαρίζειν has here the same meaning as there, and ἀδικία (not = poena peccati, Socinus) is synonymous with ἁμαρτία ; they are two different names for the same thing; comp. chap. 1Jn_5:17.[72] The order in which the two clauses that express the redemptive operations of God are connected together (Myrberg: ordo verborum ponit remissionem ante abrogationem), points to the fact that purification takes place by means of forgiveness.
The context is quite decisive in favour of regarding as the subject of πιστός ἐστι κ . τ . λ . not Χριστός , but (with Lücke, de Wette, Düsterdieck, Braune, etc.) ὁ Θεός ; for even though in 1Jn_1:7 the καθαρίζειν is described as the operation of the αἷμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ , and in chap. 1Jn_2:2, Ἰ . Χρ . is the subject, yet in this section ὁ Θεός is the principal subject; 1Jn_1:5, ὁ Θεός ; 1Jn_1:6, αὐτός , even in 1Jn_1:7, τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ; the blood of Christ, therefore, is regarded as the means by which God produces purification from sins. To hold, with Sander, that God and Christ together form the subject,[73] is quite as inappropriate here as in 1Jn_1:5 to understand by αὐτοῦ both together. Though, with John, God and Jesus Christ approach very close to a unity, yet they are always distinguished by him, and never represented as one subject.
[63] Similarly Baumgarten-Crusius says: “ ὁμολογεῖν is not exactly to confess, but to recognise, perceive, become conscious of, as opposed to the εἰπεῖν μὴ ἔχειν ἐμαρτίαν ;” but it is just to εἰπεῖν that ὁμολογεῖν is exactly opposed only when it is taken in its natural signification.
[64] It is quite clear that confession to God is meant; when, however, Braune adds: “and indeed a confession so fervent and deep that it becomes public and regulated by the church,” he introduces an element which nothing here suggests. In genuine Catholic fashion a Lapide says: Quam confessionem exigit Johannes? Haeretici solam generalem quae fit Deo admittunt; Catholici etiam specialem requirunt. Respondeo: Johannem utramque exigere, generalem pro peccatis levibus, specialem pro gravibus.
[65] Even here Socinus, Grotius (Si fatemur nos in gravibus peccatis vixisse ante notitiam evangelii), and others understand ἁμαρτίαι of sins before conversion.
[66] Semler’s interpretation is not satisfactory: “logice intelligendum est; nec enim in Deo jam demun oritur nova ratio tanti praedicati, sed in his christianis succrescit nova cognitio tantae rei.” The subject is not our perception, but the actual manifestation of God.
[67] Ewald’s explanation is unsatisfactory, according to which God is here called just because He “knows well and considers that He alone is the Creator, whilst we are His creation exposed to error and sin, and acts according to this just consideration.”
[68] In the passage Rom_3:3-5, πίστις and δικαιοσύνη are also used as cognate ideas, but even here in such a way that δικαιοσύνη has not lost its reference to the judicial activity of God; Meyer on this passage explains δικαιοσύνη , on account of the contrast with ἀδικία , generally by “justice;” but the former reference appears both in μὴ ἄδικος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἐπιφέρων τὴν ὀργήν , and also in ver. 6 πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον .
[69] Not less inexact is it for Ebrard to say: “God manifests Himself towards as as the δίκαιος , inasmuch as He is not only just, but also makes just,” since δικαιοῦν does not mean “to make just.” His assertion is also inappropriate, that here and in Rom_1:17 to Rom_3:26, “the justice of God appears as the source in Him from which His saving, sin-forgiving, and sin-overcoming action flows.” This source is rather God’s ἀγάπη manifesting itself as χάρις towards the guilt of men; there is a reference to that in chap. 1Jn_3:24 of the passage in Romans, but here the source of the salvation is not mentioned.—The interpretation of Calov: “justa est haec peccatorum remissio et ex justitia debita, sed Christo non nobis,” and that of Sander: “the Lord is just, inasmuch as He remits the sin of the sinner who appeals to the ransom paid in the blood of Christ, because it would be unjust to demand the payment twice,” introduce references into this passage which are foreign to it.
[70] Suarez: Fidelis est Deus, cum condonat poenitentibus peccata mortalia; justus, cum justis condonat venialia, quia, sc. justi per opera (!) poenitentiae, charitatis, etc., merentur de condigno hanc condonationem.
[71] The Rec. καθαρίσει corresponds to the passage Luk_22:30, where, according to the best attested Rec., ἵνα is followed both by the subjunctive first, and then by the indicative; but not to the passage Joh_6:40, cited by Ebrard, where the indicative is not regarded as dependent on ἵνα . On ἵνα with the indicative, comp. A. Buttmann’s Gramm. p. 202. Winer, p. 258 ff., VII. p. 271 ff.
[72] While Weiss also interprets both expressions of the forgiveness of sins, he tries to repel the reproach of tautology by saying: “If sin committed is regarded as a stain, it is quite correct that God forgives us the sin, and thus purifies us from all unrighteousness, since by the very fact that God forgives it, sin has ceased to exist before Him, and at the same time also to stain us;” true though this may be, however, it cannot serve to refute that objection, for as καθαρίζειν in this sense is not the result of ἀφιέναι , but the former consists in the latter, both clauses express only one and the same thought.
[73] In favour of conjoining Christ as the subject, Sander adduces the fact that just in the following chapter Christ is called δίκαιος ; but in this he overlooks altogether the different meanings which the word has in the two passages; for in the verse before us δίκαιος is used of a relation to men, but in chap. 1Jn_2:1 of the relation of Christ to the divine will; and when Sander further says that in Heb_9:14 it is precisely stated of Christ that He purges the consciences, this is incorrect, since τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ is the subject there just as here in ver. 7; and there even more expressly than here God is specified as the author of the purification, for the αἷμα τ . Χρ . purges, because it is offered as a sacrifice τῷ Θεῷ . Moreover, it is not meant by this that forgiveness and cleansing could not be ascribed to Christ quite as much as to God, only it does not follow from this that ὁ Χριστός is the subject here.