NOTES for Jo1 1:9

The language of Scripture is the language of paradoxes, because the reality described by the Word of God does not fit into unambiguous formulas. God Himself is paradoxical: He is One and Triune at the same time. His attitude toward us is paradoxical: He loves us as we are, but we, as we are, do not please Him. This world is paradoxical: it was created by the all-good God, yet it lies in evil. The apostle John writes in his letter about a similar paradoxicality within us.

On the one hand, we have "known Him," which is manifested in our keeping God's commandments. On the other hand, "if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." This simultaneous presence within us of incompatible sin and grace is what makes up the tension, the dynamism of Christian life, our movement from darkness into light.

And the verse we have read today tells us how we should make this movement. We must openly acknowledge our sins before God, sins we discover as violations of Christ's commandment to love one another, acknowledge our lack of self-sufficiency, and ask Him to intervene in this situation. Then by His forgiveness He cleanses us from within, giving us the strength of the Holy Spirit for changing our life, for ascending toward Him.