First John/Chapter 2:1-8/Commentary

First John Chapter 2:1-8 Outline: I. The Advocate and Propitiation: 2:1-2 II.

III.

Tests of a Christian: 2:3-11 A.

The Test of Obedience: 2:3-6

B.

The Test of Brotherly Love: 2:7-11

Exhortation: 2:12-14

Introductory Comments: This chapter continues the thought of the previous section (1:5-10). The expression these things (2:1) “embrace the matters which were written in the closing portion of chapter 1” (Woods p. 221). “In the preceding verses he has had his opponents very much in mind, and has been citing the kind of things which they said, by which other members of the church might be led astray.

Now he turns his attention more directly to the members of the church and issues an appeal to them. It was possible that the readers might interpret what John had just written with its emphasis on the fact that Christians were not free from sin as a license to sin (Romans 6:1)” (Marshall pp. 115-116).

“Lest it should be thought that the frank admission and full forgiveness of our sins (1:9,10) allowed us to think lightly of them. On the contrary, the author's purpose is ‘to prevent sin, not to condone it’ (Brooke)” (Stott p. 79).

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I am impressed that the Bible is written in such a way as to keep us from assuming false positions. We need to keep the two statements that ye sin not and if any man sin in balance. “It is possible to be both too lenient and too severe towards sin. Too great a lenience would seem almost to encourage sin in the Christian by stressing God's provision for the sinner. An exaggerated severity, on the other hand, would either deny the possibility of a Christian sinning or refuse him forgiveness and restoration if he falls. Both extreme positions are contradicted by John” (Stott p. 79).

1John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” “My little children”: This is a statement of affection from a teacher to his students (John 13:33; Gal. 4:19; 1 John 2:12,28; 3:7,18; 4:4; 5:21). Barclay notes, “diminutives (like the word little) are words which are used, as it were, with a caress. When John writes, he is a very old man, maybe the last man alive who had walked and talked with Jesus in the days of His flesh” (p. 40).

Besides affection, the statement little children also suggests the authority of the writer and his concern. “The tender address of age to youth, of authority to subordinates, of wisdom to ignorance” (Woods p. 221). “These things write”: That is, what John had written in 1:5-10. There is always a very good reason why every section of the Bible was revealed. “That ye may not sin”: “Keep clear of sin” (Knox); “to help you avoid sin” (Phi). This “is a negative purpose clause in the aorist tense, and the apostle thus warned against even isolated acts of sin” (Woods p. 222).

While John has stated the universality of sin (1:8-10), at the same time he refuses to teach that sin is an inherent part of man's nature. There will always exist people who try to downplay or excuse their sins, and others who simply throw up their hands in despair and say that the attempt to resist sin is a vain task. Barclay notes “There is a two-fold danger that they may indeed think lightly of sin. If all have sinned, why make a fuss about it, and what is the use of struggling against something that is in any event an inevitable part of the human situation? Again, if there is forgiveness (1:9) of sins, why worry about it?” (p. 41). “It is easy to live without sin if one denies that one's acts are really

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sinful. John wishes that his readers would recognize the all-pervasive character of sin--and yet live without sinning” (Marshall p. 116).

We have already noted that walking in the light means abstaining from the practice or habit of sin (1:6; 3:9). John goes beyond that, it is the will of God that the Christian also strives to avoid the isolated act of sin. The sin of 1 John 2:1 is the single act (aorist) tense. “The acknowledgement of the persistent malady of sin might lead a Christian to accept sin as inevitable in life, causing him to ease his struggle against sin” (Zond. Ency. p. 653). “A tremendous peril into which a Christian can fall is that of consenting to sin, tolerating it in one's life, and thus becoming comfortable with it. So while we must admit that we sin occasionally, that no saint is perfect (1:8; Galatians 2:11-14), we should not allow such facts to relieve our minds of the responsibility to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), so that we become better followers of Jesus (2 Peter 1:5-11), and less acquainted with sin in our lives!” (The Preceptor.

