1 John 1:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Nestorius is plainly mad and impious when he separates the flesh from the Son and does not allow His Mother to be called Theotokos. It must also be known that the whole thought of this saying overthrows the blasphemy of the Jews, who said, “We know that this Man is a sinner” (Jn 9:24).

Thus he says: if we do the works of light, then we are in communion with Him. If we do not do them, then we are strangers to Him. And how is He not the true light and wholly sinless, when He was “numbered with the transgressors” for you (Is 53:12)?

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son will cleanse us from every transgression.” What does “from every transgression” mean? Listen attentively. Just now these people whom we call “infants,” that is, the newly baptized, confessed Christ and were cleansed of all sins in the name of Christ by His blood. They entered old and came out new.

What does it mean that they entered old and came out new? They entered as aged and came out as infants. The old life is decrepit old age. The new life is the infancy of regeneration (cf. Rom 6:1-11; Eph 4:21-24; Col 3:9-10).

But what shall we do? Past sins have been forgiven, and not only to them, but also to us. Yet after baptism and the cancellation of all sins, since we live in this world amid trials, perhaps we have again gathered some transgressions. Therefore let a man do what he can. Let him confess himself to be what he is, so that He who always is what He is may heal him. For He always is and is. We, however, were not and are.

“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have communion with one another.” By these words John clearly indicates that by walking in the light we make progress, since we rejoice in brotherly fellowship, together with which we attain the true light.

Yet even if we seem to do the works of light and preserve unbroken fidelity to mutual love, we must not suppose that we can be completely cleansed from sins by our own conduct and diligence. For then it is said: “and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin” (1 Jn 1:7).

For the mystery of the Lord’s sufferings dissolved all our past sins in baptism. It also forgives us, by the mercy of the same our Savior, those sins that we commit daily after baptism through weakness. This is especially so when, doing the works of light, we daily confess our transgressions to Him. We receive the mystery of His Blood, ask that our debts be forgiven, and forgive our debtors their debts. Remembering His sufferings, we readily endure any hardships.

Whoever always bears in his soul a living faith in the tri-hypostatic God, according to the teaching of the word of God, and lives by faith, keeping God’s commandments, truly walks in the light of God. The light of God’s majesty, beheld by the eyes of faith, enlightens the believer with knowledge of the truth. It warms his heart with holy love and makes his life fruitful in good works. But whoever does not see this light is dark, cold, and barren in good action.

Whoever walks in God’s light, keeping God’s commandments, has communion in this light with the apostles and with all the saints, both living on earth and dwelling in heaven. For one and the same Spirit of God communicates spiritual life to all the saints, to men and angels.

“And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from every sin.” Having said, “if we walk in the light,” then “we have communion with one another,” the holy Theologian turns his gaze to the great and boundless gift of divine love for mankind. For this gift we must eternally thank God. By its power alone can we walk in God’s light and have communion with the apostles and all the saints. He turns his gaze to the redemption of all men by the sufferings and death on the Cross of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The apostle says this: if we, enlightened by faith in God, live piously and in holiness, imitating the perfections of the all-holy God, then we have communion with one another and are closely united among ourselves. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, suffered and died for the sins of the whole world. By His death He reconciled us with God. The power of His merits, or the price of His blood, covers our sins. His blood cleanses us from every sin and unites all, as redeemed by the one blood of the Lord and Savior, into one society or one body of His.

“We have communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from every sin.” Thus all believers in Christ, saved by this faith, are closely bound together, because all have one source of salvation, namely the blood of Jesus Christ, or His redemptive merits. Only by the price of His suffering and death are we freed from ancestral sin and from condemnation for sin. We are cleansed from all our sins committed before regeneration in holy baptism. We also hope to receive forgiveness of those sins to which, through the weakness of our nature corrupted by sin, we are subject after baptism as long as we bear this corruptible body.

And who can say that he does not participate in this great gift of God’s mercy? Who has the right to think that he has no need of this cleansing blood of the Lord and Redeemer?

Whoever lives and walks by faith, and according to faith, in the communion of love and virtue, truly walks in the light of God. The light of God’s majesty is reflected in the communion of love with all believers. In this light all believers are united, or have communion, with the apostles and with all the saints living on earth and dwelling in heaven. For one and the same Spirit of God communicates spiritual life to all the saints, both men and angels.

“And the blood of Jesus Christ,” and so forth. The one who walks in the light has communion with all the saints, since all have one source of salvation, the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses all from every sin. Such is the connection of the ideas. When the Theologian contemplates walking in the light and fraternal union in Christ with all believers, his gaze turns to the greatest and boundless gift of God’s mercy and love for mankind. Only by its power can we walk in the light of God and have communion with all the saints. This gift is the redemption of the whole world by the sufferings and death on the Cross of the Son of God.

If we live in holiness and righteousness, then we have communion with all. For the Son of God suffered and died for the sins of the whole world. By His death He reconciled the whole world to God. Therefore the power of His merits, or the price of His blood, covers all our sins. It unites all the redeemed into one holy society, or into His body, the Church.

“Therefore, holding fast to communion with one another, that is, with us and with the Light, we must make ourselves unconquerable by sin. But how can this be, when we have already sunk in many sins? For no one who loves the truth and strives to be truthful will dare to say that he is sinless. If this fear takes hold of anyone, let him not lose heart. Whoever has entered into communion with His Son Jesus Christ has been cleansed by His blood, shed for us” (Theophylact).

“The blood cleanses.” By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shed on the Cross, the reconciliation of the whole world with God was accomplished (Heb 9:14). Therefore it has cleansing significance for the whole world. Only by the price of the sufferings and death of the Savior of the world is mankind freed from ancestral sin and from condemnation for sin. By faith it is cleansed of all sins committed before regeneration in baptism. It also receives forgiveness of those sins to which a man is subject after baptism through the weakness of his nature.

Thus communion with one another in the unity of love and in the bond of peace, and cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ, truly show Christians to be the one body of the Lord Christ, which is His Church (Eph 4:16). This cleansing and communion take place chiefly in the mystery of the Eucharist, under the condition of sincere and active repentance for voluntary and involuntary sins (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-29 and parallels).

Only true children of the heavenly Father can have fraternal communion with believers. They zealously strive to become like Him through works of light, works of piety and virtue. It is true that even these are not without sin, and there are dark sides in their moral life. Yet they repent of their sins, hasten to rise after every fall, and strive from the realm of darkness toward the light. Therefore the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses them from every sin. It has cleansing power only with regard to the repentant, and by no means with regard to careless and unrepentant sinners.