Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Paul J. Davey
Company: GDC

© 2002 Joe Griffin		MD02- /

Translation: 1 John 1:1-5; v. 6: Protasis: Assert Fellowship while Living in Darkness, 1 Jn 1:6; Apodosis: Self-Deception, “What is truth?” Jn 18:37-38

13.	The corrected translation of 1 John chapter 1 reads as follows:
1 John 1:1 -	[Expanded translation]  What was from the beginning of the Incarnation, what we have heard Him say to us, what we have perceived [ Ðr£w, horaō ] with our own eyes of His physical person on the Mount of Transfiguration, what we have analytically observed [ qe£omai, theaomai ] and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—
v. 2 -		And the Life was revealed [ fanerÒj, phaneros: to be made plainly obvious during the Incarnation ], and we have both seen [ Ðr£w, horaō: to see and perceive ] and testified [ marturšw, martureō ], and proclaimed [ ¢paggšllw, apangellō: to make known, e.g., through the epistle of 1 John ] the Eternal Life [ t¾n zwºn a„ènion, tēn zōēn aiōneon: Jesus Christ ], the One Who was [ in Eternity Past ] with the Father and was manifest [ phaneros ] to us— 
v. 3 -		What we have both seen and heard [ divine inspiration ], we also proclaim to you [ 1 John for the purpose of GAP ] in order that you [ the students of John ] also may keep on having fellowship [ koinwn…a, koinōnia ] with us; furthermore, our fellowship [ Christian fellowship ] is also with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ [ fellowship between believers is dependent upon them also being in fellowship with God ].
v. 4 -	We write these things so that your state of true happiness might be completed.
v. 5 -	And this is the message which we have heard from Him and have communicated to you that God is Light [ fellowship with God occurs in the divine dynasphere ] and in Him there is no darkness, no, no darkness at all [ fellowship with Lucifer occurs in his cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred ].
	XIII.	1 John, Chapter 1:6:
	1 John 1:6 -	If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness; we lie and do not practice the truth;
1.	This verse introduces a set of delusions by which the believer who is living in darkness deceives himself.  In verse 6 he asserts he has fellowship with God but in reality is walking under the influence of the cosmic systems.
2.	In verse 7 the accurate doctrinal position on the issue is stated, that if we walk in the Light we have fellowship with each other.
3.	Verse 8 takes up the second deception of the ascetic, self-righteous Gnostic who asserts that he has no sin, thus the truth is not in him.
4.	Verse 9 supplies the biblical problem-solving device that can extract the cosmic believer out from darkness and back into the Light: confession alone to God alone.
5.	Finally, verse 10 returns to the circumstance of the cosmic believer that refuses to use the problem-solving device of rebound: he contends this under a third delusion that he has not sinned and doesn’t need to use rebound and therefore makes God a liar in the process.
6.	We now begin the examination of these five verses at verse 6 with the protasis of a third class condition.  It is introduced by the particle ™£n, ean, translated “if.”
7.	This particle plus the subjunctive mood of the verb indicates the protasis is in the third class condition, the subjunctive mood implying a condition of uncertainty, therefore, maybe you do say or maybe you don’t but if you do, then … thus and so.”
8.	The verb is the aorist active subjunctive of:
lšgw, legō -	“to say,” “to express,” “to contend,” or “to assert”
aorist:	Gnomic: This form is used to describe an event that “has taken place” over a long period of time or “does take place” in the present.
active:	Believers who are living in the darkness of the cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred produce the action under the delusion of its several areas of influence.
subj.:	Denotes the element of contingency.
1 John 1:6 -	“If we assert [ maybe we will or maybe we won’t so assert … ]
9.	Next comes the conjunction Óti, hoti which introduces the content of what is alleged under the influence of cosmic delusion.  It is translated “that.”
10.	What is asserted begins with the present active indicative of the verb:
	œcw, echō -		“we have”
present:	Perfective: denotes the continuation of existing results and stresses the continuation of these results through present time.  It is also a “contextual perfective” which is used in the introduction of a quotation.
	No believer has fellowship with God unless he fulfills the divine mandate to confess his sins to God.
active:	Believers in the cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred produce the action under the delusion they have fellowship with God.
indicative:	Declarative: denotes that the delusion under which these believers operate is a reality.
11.	The delusion is stated next by the direct object of the verb:
koinwn…a, koinōnia -	“fellowship”
12.	This is followed by the prepositional phrase, met£ aÙtÒj, meta autos: “with Him.”
1 John 1:6 -	If we assert that we have continuous fellowship with God [ maybe we do, maybe we don’t ] …
13.	This statement is the first of a compound sentence and it is connected to the second by the conjunction ka…, kai.  It is followed by the present active subjunctive of the verb:
peripatšw, peripateō -	“to walk”
 present:	Progressive: used to describe a scene in progress and normally involves continuous action.  This speaks of facilitated wheel-tracks of wickedness, and in context, wheel-tracks of darkness.
active:	Believers in the cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred produce the action by denying they are in actuality enmeshed in a habitual lifestyle practiced by those who have submitted to the desires of the sinful nature and the human good and evil that prolonged carnality produces.
subj.:	The protasis of a third class condition presents contingency.  The contingency is free will, therefore, believers function in the cosmic systems because of personal decisions to ignore rebound and reject doctrine.  Where they consistently walk is mentioned next by the prepositional phrase:
™n tù skotÒj, en toi skotos -	“in the darkness”
1 John 1:6 -	If we assert that we have continuous fellowship with God [ maybe we do, maybe we don’t ] and continue to make choices for facilitated wheel-tracks in the sphere of the cosmic systems …
14.	This completes the protasis and establishes the condition that is addressed in the apodosis which states the necessary consequence.  It is permissible to insert the word oân, oun, here, translated “therefore.”
15.	The apodosis begins with the first person plural, present active subjunctive of the verb:
yeÚdomai, pseudomai -	“to lie, deceive, to deceive oneself”	
16.	The challenge in identifying or recognizing a lie is to have a standard by which to identify it.  What defines the lie is the truth.  But where Pontus Pilate quizzed Jesus, “What is truth?” we must be prepared to give an answer.  The procurator only had the standards of an unbeliever and his standards always adjusted to the way the political wind was blowing.  In the arrogance of ignorance, Pilate was looking Truth in the eye when he asked the question:
John 18:37 -	Pilate said to Jesus, “So You are a king?”  Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king.  For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
v. 38 -	Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
17.	The contrast between the lie and the truth is the subject of excerpts from:
Friedrich, Gerhard (ed.).  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley.  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 9:595:
Lying cannot be viewed merely as the opposite of truth.  A lie is an activity or the result of an activity but truth is always present as an abstraction denoting something independent of any activity.  The norm of the ethical assessment of lying is the firm bond between ¢l»qeia, alētheia [truth or doctrine] and d…kh, dikē [justice].  At issue is the divinely protected order of the world.
18.	One’s ability to discern that something is a lie depends upon the availability of an absolute standard by which to compare it.  That absolute standard is the thinking of God, Who is the ultimate Judge.
19.	When we acquire the thinking of God by learning His Word, we are able not only to identify the lie but to also avoid its delusions.

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