1 John Chapter 2
2:1 (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,
To have fellowship with the Father, the believer must walk in the light of Bible doctrine and continually confess his sins when he leaves the light.
The Greek word for "little children" is Τεκνία (teknia), meaning a little child who is deeply loved. God is the Father. The believers are His little children that are deeply loved. God the Father does not want His little children to sin, because it brings such great harm to them. However, when His little children do sin, they have an advocate. The Greek word for "advocate" is παράκλητος (paraklatos), meaning a lawyer who knows his client so well, because he continually walks beside him so that he can defend him in a court of law. παράκλητος (paraklatos) is one of the names of the Holy Spirit. The παράκλητος (paraklatos) here is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a Jewish lawyer who has never lost a case. Basically, the Holy Spirit is the believer's παράκλητος (paraklatos) on earth while the Lord Jesus Christ is the believer's παράκλητος (paraklatos) in heaven. Satan is accusing the believers day and night, but believers have a Jewish lawyer in heaven and the breath of God on earth to defend them.
John wrote these things so that God's little children will know that when they sin, they have a powerful and supernatural Jewish lawyer defending them.
The false message of five point Calvinist is such:
Perhaps Christ died for you.
Christ possibly died for you.
Maybe Christ died for you.
Possibly Christ died for you.
Maybe God so loved you.
Maybe salvation has been prepared for you.
Possibly God commanded His love towards you.
Hopefully, He is the propitiation for your sins.
There is a possibility that Christ died as your Substitute.
I bring you good news, maybe.
It is possible that Christ died for you. If you get saved, then we know that He died for you.
2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
The Greek word for "atoning sacrifice" is ἱλασμός (plasmas), often translated as propitiation, but meaning to appease one who is angry. God is angry at the human race. However, the Lord Jesus Christ appeased God's anger by offering His blood on the cross. God accepted this blood as appeasement. Now, God is not angry at the human race. His wrath has been spent on His own Son.
Jesus is the Jewish lawyer who is the atoning sacrifice not only for the sins of the believers who are reading this letter, but He is also the atoning sacrifice for the whole world. The Greek word for "whole" is ὅλος (holos), meaning all, total, whole, or complete. The Greek word for "world" is κόσμος (cosmos), meaning the satanic world system. Christ not only died for the sins of the believers, but He also died for the sins of everyone in the satanic world system. These two Greek words destroy the false doctrine of limited atonement. Five-point Calvinists teach that Christ died only for the elect. They claim that the "world" is the rest of the elect outside of the Roman Empire. They are forcing their own definition into the Greek to make the word fit their theology.
Four-pont Calvinists correctly teach unlimited atonement, meaning that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, but only the elect will believe the gospel and be saved. Christ died for all men, but only the elect will believer. Everyone else will reject this atonement.
Keeping God’s Commandments
2:3 Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments.
The Greek word for "know" is γινώσκω (ginowskow), a present active indicative verb, meaning to continually and forever know by experience. Believers continually and eternally know by experience that if they really know God, then they will keep his commandments. These are not the Ten Commandments are the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law. These commandments are "the Law of Christ", which 22 are listed in the last chapter of Thessalonians. They are listed in other New Testament documents as well. If a person knows God continually by experience, then he will keep the Law of Christ. He is not keeping the Law of Christ for salvation, because he already possessed eternal life. He keeps these laws of Christ because he loves Christ and wants to know him better.
Some of the laws of Christ are to "rejoice evermore", meaning that God wants a cheerful Christian. "Pray without ceasing" means to continually pray in the will of the Father. "Quench not the Spirit" means to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and do not resists his leading.
2:4 The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.
Many claim to know Christ, yet they do not know a lick of the Bible. They have never studied the entire counsel of the Word of God through a gifted pastor-teacher. If one does not study, then he does not know the law of Christ. The law of Christ is Bible doctrine. If one does not know Bible doctrine, then he does not know what to do, what to say, what to pray, how or what to study, how to discern truth from error, or even know what church to attend. When one says "I know God" or "I love Jesus" or "I follow Jesus", yet they do not have Biblical doctrine infused in their soul, then they are a liar. The truth is not in them. They are not only deceiving others, but they are deceiving themselves into thinking that they love God, yet they do not know Him, because knowing Him is knowing Bible doctrine.
2:5 But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.
One cannot obey the Word of God unless they know Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God. One who knows Bible doctrine and applies it in his life is a person who loves God. Believers know that they are "in Christ" when they love deep Bible study from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
2:6 The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.
