1John
2:1 ¶ My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world.
I read a
commentator who made a note that when John refers to little children he
is literally referring to new Christians, new believers in Christ, unskilled
and a little naïve but this could just be a reflection of his pastoral care and
authority over them addressing all believers. Remember that Jesus referred to
His disciples as little children.
John
13:33 Little children, yet a little
while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I
go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Whatever
the case may be, whether he is talking to new believers or actual saved
children he warns them not to sin. But if they sin they have an advocate in
Jesus Christ, who knew no sin and who pleads our case before God the Father.
Romans
3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus.
Christ
satisfied the righteous wrath, propitiation, of a Holy God when He died on the
Cross and we were justified legally when He rose from the dead. This was not
exclusive to the Jews of His time but offered to all mankind, if they would
receive it.
John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
1John
2:3 ¶ And hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He
that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we
are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth
in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
John now
moves from the whole world to the body of Christ in particular as he teaches
these possibly new converts.
Is this a
call to turn back to the Law given to Moses for the Jews? But what about this
from Paul?
Galatians
3:24 Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are
no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
And what
about this warning in the form of a question from Paul earlier in that chapter
in Galatians?
Galatians
3:1 ¶ O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the
Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Or is this
a reminder of the specific instructions given by Jesus to His disciples?
John
13:34 A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another.
And
remember what of the Law given to Moses that Paul reinforces for the Christian?
Romans
13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love
one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly
comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Keep in
mind now what Jesus said about the Law before His crucifixion and resurrection.
Matthew
5:17 ¶ Think not that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled.
And He
indeed is the fulfillment of the Law and has fulfilled it.
Romans
10:4 For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Philippians
3:9 ¶ And be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Keep in
mind what Jesus said also here;
John
6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them,
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
There are
many admonitions that Christ gave us to follow. Included are;
Mark
8:34 And when he had called the people
unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
John tells
us to walk as Christ walked and that would be in complete and perfect/complete
obedience to God the Father. And we are about to find out that John 13:34, 35
is the principle to which John is referring. John will insist that there is
nothing new about this, that he is offering nothing in addition to what has
already been said. He simply underscores and even explains Christ’s
commandment.
https://earlychurch.com/a-love-without-condition/
1John
2:7 ¶ Brethren, I write no new
commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you,
which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the
true light now shineth. 9 He that saith
he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in
the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in
darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because
that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
Here
starts that reference to Jesus “new commandment” of John 13:34,35 which is not so
much new in that God the Father had already given this very sentiment under
the Law given to Moses as between the people of Israel.
Leviticus
19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
See how neighbor
in Leviticus refers to thy people?
I have
pointed out previously how the word charity in the New Testament refers to the
Christian’s love for their fellow Christians and how important it is.
Colossians
3:14 And above all these things put on
charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
2Peter
1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity.
1Corinthians
13:1 ¶ Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not
charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 ¶
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth
all things.
8 ¶
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. 9 For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a
man, I put away childish things. 12 For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Such an
idea would cause us to forgo self-righteousness and arrogance within the
church. The difference between confidence and arrogance is that when we are
confident we can handle disagreement and still recognize our unity of purpose and
faith while if we are arrogant we can brook no conflicting opinions on any
matter and will just go down the street to the next church.
When we
love our brothers and sisters in Christ in the proper way, in the Lord, we walk
in the Light of Christ but when we hate or despise or hold in low regard our
brothers and sisters in Christ or try to manipulate, gaslight, or generally use
them for our own agenda we walk in darkness.
1John
2:12 ¶ I write unto you, little
children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have
known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men,
because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children,
because ye have known the Father. 14 I
have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from
the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and
the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 15 Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. 16 For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.
Again,
perhaps addressing new converts, John reminds them that their sins are forgiven
for the sake of Christ’s name. Again, if fathers by contrast addresses
more mature Christians and elders he warns all about the dangers of buying into
the world system. He counts on them to be strong in their faith, opposing Satan
and absorbed by God’s word.
Psalm
119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against thee.