March 1986 p. 6). Yet also notice what this section says about “what is written”. The Bible clearly defines "sin" (Galatians 5:19-21), and can keep the Christian from sinning. Man cannot avoid sin on his own (due to his limited understanding), and without the Bible, man is no match for the Devil. We can understand the Bible alike (and this verse demands such a conclusion), because if we cannot, then we cannot even agree on what constitutes "sin".

2:1 “If any man sin”: This statement in no way excuses sin, for the next statement reveals the true depth of any sin, that is only the sacrifice of Christ can atone for it. ”The writer does not mean to encourage sin, but to comfort the one who has sinned” (Erdman p. 147). Even isolated acts of sin need to be repented of, for a few sins will separate us from God just as well as many (Luke 7:41-42). The Christian surely does not have the right to despair or give up, seeing that forgiveness is always available for the repentant. John is guarding against two extremes: Perfectionism (I never sin), and the abuse of grace. “We have”: Notice that John includes himself, because the apostles needed the blood of Christ just as much as any other person. The tense is present active indicative, “We keep on having” (Robertson p. 208).

“Advocate”: An intercessor, consoler, or comforter.

Literally the word "Advocate" (Greek "Parakletos") means called to one's side, to one's aid, and suggests the capability or adaptability for giving aid. Vine

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says, “it was used in a court of justice to denote a legal assistant, counsel for the defense, then generally, one who pleads another’s cause, intercessor” (p.

208). “One who appears in another's behalf, mediator, intercessor, helper” (Arndt p. 618). Thus the advocate is the opposite of an accuser.

2:1 “With the Father”: “Thus at His side and ever present to afford us an adequate and constant representation” (Woods p. 222). (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25 “He always lives to make intercession for them”; Romans 8:34; Isaiah 53:12; 1 Tim. 2:6). “Jesus Christ”: John here takes another swipe at the Gnostic idea of a human Jesus in contrast to the Divine Christ. “The Righteous”: The only person who could make intercession for us, would have to be sinless. “It is self-evident that only through a righteous Savior could we be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1:9)” (Stott p. 81). (1 Peter 3:18; Heb. 7:26) “As one who is not contaminated by sin He is qualified to intercede for others” (Marshall p. 117). Please note that this is the only advocate that exists (Acts 4:12), there is no other way we can be cleansed from our sins.

1John 2:2 “and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world” “He is”: Jesus and none other. “Propitiation”: “Means of appeasing” (Thayer p. 301). The Greek term is HILASMOS and is akin to "hileos" which means merciful, propitious, and signifies an expiation, a means whereby sin is covered and remitted (1 John 4:10; Romans 3:25; Heb. 9:5; 2:17). When we talk about the concept of "propitiation", we need to be careful. God is not the one with the problem. So when people talk about "appeasing God", we need to remember that our sins have caused the disruption in fellowship (2 Cor. 5:21). God does not need to be reconciled to us, rather we need to be reconciled to God. Stott adds, “God's wrath is not arbitrary or capricious. It bears no resemblance to the unpredictable passions and personal vengefulness of the pagan deities. Instead, it is His settled, controlled, holy antagonism to all evil. Secondly, the means by which His wrath is averted is not a bribe, either from us or from a third party. On the contrary, the initiative in the propitiation is entirely God's” (p. 83). We need to remember that Jesus is the propitiation (appeasement), which God has provided (John 3:16). The picture is not of an angry God who Jesus tried to reconcile to man, but rather of a holy, just and merciful God, who provided the means of

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atonement whereby sinners could once again have fellowship with Him. If Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, then logically Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6).The idea of "appeasement" in the word "propitiation" infers that unless sin is forgiven, we remain God's enemy and His wrath abides on us (John 3:36). “The tremendous thing about Jesus is that Jesus has never lost His interest in, nor His love for, men. We are not to think of Him as having gone through His life upon the earth, and His death upon the Cross, and then being finished with men. He still bears His concern for men upon His heart” (Barclay p. 45).

