The book of First John

A Verse by Verse Study
Text 1st John 2:1 - 2

 

A. John starts off with who he is addressing. V. 1 “My little children, these things write I unto you,”

     1. I wrote an article about the word of God is not to the lost but rather to the saved.

          a. I received some criticism about the article.

          b. The Lord said John 8:46-47 “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? (47.) He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

          c. Here we see John addressing “my little children” again saved people. I believe this to be a group of young Christians, maybe and most likely a church of young believers. The words “little children” means an infant, that is in its plural form darlings.

          d. It could be a young church that he was the pastor or just some young Christians.
     2. “these things write I unto you,” 

          a. This statement refers back to chapter one.

          b. That is how we are to walk in this life and in this world, with God. 

          c. This does not include enjoying the comforts of this world, but rather being good and faithful servants of the Lord. I did not say you cannot have nice worldly things but we cannot allow them to separate us and our responsibilities to the Lord.  

     3. John goes on to say “that ye sin not.” V. 1

          a. This does not mean we should be infallible; no one is, but does mean that we are to live life not allowing sin in our lives.

          b. Our walk in this world is not to reject God’s truths but to understand them, to live them, and not to let anything come between us and God.

          c. We should wake up everyday seeking to please and fellowship with God, and if we do sin will flee us.      

B. V. 1 c “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
     1. If we do sin, then we have the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from that sin. 1:6 “and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

          a. God knows we are going to sin, but that is still no excuse.

          b. The blood of Jesus was not a one time cleaning but rather a continual cleaning.

     2. “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” 

          a. The word Advocate means comforter, yes comforter just as the Holy Spirit is our comforter so is Christ. Just as the Holy Spirit is our intercessor so is Christ. One is here and the other is in heaven. That is great to know.

          b. Only one can forgive sin, and that one is on the right hand of God – The – Father pleading our case when we do sin.

          c. God never expected us to be infallible, so when we do sin He forgives our sins, but in return expects us to walk in righteousness.

 

C. V. 2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins:”

     1. Let’s look at this word  “propitiation” it comes from the Greek word  hil-as-mos and is only used as hil-as-mos two times in the bible, here in V. 2 and 1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The Greek word hil-as-mos means atonement. The other uses of the English word propitiation like in 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;” it means "mercy seat" -- Christ is the propitiation, the mercy seat, the meeting place between God and man. Here it means His giving His life on Calvary to redeem us.

     2. The Atonement was at the cross, before we were ever born Christ died to redeem us or to be our atonement.

     3. “and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Again as we have seen so many times in the bible this refers to the different races of the world.