1 John Part Deux

These letters 1 – 3 Yochanan like the Gospel of Yochanan seem to have been written as poetry.But more specifically we start out realizing that the first chapter deals with our relationship tosin and in many cases specific sins.1] We see a call to put away or cease sinning.2] We can not live with out sinning.3] But we do not have the right to continue sinning without giving it our best effortto cease the errant behavior.

Rabbi Tarfon (2

Century) is quoted saying “you are not obligated to complete the task, but you are still not free from working at it”. (Avot 2:16 Mishnah)

When we look at the beginning of this letter (1 Yochanan/John) it mirrors the Gospel ofYohanan/John

1Jn 1:1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen withour eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1Jn 1:2

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen

, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

Joh 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word wasGod.

Joh 1:2

The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that wasmade.

Joh 1:4

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Joh 1:6

There was a man sent from God, whose name

was

John.

Joh 1:7

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all

men

throughhim might believe.

Joh 1:8

He was not that Light, but

was sent

to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9

That

was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Joh 1:10

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew himnot.

Joh 1:11

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,

even

to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will ofman, but of God.

Specifically scripture shows us that G-d made the World and all that was in it, and the“light” the redeemer. Yet people do not want to let the “light” in. They explain it away with,“I don't need it” or “I don't sin”.We ofttimes fail to let G-d's light of truth in, because we do not want to admit to our sinfulnature. One sure fire way of doing this is to alter the Word of G-d to our advantage, or usedoctrines using veiled or vague scripture references.Example 1:

If we claim not to have sin

not to have a nature which tends to sin, not to have a yetzer ra'

עררצי

(“evil inclination”)

ever rearing it's ugly head,

we are deceivingourselves, and the truth is NOT in us.

Example 2:

If we claim we have not been sinning,

that our acts have been above reproach,and we have not committed actual sins,

we are making him out to be a liar, and His Wordis not in us.

If either of these examples were true, they would provide an excuse for not letting G-d judgeour innermost heart.

Today even as in Yochanan's day men and their doctrines ofttimes do as the Gnostics did andmisused Romans 6 and 8. saying that since the believer in the Messiah has the spirit of theMessiah in him, he cannot sin anymore. Which contradicts scripture. Even in Mattityahu 6:12says “

Forgive us what we have done wrong”

the desire to sin has been replaced by the love ofthe Messiah.Knowing man and his habit of only hearing and doing what ever he pleases, Yochanan clarifieshimself at the beginning of Chapter 2, by stating;

1 Yochanan 2:1

My children, I am writing youthese things so that you won't sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, theTzaddik

, who pleads our cause with the Father.

Also, he is the kapparah

for our sins - andnot only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

-cjb-

Knowing our

yetzer ra'

עררצי

(“evil inclination”)

[sinful nature], and our ability and desireto control our environments the Ruach led Yochanan to make sure there was no “wiggle” room.We see here also that repentance is a mandatory element if we want forgiveness from G-d.This is one of the oldest Biblical principles we know, and one requirement that has always beenmandatory. For forgiveness to be achieved there must be 1) the justice of, 2) the necessity,

1 Romans 5:12-212 1 Yochanan 1:8 (bold type)3 1 Yochanan 1:10 (bold type)4 Psalms 19:13-15 (12-14), Psalms 139:23-245 Righteousness, הקדצ6 Atonement, הרפכ7 Romans 5:12-21

for a blood sacrifice. This is so clear from the Torah

, TaNaKh

and the Second Covenant

.Where we have issue as humans we don't want to call sin, the same thing that G-d does. Wewould rather define it according to our standards, and not His. G-d did His part and set downthe basic rules for living, worship, finance, relationships, government for us.

The Justice

refers to the knowledge of wrong doing aka sin. It is from our schoolmaster.Who teaches us right from wrong. Things that in the Second Covenant only churches areconsidered null and void. Yet inorder for us to attain forgiveness we must know we have sinned,which we learned in the first part was a violation of Torah. A violation of G-d's laws.Lawlessness.Now once we are made aware of our wrongdoing we have to make amends for that crime if youwill. Making amends begins with the justice part, which is the acknowledgement of our sin, ourcrime against G-d.

The necessity of a blood sacrifice

goes again back to Torah, where G-d specifically onnumerous occasions explains HIS requirement for a payment or restitution if you will. This hasalways been in the form of a blood sacrifice. In Vayikra there are numerous areas explainingwhat must be paid. And the majority were blood sacrifices for sin, guilt, trespass. Now theblood sacrifice was NOT the only only requirement, there was preparation involved. First therewas the acknowledgement (The Justice), then there was the specific animal that was required,now you've chosen the animal required, either from your own flock's or you have had to go andpurchase one. Not an easy task, as your sacrifices could not have a blemish. Only the best forG-d. Now the animal has been obtained, washed, now “you” the one seeking forgiveness have tophysically take the sacrifice to the Temple/Tabernacle. Here you turn it over to the Kohanimwho will place His hand on it's head as it is ritually killed on your behalf.Hmm, let's see, we SIN, we know we SINNED because there was a “list” so to speak[TORAH] but wait. How can we sacrifice. How can we make a sin offering, we have no temple,we have no Kohanim, we have no altar of sacrifice. But wait G-d sent us aTzaddik

who wouldbecome our atonement our kapparah

, our blood sacrifice was provided, our korban

so thenecessity, the requirement has been provided. It cost us NOTHING. The only requirement is

8Vayikra/Leviticus ארקיו9Yesha'yahu היעשי Isaiah 1:16-17 Malachi יכאלמ Malachi 3:2-410Hebrews תירבע11 Righteousness, הקדצ12 Atonement, הרפכ13Korban (Hebrew: "sacrifice" ןברק) (plural: Korbanot תונבק) refers to any one of a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah (Hebrew Bible) that were offered in avariety of settings by the ancient Israelites, and later only by the Kohanim (the Jewish "priests") inthe Temple in Jerusalem. Korban derives from the Hebrew root ברק (QRV) means to "[come] Close(or Draw Near) [to God]"A Korban was usually an animal sacrifice, such as a sheep or a bull that underwent shechita(Jewish ritual slaughter), and (often) cooked and eaten by the offerer, with parts given to theKohanim (priests) and parts burned on the Temple mizbe'ah (altar). Korbanot could also consist of turtle-doves, grain, incense, fruit, and a variety of other offerings.