2:2 “Not for ours only, but also for the whole world”: This verse cuts at the heart of the doctrine known as Calvinism because Calvinism argues that Jesus only died for those predestined for salvation, and that He did not really die for the whole world. “What is indicated is that provision is made for the whole world, so that no one is, by Divine pre-determination, excluded from the scope of God's mercy” (Vine p. 225). This verse infers that all men have the need of forgiveness and that Jesus is the only Savior (as if one is not enough!) available to all men. “Here is positive and undeniable evidence of the falsity of any system of theology which would limit the benefits of the atonement, or deny its blessings to any portion of the human family. No man is outside the mercy of God, except as he deliberately places himself there through the repudiation of the plan which was (designed) to save him” (Woods p. 223).

Hebrews 2:9; John 4:42; 12:32; 1 John 4:14; 1 Tim. 2:4.

“John's teaching in this section stands fast against errors in the church of today. But two errors still die hard. One is that acts of sin do not cut us off from access to God. Modern men treat sin lightly. Probably few people would deny that acts of deliberate, clear-cut evil are incompatible with true religion. What they do deny is that any of their own acts fall into that category. There is a refusal to measure actions by the standards of God” (Marshall p. 120).

The Test of Obedience “The theme of the previous section is continued in this one. This can be seen from the way in which the writer is still taking up the kind of claims that might be made by his opponents (2:4,9)” (Marshall p. 121). “The essential relation

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of man's life to God's truth is now particularized in three tests--moral (the test of obedience), social (the test of love) and doctrinal (the test of belief in Christ). The rest of the Epistle contains three successively elaborate expositions and applications of these tests” (Stott p. 89).

1John 2:3 “And hereby we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” “Hereby”: Or, by this. In contrast to those who claim we cannot discover absolute truth or that such does not exist (of course then they always contradict themselves by being dogmatic concerning their favorite theories), John says that we can "know". In reference to the question, “How do I know that I really know?” John has a very simple answer. “We know that we know Him”: “This is how we may be sure that we know him” (Mof) “And still know Him” (Robertson p. 210). One can know for certain that one does indeed know God. “The repetition of these expressions ('we come to know', 'we perceive') in the Epistle shows that the author's purpose is to supply tests by which the genuine Christian may be discerned from the spurious. ‘Here is the test by which we can make sure that we know him’” (Stott pp. 89-90).

The Gnostics boasted of their "knowledge about God". John gives us the real test of whether we "know" God or not. Barclay notes, “Now it has to be noted that an (purely) intellectual approach to religion is not necessarily ethical at all. If religion is a series of mental problems, if God is the goal at the end of intense mental activity, then religion becomes something not very unlike higher mathematics. It becomes intellectual satisfaction, and not moral action” (p. 49 ). John is also making it clear that we can know if we are presently in a right relationship with God, and hence we can also "know" where many others also stand, as to whether they are keeping the commands of God. 2:3 “If”: So much rests upon “if”. “We keep”: “Present active subjunctive, ‘If we keep on keeping’” (Robertson p. 210). “Keep, observe, fulfill, and pay attention to” (Arndt p. 815). “His commandments”: And not merely one or two, or our favorite commandments. God’s commandments can be kept!

(5:3) In response to those who claim that we cannot all understand the

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Bible alike, if that theory is true, then it is impossible to know or understand what commandments you and I need to keep. “Christianity knows nothing of piety without morality. To know Christ is to love Him, and to love Him is to obey and imitate Him (John 14:15)” (P.P. Comm. p. 21). Keeping God’s commands is not legalism.

“In the Old Testament...the prophets complain that the people do not know God (Jeremiah 9:6; Isa. 1:13; 5:13; 1 Sam. 2:12). The sign of the knowledge of God is obedience to His commands and the recognition of the way of life that He expects from His people. When Hosea, for example, complains that there is no knowledge of God in the land, he immediately follows this up by saying, ‘there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery’ (Hos. 4:1f.).

To know God thus involves knowledge of His character, and requirements and obedience to these requirements” (Marshall p. 122). “The word for keep expresses the idea of watchful, observant obedience” (Stott p. 90).