If one really loves Jesus, then he needs to walk as Jesus walks. However, he cannot walk as Jesus walks unless he studies and knows Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have already heard.
This is not a new teaching. It was taught in the Old Testament as well. At the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, He said, "“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Gnostics thought that they had a superior knowledge. However if they did not know or apply the law of Christ, then they were liars.
2:8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
The believer should be able to say, "I am seeing everything clearer and clearer." Things should not be getting darker and darker for the believer. The believer should be moving out of darkness and into light, although the satanic world system is moving from light to darkness.
2:9 The one who says he is in the light but still hates his fellow Christian is still in the darkness.
It is impossible for a believer to walk in the light of Bible doctrine and hate his Christian brother. Those of the satanic world system hate believers and would exterminate them out of this world if God would not have established governmental systems to protect them.
2:10 The one who loves his fellow Christian resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
The one who loves his Christian brother is one who is walking in the light of Bible doctrine.
2:11 But the one who hates his fellow Christian is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
The one who hates believers is walking in darkness. He is lost and does not know where he is going. He is going to the Lake of Fire, but he does not realize it, because he has been blinded by the enemy.
Words of Reassurance
2:12 I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
John wrote this letter to God's little children. He wanted them to know that their sins have been forgiven, because of the name, or the character, of Christ.
2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one.
The "fathers" are the mature Christians who have known Christ for a long time, because they are students of Scripture. The "young people" are the immature Christians who have not studied enough Bible doctrine as of yet. However, they do know enough Bible doctrine to understand that they have conquered Satan.
2:14 I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
John mentioned three different maturity levels in this verse. The "children" are the baby believers who at least know God the Father. The "fathers" are the mature believers who have known God the Father for a long time, because they are mature in the Scriptures. The "young people" are those believers who are spiritually in-between, but they are strong, because they do know enough Bible doctrine to make them an effective soldier. The in-between believers have also conquered the evil one.
2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,
The Greek word for "world" is κόσμος (cosmos), meaning the satanic world system. Believers are commanded not to love the things of the satanic world system. Most believers will think that it is ok to spend more time watching secular television than it is in the Word of God. A good spiritual test is to measure the two for one month. In this way, the believer can find out who and what he really loves. Some believers go to a Bible study once a week and think that they have enough spiritual nourishment. The Word of the God is daily food, not weekly food. Many believers are starving themselves to death, yet they think that they are strong in the Lord. Some people think that they are prayer warriors, but if they do not know Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God, then their prayers are ineffective, because they do not know how to pray. Charismatics think that they are being led by the Holy Spirit, yet the Holy Spirit does not lead those who are lazy in studying Bible doctrine. Charismatics have such a vacuum of Bible doctrine, that they are willing to listen to tongues and prophecies which come from demons, yet they think that God is talking to them. The only divine knowledge comes from the Word of God.
Does the world, or the cosmos, actually mean the satanic world system? Here are a few references to prove this point:
The Lord Jesus says, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). "The prince of this world" is the prince of the cosmos, the satanic world system. He offered all of the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, but Jesus refused and chose the cross.
In John 16:11, Jesus said, “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” The prince of this cosmos was Satan.
In Ephesians 2:2, Paul said, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world.” The course of this world is the satanic world system. This is Satan's world. John says that we are not to love this kind of world.
Peter said, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world …” (2 Pet. 2:20). Believers have escaped the pollutions of the satanic world system.
2:16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.
John listed three things in the world that brought Adam and the entire human race into sin. The desire of the flesh was the temptation of Eve to bite the fruit and the temptation to Jesus to eat the bread after He had fasted for forty days. The desire of the eyes is Eve seeing the fruit and pleasing to the eyes and Satan offering Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world without the pain and humiliation of the cross. The arrogance produced by material possessions is the pride of life, where Eve desired to be as wise as God or Jesus was asked to glorify Himself by diving from the temple so that everyone could witness angels catching him. These three temptations of the devil are offered to all believers, so they need knowledge of Bible doctrine to escape this demonic trap.
2:17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
The satanic world system is passing away. All of its desires and seductions are passing away with it. However, the person who does the will of God will live forever and gain future rewards in eternity.
Warning About False Teachers
2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.
