I WRITE YOU THIS. "I write to you that God will keep his promise and do what is right by forgiving your sins. But you must not take this as permission to sin, because you must not sin! Instead, you must try to be holy!" It is a paradox that the Christian lives in _confident desperation!_ John speaks... [ Continue Reading ]
IS THE MEANS. This is a form of the same Greek word used to describe _the place where sins are forgiven_ (see note on Hebrews 9:5). "Our Helper does not plead that we are innocent, but pleads the MERIT of his _crucified body_ as the means of our forgiveness! Knowing this teaches us that _sin and for... [ Continue Reading ]
IF WE OBEY. Some said as soon as you _knew_ there was a True God, you had eternal life, regardless of how you lived. John is saying that the only way to _identify_ one who does _know God,_ is by THEIR OBEYING God's commands. Compare James 2:19 and note.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF SOMEONE SAYS. Talk is cheap! Actions really show what a person does _in fact_ believe! The one who claims to know God, but does not obey God's commands, proves both that he is a liar and that he does not know the truth of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHOEVER OBEYS. "To obey is to develop this love by which we come to know Him and be like Him." Obedience is both the result and the proof of love. THIS IS HOW. "Obedience is how we can know we live in fellowship with God!... [ Continue Reading ]
SHOULD LIVE JUST AS JESUS CHRIST DID. This is what _obedience_ means. Compare John 15:4 and note, also note on the third use of law at the end of Romans 3:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS COMMAND. "When I tell you that by obeying the word of Christ, the love for God is made perfect in you, I am writing you an old command. Moses spoke it (Deuteronomy 18:15), and God spoke it at Christ's baptism (Matthew 3:17) and transfiguration (Matthew 17:5). We have told you about this from th... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWEVER. "This command I write to you to live just as Jesus Christ did, is new. Its truth is seen in Christ as he laid down his life for men (mankind), and its truth is also seen in you as you live just as he did." FOR THE DARKNESS of paganism and Judaism is passing away, AND THE REAL LIGHT of Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
YET HATES HIS BROTHER. "He says this and thinks he is in the light, but he has never seen the light! it has never shone on him, and he still stands in darkness!" [This does not contradict Luke 14:25. Compare John 12:25.]... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOEVER LOVES HIS BROTHER. "This one not only sees the light, but stays in it!!!" AND SO THERE IS NOTHING IN _HIM__. MacKnight_ says; "Schismatics and heretics, on pretense of having attained to a greater knowledge of the truth, and a greater purity of conduct than others, think themselves authorize... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHOEVER. "The one who hates his brother is blind, and does not know he is blind. The darkness of sin and error prevents him from being able to see what is right, and it kills the good impulses which he might have. There is no neutral ground between _love_ and _hate._ Love is _actively doing good... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN. "You are not unbelievers and I do not mean to doubt the sincerity of your faith. It is because I know your sins are forgiven by the merit of Christ's name (see note on Acts 2:38), that I write to you.... [ Continue Reading ]
FATHERS. "I write to you mature Christians (both men and women) because you do know the Eternal Jesus the Christ." YOUNG MEN. "I write to you less-mature Christians (both men and women), because you have already defeated the Evil One and resisted apostasy from the faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHILDREN. [The chapter and verse divisions date from the 16th century.] "I write to you new Christians (both men and women), because you know the Father and can say, Father, my Father' (Romans 8:15)_."_ I WRITE TO YOU. In the Hebrew idiom, John repeats what he has just said to emphasize it!... [ Continue Reading ]
DO NOT LOVE THE WORLD. Compare James 4:4 and note. John does not mean our material universe, because this world is God's creation and is good (Genesis 1:31_:_ 1 Timothy 4:4). Neither is it wicked people themselves, since God loves the world (John 3:16) of people whom he has created. John speaks of t... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERYTHING. John describes the _world_ of 1 John 2:15 to show what he means. WHAT THE SINFUL SELF DESIRES. A passionate desire for forbidden things. _Augustine_ thought it meant immoral desires. John does not mean our physical bodies or our natural desires. He means we sin when Satan tempts us to us... [ Continue Reading ]
IS PASSING AWAY. This is the cycle of Babylon that we see in _Rev. ch 18._ See notes there. Those who make the things of this world their "god" are doomed to failure! Wealth, power, fame, honor, and such things, are all passing away continuously. People hoard money, and inflation steals its value. S... [ Continue Reading ]
THE END IS NEAR! We find this sort of statement made again and again in the New Testament. We live in the _last days_ (Acts 2:17 and note), but these have been continuing for almost two thousand years now. What John and the others are saying, is that we live in a _"last-hour situation."_ where it is... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE PEOPLE. Note that _each_ of these is an _enemy of Christ_ (antichrist). It may be that these people were never really genuine Christians, or it may be that they once actually held the faith they now renounce (compare Hebrews 6:4-6; 1 John 5:16-17). It is plain that they did not LOVE Jesus, and... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YOU HAVE HAD. All genuine Christians are Spirit-filled (but not all have miraculous powers). See 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Acts 5:32; Romans 8:26 and notes. Some of those to whom John writes would have the miraculous gift of being able to identify what was true from what was false (1 Corinthians 12... [ Continue Reading ]
I WRITE TO YOU, THEN. "I am writing this to you, not because you are ignorant of the life of the Logos in human form, but because you do know it! You also know that none of the lies being taught by the false teachers about Christ, form any part of the TRUTH of the Good News.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO, THEN, IS THE LIAR? "You can very easily tell who it is that is lying about Jesus Christ the Messiah!!! It is the one who says that Jesus was _only human,_ and not _the Christ!"_ (See Introduction to this Letter.) THIS ONE. "Whoever refuses to believe what the Father said about the Son (1 John 5... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHOEVER. "Some reject the Son and claim to have the Father. This cannot be true! If you reject the Son, you have also rejected the Father who sent Him!!!" WHOEVER ACCEPTS. "If you accept the Son, you have also accepted the Father who sent Him!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
TO KEEP IN YOUR HEARTS. "Be sure to hold firm the truth we taught you about the Logos becoming a human being (John 1:14). In doing this you will keep your fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:7)_."_... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS WHAT. "You will find great happiness and jubilation in _that fellowship,_ because _Christ_ Jesus himself promised to give us _eternal life!!!"_... [ Continue Reading ]
I WRITE YOU THIS. "I want to warn you about the Enemies of Christ. Be on your guard against them!!! They want to steal your promise!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS FOR YOU. This verse does not teach a _continuous revelation_ (see Hebrews 1:1-2 and notes), nor that we are to be led by an _inner light._ It teaches that God makes available a _means_ for us to know what is in fact the truth! Some had a gift from the Spirit (see notes on 1 John 2:20), and we... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU KNOW. "You already know that Christ is righteous. Doing what is right, then, is proof that we are God's child!!!" See note on 1 John 2:3. The abrupt movement from _Christ is righteous_ to _God's child_ shows John's sense of the _oneness_ of the Father and the Son. See John 10:30 and note. See al... [ Continue Reading ]