1John 2:4 “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” “He that saith”: These are the type of claims being made by the false teachers. Just because a person claims to be a Christian, does not mean that they are. John is doing what many modern religious leaders condemn, that is judging the faith of another who claims to be a Christian. “I know Him”: Which is the same as professing to have fellowship with Him (1:6). “And keepeth not His commandments”: Present tense. “The one who keeps on saying: I have come to know Him, and keeps on not keeping His commandments is a liar” (Robertson p. 210). “The positive principle of the previous verse is illustrated by a negative example. His conduct contradicts his profession and proves it to be false” (Stott p. 90). This verse also infers that we can tell when someone is not keeping the commands of God, that’s just how clear they are. “Is a liar”: “More emphatic than 'we lie' (1:6), and 'we deceive ourselves' (1:8). His status is not simply that of one who is guilty of a single falsehood, or one who is innocently deceived, but rather He is essentially a liar” (Woods p. 225).

Thus we must reject every doctrine that claims we can have a relationship with God--even though we might not be observing everything that God has

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commanded, or that one's relationship to God is not affected by what one does in their personal life. Modern Application: We know that the denominations are neglecting clear commands of God (such as baptism for the remission of sins) therefore, we know that they are not in fellowship with God. The above passages also prove as false the doctrine of once saved, always saved. Remember these verses were written to Christians. Also remember these verses when people engaged in adultery, fornication, or homosexuality, claim to have a deep relationship with God while engaged in those sins.

2:4 “And the truth is not in him”: “Lit., in this one the truth is not” (Vincent p. 326). When we claim that we can have fellowship with God apart from observing the commands of God, we are demonstrating that we have been influenced by something other than the truth. In addition, such an attitude demonstrates that we are not interested in the truth and neither do we love it. These passages also destroy the idea that the Bible is no longer relevant for modern man. Since keeping the commands of God is the test of a genuine relationship with God--the commands of God will always be most relevant.

False claims of fellowship with God have always plagued mankind (Luke 6:46; Titus 1:16 “They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny Him”).

1John 2:5 “but whoso keepeth His word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in Him” “Whoso”: God is no respecter or persons (Romans 2:11). “Keepeth His word”: Once again, the Bible can be understood and kept by any person who so desires. The tense here is present active, that is whoever keeps on keeping.

“His word”: Compare with 2:4 “His commandments”. Keeping God's Word means keeping all the commandments contained in the New Testament (God's law for those living since the cross). This in turn means that every command is important.

“His word in general, regarded as a single and complete revelation of His will” (Stott p. 90). The will of God cannot be divided up into essential and nonessential commands (James 2:10-11).

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2:5 “In Him verily”: “In reality, most certainly” (Thayer p. 27). “Truly, in truth, really, actually” (Arndt p. 37). “Hath the Love of God”: That is, our Love for God. Obedience to the will of God, and keeping His commandments, cannot be separated from our love for God (John 14:15,21,23; 15:10; 1 John 5:2).

“The proof of love is loyalty” (Stott p. 91). “Perfected”: Fulfilled, completely finished. “Bring to an end, bring to its goal or to accomplishment” (Arndt p.

809). Compare with James 2:22.

“True love for God is expressed not in sentimental language or mystical experience but in moral obedience” (Stott p. 91). The acid test for one's love of God--is obedience to His will. Again, the commands of God cannot be separated from God Himself. The written will of God is simply an expression of God's nature, all that He stands for and opposes. Resentment towards the will of God is resentment expressed towards the nature of God. “If you do what He says, God's love has in you really accomplished what He wants” (Beck).

Thus spiritual maturity never argues for the relaxing of God's standards.

Often we hear people claiming a false spiritual maturity that you really grow up spiritually when you stop concentrating upon God's commands. People might say something like, “My relationship with God is no longer concerned about doctrine or commands, rather, and my relationship with God is a love affair”. John did not believe in a level of Christianity where the commands of God were no longer important. In fact, the Gnostics were claiming that they were so spiritual that keeping various commands had become irrelevant to them. In like manner, various people today talk about moving beyond the details of the law of God and seeing the big picture. John believes that the big picture always includes obeying the details! In fact, you have missed the big picture if you think that the commands of God are not essential. The loving thing to do never involves disobeying the will of God (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Marshall notes: “Much (but not all) human love is of the getting variety, where the lover is really seeking his own pleasure. God's love is of the giving" variety, where the lover is seeking the benefit of the beloved, and His own pleasure is found in giving pleasure to others” (p. 126). This is one reason why many people have such a hard time seeing that true love involves

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obedience to the will of God, because the "love" they have practiced all their lives is of the selfish variety.