John lists
some things that are the conditions by which we are drawn to the world.
These
things listed are the very things that tempted Adam and Eve at the beginning;
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Genesis 3:6 ¶
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat.
When our focus is on pleasing our flesh, on what appeals to our eyes, and
what makes us held in high esteem by other people we become mired in the world.
The world will pass away but the person who is focused on God’s will, will live
forever.
Luke 16:15
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men;
but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God.
1John
2:18 ¶ Little children, it is the last
time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with
us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were
not all of us.
Again,
supposing John is talking to new converts or simply referring to the disciples
he has led he announces that it is the last time. An atheist historical writer,
Will Durant, noted that the early Christians;
“…were
apparently unanimous in believing that Christ would soon return to establish
the Kingdom of Heaven on earth”.[1]
Christians
were always told to be looking up expectantly waiting for Christ’s return.
Titus
2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
John makes
mention of antichrists, plural, corrupters who had been a part of the Christian
community but were now gone out as false teachers. He will explain next what
they believe. They have denied the divinity of Christ and there is much to say
about that. But John explains here that they were permitted by God to do this
so that their pernicious doctrines are exposed. By them being allowed to
separate from the brethren it is made clear that the orthodox brothers and
sisters in Christ do not agree with them.
1John
2:20 ¶ But ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I
have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not
the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you,
which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the
beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the
Father. 25 And this is the promise that
he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26 These things have I written unto you
concerning them that seduce you. 27 But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not
that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,
and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in
him.
Unction is
divine empowering or anointing from a Greek word, according to Strong’s, that
comes from the same word for consecrating Christ’s messiahship. The Gnostic
heresy of the first century is emphasized here. The Gnostics, according to some
sources, believed that the God of the Old Testament was a devil, perhaps Satan
himself, and He keeps man imprisoned and deceived but Christ came, as an avatar
and guide, a teacher to lead us to freedom. Christ was not God in the flesh
because flesh, like all matter, was evil in which we are imprisoned. So, Christ
could not be God. They denied the divinity of Christ, in many instances, and
blasphemed God, imagining themselves like in the modern movie, The Matrix, taking
the red pill which opens their minds up to the truth of the artificial
construct we live in, according to them. To many of them the real God was unknowable
and Christ, while at some point divine according to some Gnostic traditions,
only appeared in the human form of evil flesh and matter. The Gnostics also
believed that man was perfectable as he embraced this secret knowledge.
Modern day
Communist theory is modern Gnosticism with the perfectable socialist man who
throws off the shackles of a deceiving world system, of course, after the
murder of many millions to get to that place and the total denial of all
freedom as the socialist man merges into the collective, his only legitimate
identity. Man becomes his own god, as stated and implied in many Marxist
writings.
The
antichrist spirit denies God the Father, the Son of God, and the Holy Ghost,
whom John will mention later. The anointing or unction of the Holy Ghost upon
the believer will deliver him or her from destruction and teach them all
things.
John
14:26 But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.
The
antichrist spirit denies that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed
One. Each person in Gnostic heresy was responsible for saving themselves and
salvation was not found in Christ. Jesus was only a teacher, among many of the
Gnostics, who led us to our own self-knowledge and salvation that only we
ourselves could provide. You can see Gnosticism all around you if you pay
attention to mainstream spiritual thought and the embracing of certain
religions and political ideologies, and intellectual thought in the Western
world.
1John
2:28 ¶ And now, little children, abide
in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed
before him at his coming. 29 If ye know
that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him.
John
pleads with these Christians, many of them brand spanking new and not
experienced at all, to say faithful to Christ, believing that He will return so
that when He does they are not ashamed at their faithlessness. Then, John makes
an important transition statement into his next argument that doing what is
right flows predictably from everyone who is born of Christ, born again. Verse
29 is a reference to believers in Christ and not a blanket statement saying
that everyone who does right, believer or not, if born again.
[1]
Will Durant, “The Apostles: A.D. 30-95,”
The Story of Civilization:Volume
3, Caesar and Christ (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944), 575.
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