BUILDING SCENARIOS
Human beings have this ability to project virtual situations to orient themselves in their present life. We act in the present based on the past in terms of memory (good or bad) and future expectations. Memory concerns the past that is not physically present but affects our actions. For example, the death of Christ in the past affects the Christian today: he must live in obedience to God. The expectation of heaven has the effect of creating in the Christian in his immediate situation a desire for Christ’s return and to obey him. Past and future are virtualities.
Starting from reality as virtuality, John creates possible scenarios with the aim of guiding his readers to know how to deal with their sins. John tries to get them to consider possible situations before which statements are made by the apostle. In Greek, as in Portuguese, one way of creating virtual and alternative scenarios to our immediate and physical situation is by the use of the subjunctive. By projecting possible situations, we can engage with them for the purposes of communication. This is what John does in I of John 1.5-10.
For instance, in verse 6, virtually, the contradiction between saying that one has fellowship with God and walking in sin are part of the structure of reality in terms of potentiality. It is potential because his readers were not necessarily living that way. By using conditionals, John creates several alternative scenarios to instruct his readers as to the correct doctrine in practical life. It follows that the uses of conditionals create virtual scenarios to instruct and correct believers as to correct doctrine and its application in the Christian life. John is not indicating that the saved cannot walk in sin. His concern is doctrinal instruction – God is light not associating with sin – in the Christian life, the pursuit of holiness; that is: walking away from sin.
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE TEXT
5 Καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία. 6ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν, ψευδόμεθα καὶ οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν· 7ἐὰν ἐν τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν, ὡς αὐτός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων, καὶ τὸ αἷμα Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καθαρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας. 8ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. 9ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος, ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας. 10ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι οὐχ ἡμαρτήκαμεν, ψεύστην ποιοῦμεν αὐτόν, καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν.
In verse 6, the pronoun αὕτη has the cataphoric function of developing John’s idea regarding the gospel message. The particle ὅτι serves to introduce the content of the message (ἡ ἀγγγελία). The relative clause (ἣν ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ) is meant to specify to the readers a characteristic of the message: it was a message witnessed by John. The sentence introduced by the conjunction καὶ (ἀναγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν) adds a second characteristic of the message: it was previously transmitted to those readers. The perfect indicative (ἀκηκόαμεν) marks highly approximate assertion signaling rather pronounced presence of the subject so as to create sense effect of high prominence. The present indicative (ἀναγγέλλομεν) marks approximate assertion indicating pronounced presence of the subject. It is something that John considers very important.
The present tense in the Greek indicates a greater degree of subjectivity than the aorist in that it marks more closely the mark of subjectivity; the perfect, in turn, signals an even greater degree of subjectivity, for this reason perfect marks a greater presence of the subject in terms of high prominence. The concept of assertion means two things: First, it is understood as the speaker’s expectation that the reader will come to know something. Second, it is understood as information, being already known, taken for granted. Certainly, what John is writing is not something new to his readers. By using present and perfect, John is drawing his readers’ attention to the message that has relevance to their lives in their immediate situation. The particle ὅτι serves to introduce the content of the message; that is, “God is light and there is no darkness in him” (ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία. ) The metaphor is used to indicate that God is disassociated and removed from sin.
In verse 6, from the metaphor GOD IS LIGHT AND NOT DARK, John creates alternative virtual scenarios based on which he makes certain statements. Conditional clauses with subjunctive serve to create virtual alternative scenarios for his readers to see the implications of these scenarios. The use of ἐὰν followed by subjunctive marks an even more virtual scenario compared to the use of indicative. I am using virtual in the sense of opposite to physically present. In other words, that which is set so far from the immediate situation. It is virtual also because it is considered a potential situation whose effect is to act on the immediate situation of the participants of the interaction. The use of ὅτι evokes the content of what is going to be said. Conditional particles like ἐὰν have the function of indicating the perspective of someone other than the one who is enunciating the content. Which means to say that John is evoking a thought that is not exactly his own. There are two virtual situations presented, “we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness” (κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατῶμεν). Both are connected by the conjunction καὶ. In the first potential (virtual) scenario, one has communion with God. That is: the Christian lives in communion with God. In the second virtual scenario, the Christian walks in darkness; that is: in sin. The prepositional phrase “in darkness” (ἐν τῷ σκότει) echoes the statement in verse 5 (God is in the light and not in darkness).
