‘My little children, these things write I to you that you may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.' Here the ageing John addresses his readers with... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW THEN CAN WE KNOW THAT WE TRULY KNOW CHRIST? (1 JOHN 2:3). Many were claiming that they knew God, that they had special knowledge of Him, that through their own particular religious ordinances they were illuminated and made without sin, seeing sin, not as moral sin, but as some human blemish tha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Beloved, no new commandment do I write to you, but an old commandment which you (plural) had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard.' Having described them as his ‘little children' John now addresses them as his ‘beloved ones'. He exemplifies in himself the truth he is... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OLD COMMANDMENT AND THE NEW COMMANDMENT (1 JOHN 2:7). Here John stresses the need to stand by what they have originally learned and experienced and by the Light that is already shining among them, and not to seek to those who claim to bring new light but only bring darkness, which is evidenced... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Again, a new commandment I do write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and ther... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake (by means of his name).' John's tender concern continues to come out. Having spoken of ‘teknia' (1 John 2:1) and ‘beloved ones' (1 John 2:7), he here again speaks to them all as ‘teknia' (compare John 13:33). Wi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY KNOW THE FATHER AND THE ETERNAL WORD AND MUST BEWARE OF LOVING THE WORLD (1 JOHN 2:12). Having exhorted them of the need to remain true to Him and to the Word Who ‘is' from the beginning, and to love those who are true to Christ, he now rejoices in the fact that they are of those who have been... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.' To ‘the fathers', the older men, he feels that he need do no more than remind them that they ‘know Him Who is from the beginning'. This latter probably refer... [ Continue Reading ]
I have written to you, little children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.' The change from prese... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Little children, it is the last hour, and as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now have there arisen many antichrists, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out,... [ Continue Reading ]
WARNING AGAINST FALSE RELIGION AND FALSE TEACHERS (1 JOHN 2:18). Having warned against the world which is under the control of the Evil One and will stultify their faith, John now warns against false teachings which will destroy their faith. He warns against that which sets itself up as an alternat... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all the things (or ‘you all know').' Unlike these men, the orthodox church leaders, who followed and looked to the apostolic teaching, retained the basic truths, and all their true followers did so too. And that was because they had ‘an anoi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because (or ‘that') no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same do... [ Continue Reading ]
‘As for you, let that abide (remain) in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abide (remain) in you, you also will abide in the Son, and in the Father.' The way of knowing the truth is to allow to continue to remain in them what they first heard when they resp... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal.' It is worth making sure that they do so, for ‘He' has promised eternal life to those who truly know Him. Eternal life consists in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom He had sent (John 17:3). It is therefore bound up... [ Continue Reading ]
‘These things have I written to you concerning those who would lead you astray.' ‘These things' presumably refers to the whole of the letter as in 1 John 1:4. It is a warning against those who would lead them astray, the ‘deceivers'.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as for you, the anointing which you received of him abides in you, and you need not that any one teach you, but as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you abide in him.' John is confident that they will not be led astray becau... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And now, my little children, abide in him, so that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.' He now calls on his readers to ensure that they abide (remain) in Him. This may certainly inclusively indicate abiding spiritually but the stress is on... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If you know (oida - in the mind) that he is righteous, you know (ginosko - experientially) that every one also who does righteousness is begotten of him.' And because they know Him they know Him as the Righteous One. They know Him as the One Who, because it was His delight, fully kept, and requires... [ Continue Reading ]