1 Yohanes 1:8

1:8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, ¹  we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1 Yohanes 4:20

4:20 If anyone says ²  “I love God” and yet ³  hates his fellow Christian, ⁴  he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian ⁵  whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ⁶ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Grk “say we do not have sin.” The use of ἔχω + ἁμαρτία (ecw + Jamartia) is an expression limited to John and 1 John in the NT. On the analogy with other constructions where ἔχω governs an abstract noun (e.g., 1 John 1:3, 6, 7; 2:28; 3:3, 15, 21; 4:16, 17; 5:12-13), it indicates that a state is involved, which in the case of ἁμαρτία would refer to a state of sin. The four times the expression ἔχω + ἁμαρτία occurs in the Gospel of John (9:41; 15:22, 24; 19:11) all refer to situations where a wrong action has been committed or a wrong attitude has already existed, resulting in a state of sin, and then something else happens which further emphasizes the evil of that action or attitude. Here in 1 John 1:8 the sense is the same. The author is addressing people who have sinned (resulting in a state of sin), warning them that they cannot claim to be free from the guilt of that sin. The context of 1 John does not imply libertinism (where sins are flaunted as a way of demonstrating one’s “liberty”) on the part of the opponents, since the author makes no explicit charges of immoral behavior against his opponents. The worst the author explicitly says is that they have failed to love the brethren (1 John 3:17). It seems more likely that the opponents were saying that things a believer did after conversion were not significant enough to be “sins” that could challenge one’s intimate relationship with God (a relationship the author denies that the opponents have to begin with).

[4:20]  ² tn Grk “if anyone should say…”

[4:20]  ³ tn “Yet” is supplied to bring out the contrast.

[4:20]  ⁴ tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.

[4:20]  ⁵ tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.

[4:20]  ⁶ sn In 4:20 the author again describes the opponents, who claim to love God. Their failure to show love for their fellow Christians proves their claim to know God to be false: The one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.