1John 2:6 “he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked” “He that saith”: Another claim is examined (1:6,8,10). “He abideth in Him”: The word "abideth" is a favorite in John's writings (John 15:4-7; 1 John 2:24; 3:6,24; 4:13). “Fig., of someone who does not leave the realm or sphere in which he finds himself, remain, continue, abide, the phrase is a favorite with John to denote an inward, enduring, personal communion” (Arndt p. 504).

“Ought”: The language of moral obligation. “To be under obligation, bound by duty or necessity” (Thayer p. 469). “Himself”: Make the personal application.

“To walk even as He walked”: “Present active infinitive, ‘Himself also to keep on walking’, a continuous performance, not a spasmodic spurt” (Robertson p.

211). “We cannot claim to abide in Him unless we behave like Him” (Stott p.

92). Jesus is the standard (Luke 6:36; John 13:15,34; 15:10,12; 17:22; 1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 4:32; 5:2,25,29; Col. 3:13; 1 John 3:3,7).

The Test of Brotherly Love The connection between the following section (2:7-11), and the previous section is “but how did Jesus walk?” One of the aspects of the life of Christ, one of the things that we need to imitate is His unselfish love for others.

1John 2:7 “Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard” “Beloved”: This is a favorite expression of John's (3:2,21; 4:1,7; 3 John 1,2,5,11). “New”: The commandment under consideration in this context is the command to love one another (2:9-11). The word new here means “of a new kind; unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of” (Thayer p. 318).

“But an old commandment which ye heard from the beginning”: The beginning in the above verse is the beginning of their relationship with God. John is making the point that he is not giving them any new teaching on this subject. “They had learned it before. Indeed, they had known it from the

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outset of their Christian life It was part of the ethical instruction they received from the day of their conversion. Brotherly love was part of the original message that had come to them. John was not now inventing it. It was not an innovation such as the heretics claimed to teach” (Stott pp. 9293). “The old commandment is the word which ye heard” “The word sums up the message they had received; heard indicates the manner of reception.

They had heard it; it therefore came to them through preaching” (Woods p.

227).

1John 2:8 “Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth” “Again”: “On the other hand” (NASV). “In another sense, from another point of view, not in himself but in our recognition of it” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 175).

“A new commandment”: On the one hand the command to love was even found in the O.T. (Lev. 19:18), but on the other hand the death of Jesus had given new meaning to what it meant to love another (John 13:34-35) “The idea of love in general is not new, but Jesus Christ invested it with a richer and deeper meaning. It was new in the emphasis He gave it. A disciple was to love others not just as he loved himself but in the same measure as Christ had loved him, with selfless self-sacrifice even unto death” (Stott p.

93). We are not allowed to come up with our own definition of love. “Notice how often Jesus' love exemplified in His death on the cross is mentioned as the standard of comparison in defining how we should love (John 13:34; 15:12-13; 1 John 3:16)” 1 “Which thing”: The command to love and or the new quality of love that Jesus revealed. “Is true in Him”: “True in the sense of unconcealed, manifest, actual, true to fact” (Vine p. 158). “Manifest in Christ's life” (TCNT). “And in you”: Indicating that these Christians were practicing this new commandment. Note: The command is only true in us when we are practicing it.

2:8 “Because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth”: “Passing away is better than past, for the tense here is present middle indicative, 'the passing here is not accomplished, but rather as in progress’” (Robertson p. 212).

1

The Letters Of John. J.W. Roberts p. 46.

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Since the world continued to remain in darkness (1 John 5:19), the darkness passing away seems to apply to the life of the individual believer (John 3:1921; 8:12 “he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life”; 1 John 1:7 “but if we walk in the light”.)

Hence the thought is that when one begins to apply the new commandment and love as Jesus loved, that one comes out of the darkness. Darkness (ignorance, prejudice, hate, bitterness, and immorality) all begins to disappear from one's life when unselfish love is practiced.

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