seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[b] is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[c] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[e] 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
a. 1 John 2:5 Or word, God’s love
b. 1 John 2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.
c. 1 John 2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.
d. 1 John 2:15 Or world, the Father’s love
e. 1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things
This is from the easy English site.
Some people may think that sin is a normal part of the Christian life. They agree that we will continue to sin. They may even think that it does not matter. God will forgive us when we sin. But sin does matter. Christians ought not to continue to sin. They should not sin. Sin is an enemy that will move us from the light. (In other words, it will move us away from everything that is good, holy, and right.) Sin will get between God and us. It spoils the joy that Christians should share.
John writes as a father. He writes to his children whom he loves. He tells them that they should not sin. He wrote the letter to help them not to sin.
We should not sin but we are human and weak. If we sin, we have to confess it to God. We must decide that we will not do that sin again. If possible we should put right what we have done wrong. And we must ask the Lord to forgive us our sin.
If anyone does sin, God has the remedy for it. Someone is ready to help us. He comes to our rescue. This person is able to speak to God the Father. He is the agent for the person who sinned. Jesus Christ is this person. He has never sinned. He has always done what was right. He is the perfect man and he is God the Son. He understands us and he is God. So, he can speak with God the Father. He can ask God to forgive our sins.
Jesus is able to do this because he died for our sin. He took all our sin to himself. God has to punish sin and he did so in Jesus. Jesus does not say to the Father that we are innocent. If we sin, we are guilty. But he has suffered and died on our behalf. He offered himself as the sacrifice for our sin. And by his death, Jesus satisfied God’s law. God accepted what Jesus Christ had done. He proved this when he raised Jesus from death to life. Therefore, Jesus Christ is able to ask God to forgive us and God will do it.
We cannot do anything to persuade God to forgive us. But God himself planned the way of escape for us. He sent his only Son Jesus for this purpose. He used up all his anger against sin on the Lord Jesus. So, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, God will forgive us because of him.
John wrote to those who believed. He says that Christ did not die only for them. Jesus died for the sins of all people. His death is sufficient for all the people who live in the world. This does not mean that God will forgive everyone. Each person must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They must accept what he has done for them. Then they will receive the benefits of Christ’s death.
The false teachers taught that Jesus did not die for everyone. Jesus only died for those who accepted their message. In this verse, John explains clearly that this idea was wrong.
When Jesus lived on earth, he pleased the Father. He did all that the Father asked him to do. The devil did all that he could to tempt Jesus. But Jesus did not sin at all.
We may say that we live with God. If so, we ought to live as Jesus did. We must live as God directs. We should not sin. The life of Jesus is the pattern that we must follow. John does not say that we can achieve the same standard as Jesus. But that is how we ought to live.
Love is the subject in this section. John loves the people that he is writing to. Therefore, he calls them his dear friends.
Here he refers to the command that the Lord Jesus gave (John 13:34). Jesus said, ‘I give you a new command. You must love each other.’ We should love even as he loves us. It is not now a new command. It was always part of the gospel. We should love both God and other people. This is how Jesus lived.
The command to love is an old command. Jesus gave it to those who followed him. It is old because the command to love is in the Old Testament. Jesus spoke about the 10 commands as love for God and love for other people. (See Exodus chapter 20 and Matthew 22:37-40.)
On the one hand the command is not new but old. On the other hand, it is new. The law of love was old. However, there is a difference now, which makes it new. It is new because God has shown his love for us. He sent Jesus to die for us. It is new because Jesus obeyed all the law. Love completes the law. So the command to love is new because of Jesus. He makes it possible for us to have a new life with God. Jesus loves us so much that he gave himself to die for us.
Those who do not know God cannot obey this command. But now those who know God can do it. They can love both God and other people. The command to love is new because there is a higher standard. Christians should love as Christ loved. Jesus called this the new command. John calls it the new command too.
This command to love is new. The Lord Jesus showed us what love means. His love was so much more than the love of normal people. It was a different kind of love. He gives the same kind of love to those who know him. They too begin to know what love really means. So, the love that Jesus has is also in Christians. They are able to love God and each other with this new kind of love. They love as Christ loved.
They can see the effect of the new command. They can see it in themselves. The darkness is getting less. The true light shines stronger in them. By darkness, John means sin and error. As they love God and each other, the true light grows in them. This true light refers to changes that happen in the Christians. As they love the Lord more so they grow to be more like Jesus. That process of love has begun in them.
To John a person either loves or hates. To walk in the light is to love each other. The love of God in them will express itself in actions. Therefore, hate is the lack of this love. A person who does not love a brother or a sister hates them. John is here talking about the love that Christians ought to have for each other. Other Christians are the brothers and sisters. Someone who hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
There are some people who hate other people. These people may think that they are in the light. But they are still in darkness. Their hate shows that they are in darkness, not light. They are doing wrong and they are in error.
But, for the Christian who hates another Christian, there is no light. He is wrong when he hates another Christian. He does not obey the command and he is in error. He is like someone in the dark. A person who wanders in the dark has lost his way. He does not know where he is. He does not know where he is going. If he is in the dark for too long, he may become blind. His eyes can no longer see the light.
The person who hates other people is like someone who walks in darkness. It is as if hate makes this person’s eyes blind. What he does is wrong. And he cannot see where he is going. This person will lose the sense of unity with the Lord. He can no longer find his way back to God.