The "children" are the babes in Christ. The last hour is the dispensation of the church, which will last until the Rapture. The Antichrist with the definite article is a specific person who will come into the Great Tribulation as a world dictator. He will attempt to perform genocide on the Jewish people. There were many antichrists in the days of John. They were false teachers who were against the deity of Christ. There will be many antichrists during the dispensation of the church age. Most of them will be pastors, elders, and deacons in modern local churches. They are difficult to spot, because they very subtly mix truth with error. Unless a believer has strong Bible doctrine, then he will not recognize that he is being taught by one of these antichrists inside of his own church. Those who have not studied the entire counsel of the Word of God are in a dangerous position, because they think that they have enough Bible doctrine to discern correct teachings, but they are fragmented and cannot do so. Judas took communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, yet he was Satan's right apprentice.
2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
Many of these antichrists were members of the church at Ephesus where an apostle was teaching. When they left the church and went back into the satanic world system, it proved that they were not true-believers.
2:20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
All believers are baptized into the Holy Spirit at conversion.
2:21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
The circular churches that John was writing knew the truth of the gospel. However, John wanted to encourage them. He also wanted to warn them that the gnostics were coming.
2:22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
John gave a definition of antichrist. An antichrist denies that Jesus is the Christ. The Christ is the Messiah, who was predicted to be both, God and man, as well as King and virgin born.
Irenaeus was an early church father who knew of gnosticism. He said, “They say that Jesus was the son of Joseph and born after the manner of other men.” In other words, the gnostics denied the deity of Christ. To them, Jesus was just a man born from Joseph, just like other men. The liberals and many of the cults and isms are the gnostics of today.
Dr. William E. Hocking, a professor of philosophy at Harvard University, wrote Living Religions and a World Faith, and said, “God is in His world, but Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed are in their little private closets, and we shall thank them, but never return to them.” This is a denial of the deity of Christ.
2:23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a former pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, wrote on the cover of his bulletin, “Whoever you are that worship here, in whatever household of faith you were born, whatever creed you profess, if you come to this sanctuary to seek the God in whom you believe or to rededicate yourself to the God in whom you do believe, you are welcome.” He is denying the Son and the Father. He does not know the one true God.
2:24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
At the beginning, the believers heard the true gospel. That same teaching needs to remain with them. They do not need to listen to any super-knowledge teaching from the gnostics.
2:25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
The only kind of life that God offers to the believer is eternal life. If it can be lost, it is not eternal.
2:26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
The Greek word for "deceive" is πλανάω (planaow), a present active participle, meaning to seduce or lead astray, like a wandering planet that is straying off course. The tense is present, meaning that John had written these things to the believer so that they would not continually be seduced or led astray or led off of the correct path. The correct path was the original doctrine that they had learned from the apostles. The wrong path was the super-knowledge teachings of the gnostics.
2:27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
The Greek word for "anointing" is χρίσμα (charisma), meaning to smear on, such as an anointing oil. The believers had the teaching of the Holy Spirit smeared on them, so they do not need any gnostics to teach them the truth about God.
John is not saying that believers do not need teachers, because according to Ephesians 4:13-18, believers are matured by gifted pastor-teachers who are led by the Holy Spirit. The Ethiopian eunuch could have read Isaiah 53 a thousand times and he would have never understood it. The Holy Spirit could have taught him directly, but he followed his method in Ephesians 4. The Holy Spirit sent Philip to teach the Ethiopian eunuch about the Messiah in Isaiah 53. According to Scriptures, this is the method of teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Children of God
2:28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
The Greek tense for "rain" is not imperative, which is a command. It is indicative, which is a fact. John is not commanding the believers to abide in Christ. They were already abiding in Him. The believers were to abide in the Lord Jesus Christ until He returns. This is the doctrine of immanency. Christ can come at any time, even in the life of these believers living at the end of the first century. The Bible teaches that a peace treaty must be made by Israel and the Antichrist which will signal the beginning of seven years of the Great Tribulation. This event must occur before the Second Coming of Christ. He will come exactly seven years later after this treaty is signed. However, this appearing is imminent. It can happen at any time, even this second. Therefore, the Rapture is a separate event that can occur at anytime. The Second Coming will come seven years after the peace treaty between Israel and the Antichrist. The believers were to live as though Christ could come at any time, even that very second.
When Christ returns, it will be very exciting for some, but very embarrassing for others. Some will shout with delight. Others will feel ashamed. John did not want the believers to be ashamed when the Lord Jesus Christ made his surprise and imminent return.
2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.
The real test of the Christian is does he look and act like the Father. If he does, then he is genuine. Believers take after their Father. Unbelievers love the things of the world.