John presents two opposing virtual scenarios that are connected by καὶ. John is not interested in telling us whether both scenarios were occurring with his readers. He is making them see what is expected in both situations. In the first virtual situation, one projects someone’s speech (εἴπωμεν, we say). In the second virtual situation, he projects the person’s life (περιπατῶμεν, we walk). John’s conclusion is that, implying an incompatibility between the two virtual situations, living in both simultaneously is a lie (ψευδόμεθα). John uses a prayer introduced by καὶ paraphrasing what lying is (οὐ ποιοῦμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, we do not practice the truth). In other words, to walk in truth is to not walk in darkness. The uses of the indicative (ψευδόμεθα and ποιοῦμεν, we lie and we practice) present tense mark John’s involvement in relation to his assertion. By using present in the subjunctives, John expresses involvement on his part by signaling explicitness of subjectivity. In other words, John is dealing with something that he considers quite relevant.
In verse 7, he creates another scenario that must be interpreted based on the prepositional syntagma ἐν τῷ φωτὶ (in the light). This syntagma evokes the Johannine doctrinal statement that God is light; that is: not associated with sin. John is even more repetitive by using the construction (ὡς αὐτός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, as he is in the light) making clear to the reader the doctrinal statement in verse 5. In verse 7, the scenario created is – virtually the individual lives disassociated from sin: removed from its presence. In this scenario, John makes two statements. First, by living disassociated from sin, the subject has fellowship with God. Second, by living apart from sin, the individual evidence having been cleansed by the blood of Christ. In other words: the expectation that one has of a saved person is to see him/her walking away from sin.
John creates several virtual scenarios based on the metaphor light and darkness. The conditionals create the sense effect related to guiding his readers to live in holiness in the sense of staying away from sin. Anything beyond that, such as loss of salvation, is pure speculation. John’s point is: Since God is holy, the saved should live away from sin. Virtually, a believer can profess to be saved but live in disobedience to God.
In verse 8, a scenario is created in which someone claims to be sinless, being implied to be a Christian. It is within this virtual scenario that John’s statement must be interpreted – ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. In other words, the person who calls himself a Christian but denies that he is a sinner is mistaken about the message witnessed and proclaimed. Part of the gospel message is the assumption that the individual is a sinner. To deceive oneself means not having the truth in oneself. The true Christian understands himself to still be a sinner.
In verse 9, John continues to instruct his readers to have a correct way of dealing with sin. He creates a virtual scenario in which the person acknowledges being a sinner in God’s presence. In this scenario, John stresses God’s faithfulness in forgiving us of sins by cleansing us from unrighteousness. The use of aorist subjunctive (ἀφῇ and καθαρίσῃ, forgive and purify) in verse 9 creates effect of social distancing. Forgiving sin is paraphrased in terms of being cleansed of unrighteousness. Action of forgiving sin is vested in God alone. By using the aorist, John creates effect of attenuation of his presence to create effect of deference by God.
In verse 10, John uses conditional in the subjunctive with particle ὅτι to evoke the thought of the Christian not having sinned. The use of the perfect indicative (ἡμαρτήκαμεν, we have sinned) expresses strong subject presence marking high subjectivity and thus greater involvement by John, allowing us to infer that the central issue revolves around how the Christian deals with sin being that he is called to live with God, who is light (i.e., holy). In the scenario where someone denies being a sinner, John makes the claim that this constitutes a lie; that is: the gospel message is not in the person. He is not saved. The saved Christian recognizes the reality of sin in his life. How to deal with sin involves understanding who God is and our calling to fellowship with Him.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
An important observation is that the present subjunctives are in the first person plural (“we”). With this, John places himself virtually in the same position as his readers, in the imagined potential situations. Put another way, the conditional uses with the conclusions in the present indicatives have a function of instruction as to the doctrine and its implications for Christian living.
In short, the right way to deal with sin involves:
1. Know that God is disassociated from sin;
2. Live away from sin by associating with God (i.e., having fellowship with God)
3. Recognize your sins in your life.
4. Seek God’s faithfulness to forgive us.