John writes to all his readers as his children. He calls them this to show that he loves them. He loves them as a father loves his children. He feels that he is responsible for them. He cares as parents care for their children. He is eager to warn them about the dangers that are coming.
John calls the time when they were living ‘the last time’. By this, he means the final time before the return of Christ. Then the end of the world will come. This time began with the start of the church. It will end after Christ has come back to the earth. We too are living in that last time.
But before the Antichrist comes, there will be many false Christs. Some had already come in the time when John was writing. There have been many since then. Some are at work in the world today. They are people who oppose Christ. They try to destroy all that Christ has done. They are the enemies of the church and of Christians. The false Christs have the same evil purpose as we will see in the Antichrist. They hate the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate all those who belong to him.
The many false Christs when John wrote had been in the church. Among these were the false teachers. They had caused problems in the church. They had then left the church with their group. They were no longer part of it. In fact, they had never really belonged in the church. By their actions, they showed that they were not true Christians at all.
If they had been true Christians, they would not have left the church. In those days, there would have been just one church in each place. We now have many churches. But all those who believe the word of God, are part of the one true church.
It is not enough merely to hear the gospel. The truth must be present and active in our lives. What we believe must affect our lives.
This eternal life has begun in all those people who trust in Christ. We have this life now. But this is nothing compared to what will come. The full experience of this life will be ours in the future. This will happen when the Lord Jesus takes us from this earth. Then we shall live with him in heaven.
Christians do not need anyone else to decide for them what is right or wrong. They know what is right or wrong by God’s Spirit in them. We do need teachers. But Christians have to test what their teachers teach. This is what God’s Spirit does for the Christian. He teaches the Christian what to believe. And he teaches him or her what to refuse.
A person is not born of God by means of that person’s good deeds. But those who are born of God will do the right things.
Doing the right thing won't get you to Heaven. But.... if you are a Christian [a real Christian] you will always do the right things.
John was writing this about 64AD.... according to the commentary yesterday. The church apparently had problems with the message. There were people in the church who were picking and choosing what to believe in the Gospel and what to leave behind.
People loved that Jesus fed the people. Jesus could turn a few fish and some bread into a feast that would feed a stadium full of Believers. Jesus could heal people from miles away. Jesus could read minds. Jesus even loved the little children. The people in the early church loved that about Jesus. People in the church today have no problem teaching this.... they even have songs about little children playing musical instruments in the "stable" with the newborn Jesus.
But Jesus was also arrested. He was beaten to a pulp.... they used leather straps with glass imbedded in the straps to beat Him with.... and bloody and bruised, they made Him carry His own Cross to the execution site..... when it became obvious that He was too weak from the beatings... they found someone else to carry it for them.... so He wouldn't slow down the execution parade. After He had been nailed to the Roman Cross... naked.... they made fun of Him until He died. When they were tired of the execution party.... they rammed a sword through His chest and He didn't flinch.... Jesus of Nazareth was dead. They took Him off the Cross and laid His body in a tomb.... they couldn't embalm Him yet.... they had to get home because the Sabbath was coming... and they had to "rest" according to the Law. But when they got back to Him... to finish the job of embalming.... He was gone.... the Body was gone.... from a sealed and guarded tomb. That part of the story is too nasty to share.... it's set aside for a Easter show and tell. Not right for prime time....
Then Jesus of Nazareth.... the guy they pulled off that Cross.... Naked and Dead.... Was reported to have cooked up some fish on the bank and invited His disciples to have one more meal with Him... and then He went Home to God's Place.... Heaven.... But before He left.... He told us He's coming back. But it's been days, months, years...... that part will have to be set aside for future use.... too complicated for the church.... Not right for prime time....
The humans can understand huge pot luck dinners.... they had them all the time. Humans can understand healing.... even magicians can stumble on to a healing potion once in a while.... like a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes. Humans can understand loving children.
It's the surviving that Cross..... having a sword thrust into His ribs and He didn't flinch.... He was dead.... they all saw it.... How's He going to fix anyone a fish sandwich.
It's the coming back.... It's been too long.... if He was going to come back... they said.... He should have come back by now... they said... maybe it was Jesus that burned Rome to the ground.... but if it was Him... why didn't He swing by and get us?.... they said.... He's not coming.
For a couple thousand years people have been joining the church because it's the thing to do. Good people, people whom other people want to do business with, good people go to church.... it's what they do. But not everyone who sits in a pew or kneels at the altar for a wafer and a sip is really a Christian. They believe that Jesus loved the little children. They believe that Jesus was wrongly executed for something He didn't do. But they don't buy the rest of the Gospel.
Because they couldn't [can't] wrap their heads around a dead man getting up and walking out of a guarded and sealed tomb..... they don't really believe... that's the part that makes the miracle of eternal life possible.... and they don't get it because it's hard to understand.
Well some things just have to be accepted.... like Solving for Pi..... The Cross is the Key. He really did survive the Cross... so what makes me think I can do anything to match that..... When I meet Jesus.... what will I brag about that can possibly equal surviving the Roman Cross for something I didn't do.... He did...
So if John, the close personal friend of Jesus... who was there and saw them shove that sword in His ribs.....John was there when they sealed the tomb and stationed the Roman Guard..... and then John said.... Jesus cooked them a fish dinner..... I Believe Him.
Jesus was innocent.
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