{"id":57583,"date":"2015-05-17T13:50:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-17T20:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?page_id=57583"},"modified":"2015-05-17T19:51:38","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T02:51:38","slug":"chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/commentary\/1-john\/chapter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christ Our Advocate<\/span><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0<\/span>My little children, …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John regards the recipients of this letter as his spiritual children.<\/p>\n

…I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John wants his children to live lives of virtue.<\/p>\n

…but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; <\/span>2\u00a0<\/sup>and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John reminds them that if they do sin, they have an advocate in Christ. Jesus is not only deals with their sins, but the sins of all.<\/p>\n

<\/span>3\u00a0<\/sup>And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments.\u00a0<\/span>4\u00a0<\/sup>He who says \u201cI know him\u201d but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; <\/span>5\u00a0<\/sup>but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: <\/span>6\u00a0<\/sup>he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For John, “knowing” God means being obedient to Him, imitating Jesus.<\/p>\n

John Bingo: “truth”<\/span>, “love”<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0“abides”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

A New Commandment<\/span><\/h3>\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. <\/span>8\u00a0<\/sup>Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because\u00a0the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. <\/span>9\u00a0<\/sup>He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. <\/span>10\u00a0<\/sup>He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it\u00a0there is no cause for stumbling. <\/span>11\u00a0<\/sup>But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John reminds his readers of the commandment of Christ to love our neighbour, which itself was a commandment from the Old Testament.\u00a0John picks up this theme in his next letter.<\/p>\n

John Bingo: “beloved”<\/span>, “beginning”<\/span>, “word”<\/span>, “darkness”<\/span> (x5), “light”<\/span> (x2) and “love”<\/span><\/p>\n

12\u00a0<\/sup>I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake. <\/span>13\u00a0<\/sup>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. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. <\/span>14\u00a0<\/sup>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 abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John addresses “children”<\/span>, “fathers”<\/span> and “young men”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

15\u00a0<\/sup>Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. <\/span>16\u00a0<\/sup>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. <\/span>17\u00a0<\/sup>And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John explains the conflict between the love of God and the love of the world. John identifies\u00a0what is often known as the triple concupiscence:<\/p>\n

1. Lust of the flesh<\/p>\n

2. Lust of the eyes<\/p>\n

3. Pride of life.<\/p>\n

The Catechism speaks about these in more detail here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Warning against Antichrists<\/span><\/h3>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>Children, it is the last hour;\u00a0and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John now turns to the subject which he’ll return to in his section letter – false teachers whom he refers to as “antichrists”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The “last hour”<\/span> refers to the end of all things.<\/p>\n

19\u00a0<\/sup>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, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These false teachers began life in the Church, but the fact that they have departed from the Church has revealed their true character.<\/p>\n

<\/span>20\u00a0<\/sup>But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know.\u00a0<\/span>21\u00a0<\/sup>I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The “Holy One”<\/span> here is God.<\/p>\n

John Bingo: “truth”<\/span> (x2).<\/p>\n

<\/span>22\u00a0<\/sup>Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. <\/span>23\u00a0<\/sup>No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. <\/span>24\u00a0<\/sup>Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. <\/span>25\u00a0<\/sup>And this is what he has promised us,\u00a0eternal life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John explains the characteristics of these false teachers.<\/p>\n

John Bingo: “Father”<\/span> (x3), “Son”<\/span> (x3), “beginning”<\/span> (x2), “abide”<\/span> (x3)<\/p>\n

26\u00a0<\/sup>I write this to you about those who would deceive you; <\/span>27\u00a0<\/sup>but the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John writes a warning, but has confidence in the work of the Spirit.<\/p>\n

John Bingo “abide”<\/span> (x3) and “true”<\/span><\/p>\n

Children of God<\/span><\/h3>\n

28\u00a0<\/sup>And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. <\/span>29\u00a0<\/sup>If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John exhorts his readers to remain in Christ.<\/p>\n

John Bingo: “children”<\/span> and\u00a0“abide”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Back to index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christ Our Advocate 2\u00a0My little children, … John regards the recipients of this letter as his spiritual children. …I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; … John wants his children to live lives of virtue. …but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2\u00a0and he is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":57294,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-57583","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57583"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57588,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57583\/revisions\/57588"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}