1st JOHN
Chapter 2
Teacher: Jerry D. Sturgill, Flatwoods church of Christ, Sunday Bible Class, December 2007
I. JESUS CHRIST, OUR ADVOCATE, vv. 1-2.
A. “sin not” – [present tense – continuous action], i.e. abstain from sinful conduct.
B. “if any man sin” – reflects a single sin.
C. Advocate – A court term, Lit. “one called to ones side”, a helper, aid. Here, used of one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor. This word used only by John – See John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7.
D. Propitiation – To expiate, to appease, render favorable conciliate.
E. “also for the sins of the whole world” – Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for all and necessary for all.
No Limited Atonement here!
With one sweep of John’s powerful pen, down goes Calvinism to defeat!
II. WALKING IN LIGHT vs. WALKING IN DARKNESS, vv. 3-11.
A. We can know if we know Him, if we keep His commandments, vv. 3-6.
1. Love & commandment keeping cannot be severed; knowing God & commandment keeping cannot be separated. See 5:3; John 14:15, 21; 15:14, 17; Luke 6:46; Titus 1:16.
Notice the close tie between 2:2-3 & 1:7:
1:7 2:2-3
“Walk in the light” ß à “Keep His commandments”
“We Have fellowship” ß à “We know that we know Him”
“Blood cleanses” ß à “He is the propitiation”
B. No new commandment, but an old commandment – What John had just written was not novel, i.e. the command to love God. See Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30.
C. A New Commandment – In the verses that follow we see this refers to loving our brother.
1. But this is not a new commandment because it was taught in the Old Testament.
See Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 10:19; Micah 6:8.
2. The command was not new in regard to origination, but new in its extent.
See John 13:34-35.
D. Darkness – Characterizing all away from God, cf. 1:5.
III. THREE CLASSES OF JOHN’S READERS, vv. 12-14.
A. Little children – Recent converts.
B. Young Men – Had been in the church long enough to be mature, possessed of great spiritual strength.
C. Fathers – Had been Christians the longest, had attained to the greatest spiritual growth.
IV. LOVE NOT THE WORLD, vv. 15-17.
A. “The world” – i.e. the world of evil, an order opposed by God. Cf. 2 Peter 3:6.
B. “If any man love the world…” – Cf. Romans 8:5; James 4:4.
C. The things in the world:
1. The lust of the flesh – Carnal desires.
2. The lust of the eyes – Desires awakened by sight.
3. The pride (vain glory – ASV) of life – Vanity, pride, worldly honor.
These have always been the avenues used by the Devil seeking to snare & entrap mankind. Compare the downfall of mankind & Jesus’ temptation by Satan. The first battle was lost, but the second was won.
In the garden
Genesis 3:6
Avenues of Temptation
1 John 2:16
Jesus
Matthew 4:1-11
Saw the tree was good for food ß LUST OF THE FLESH à Command stones to become bread
Was pleasant to the eyes ß LUST OF THE EYES à All kingdoms of the world His
Desired to make one wise ß PRIDE OF LIFE à Throw yourself - angels…bear You up
D. Note the contrast, vs. 17:
1. The world passeth away – Transitory.
2. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever – Permanence.
V. WARNINGS CONCERNING ANTICHRIST’S, vv. 18-24.
A. Antichrist – Gk. “ANTICHRISTOS”, Opposed to Christ. Only used by John – 2:18 (2x), 22; 4:3; 2 John 7.
By this term, John is not describing a specific person, but the false teachers of his day (i.e. Gnostics). The expression also more generally embraces any whose teaching would oppose Christ (i.e. false teachers). Some would apply this term to the Catholic popes; while this does apply to them, it is inclusive of other false teachers as well. Cf. Mt 24:5, 24-27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Acts 20:29; 2 Tim 3:1; 2 Pet 2:1.
B. “They went out from us” – Had been members of the church, now apostates.
C. “not of us” – Did not possess the same spirit of obedience.
By going out they were manifest (shown to be) not of the disciples.
D. Unction – anointing. John is referring to a miraculous (spiritual) gift conferred by the laying on of apostle’s hands. Cf. Acts 8:14-17; 19:6; 2 Timothy 1:6.
E. Exhortation to faithfulness, vs. 24.
VI. PREPARATION FOR ETERNAL LIFE, vv. 25-29.
A. Eternal life is ours now by way of conditional promise, not in actual possession, vs. 25.
Cf. Mark 10:30; Titus 1:2.
B. “seduce you” – To mislead, “lead you astray” (ASV)
C. They could determine the error of the false teachers through the spiritual gifts given to them.
People no longer today possess any of the spiritual gifts. Today we have the completed Bible, God’s full revelation of truth, and it, when properly applied, will discern between teachers of truth & teachers of error.
D. Abiding In Christ, vv. 28-29.
1. Confidence (boldness – ASV) – Depicts those who are ready to meet the Lord at His 2nd coming.
2. Ashamed – depicts those who are unprepared to meet Him.