1 Johnchapter 2
29 verses · John, by tradition · AD 85 to 95 · The general letters
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Introduction
John, by tradition, The general letters, 1 John Overview.
John wrote this chapter as a father writes to his children, and he calls the readers that more than once. The churches had just watched respected members walk out and take their teaching with them. The readers needed to know how to tell a true claim to know God from a false one. The chapter moves quickly between comfort, warning and plain instruction. Listen for the claims people make about themselves, and for the test set beside each one. Listen also for the word remain, which carries the close of the chapter.
Context
- Who
- House churches shaken by respected members leaving and taking others with them
- What
- The Advocate and atoning sacrifice for sin, the tests of obedience and love, a warning against loving the world, and a warning about the antichrists who have left.
- Where
- Ephesus, where the early church places John in his last years, writing to house churches in the Roman province of Asia.
- When
- About AD 85 to 95 on the traditional dating, late in the apostle John's life.
- Why
- To keep believers from sin, to assure them of forgiveness, and to hold them to the truth they heard at the start against the teachers who had left.
Historical context
The address to fathers, young men, and children reflects how an ancient assembly actually sat and thought of itself, by household and by age, with elders honored and the young expected to listen. John speaks to each group in turn rather than to an undifferentiated crowd.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
'The world' in this letter is not the planet or the people in it but the whole running system of desire, display, and status that a Greco-Roman city was organized around: the pride of possessions, the appetite of the eyes, the ambition that made a man buy a statue of himself.
The split is described in the plainest possible terms, they went out from us, but they were not of us. Ancient associations broke apart the same way, and the departure of prominent members took money, meeting space, and confidence with them.
The anointing the readers have received is set against the secret knowledge the departed teachers were offering. Anointing with oil marked a person set apart, and John tells the ordinary members they already have it and do not need a specialist.
Significance
The hearers were doubting themselves because impressive people had left. John reads the departure the other way: leaving revealed something rather than proving something.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The word 'antichrist' shows up here for the first time in Scripture, and it is used both of a figure still to come and of many already present. For a congregation looking for a monster, John points at the man who denies the Father and the Son, who may be sitting in the next house.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
We Have an Advocate: and We Keep His Word
John writes so that you will not sin, and provides for failure: we have an advocate before the Father. The word is parakletos, which John's Gospel uses of the Holy Spirit, here the Son pleading the believer's cause. He pleads as the Righteous One, sinless Himself.
1 John 2:1
“My little children - Τεκνια μοῦ Teknia mou. This is such language as an aged apostle would be likely to use when addressing a church, and its use in this Epistle may be regarded as one evidence that John had reached an advanced period of life when he wrote the Epistle. These things write I unto you - To wit, the things stated in 1Jn 1:1. That ye sin not - To keep you from sin, or to induce you to lead a holy life.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 John 2:1
“I write these things to you, that ye may not sin - Thus he guards them beforehand against abusing the doctrine of reconciliation. All the words, institutions, and judgments of God are levelled against sin, either that it may not be committed, or that it may be abolished. But if any one sin - Let him not lie in sin, despairing of help.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:1
“My own dear children, that is, sons and daughters (see on 1Jo 2:12). these things-- (1Jo 1:6-10). My purpose in writing what I have just written is not that you should abuse them as giving a license to sin but, on the contrary, "in order that ye may not sin at all" (the Greek aorist, implying the absence not only of the habit, but of single acts of sin [ALFORD]).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the atoning sacrifice for our sins: The advocate's plea rests on this: He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, the Greek hilasmos, a sacrifice that satisfies God's just claim. The phrase the sins of the whole world is read of the elect in every nation, or at full extent as at John 3:16.
1 John 2:2
“And he is the propitiation - The atoning sacrifice by which the wrath of God is appeased. For our sins - Who believe. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world - Just as wide as sin extends, the propitiation extends also.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:2
“And he--Greek, "And Himself." He is our all-prevailing Advocate, because He is Himself "the propitiation"; abstract, as in 1Co 1:30: He is to us all that is needed for propitiation "in behalf of our sins"; the propitiatory sacrifice, provided by the Father's love, removing the estrangement, and appeasing the righteous wrath, on God's part, against the sinner.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:2
“And he is the propitiation for our sins,.... For the sins of us who now believe, and are Jews: and not for ours only; but for the sins of Old Testament saints, and of those who shall hereafter believe in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signified in the next clause: but also for the sins of the whole world; the Syriac version renders it, "not for us only, but also for the whole world"; that is, not for the Jews only, for John was a Jew, and so were those he wrote unto, but for the Gentiles also.”
1 John 2:2
“The Mediator of intercession, the Advocate for us, is the Mediator of redemption, the propitiation for our sins. It is his propitiation that he pleads. And we might be apt to suppose that his blood had lost its value and efficacy if no mention had been made of it in heaven since the time it was shed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:3-4
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: Assurance is tied to obedience: we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. The claim I know Him without obedience is named a lie, answering the boast of those who had left. The words the truth is not in him repeat 1:8.
John quotes a claim he has heard, a person saying he knows God. The test is obedience to His commandments. Knowledge of God that leaves the life unchanged is called a lie.
1 John 2:4
“Yet in the very beginning of the reading you heard what the Truth says: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word." The proof of love, therefore, is the showing forth of works. Hence the same John says in his epistle: "He who says, 'I love God,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar." For we truly love God if we restrain ourselves from our own pleasures for the sake of His commandments. For he who still flows away through illicit desires certainly does not love God, because he contradicts Him by his own will.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 30patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:4
“He that saith, I know him - This is a severe blow against those false teachers, and against all pretenders to religious knowledge, who live under the power of their sins; and against all Antinomians, and false boasters in the righteousness of Christ as a covering for their personal unholiness. They are all liars, and no truth of God is in them.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:4
“And, if that be seen and known, how vain and superficial is even this knowledge when it sways not the heart unto obedience! A disobedient life is the confutation and shame of pretended religious knowledge; it gives the lie to such boasts and pretences, and shows that there is neither religion nor honesty in them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:5-6
the love of God has been truly perfected in him: The test turns positive: if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. The standard is as high as it goes: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. Christ's earthly life is the pattern for every claim to abide.
1 John 2:5
“But whoso keepeth his word - That is, what he has spoken or commanded, The term “word” here will include all that he has made known to us as his will in regard to our conduct. In him verily is the love of God perfected - He professes to have the love of God in his heart, and that love receives its completion or filling up by obedience to the will of God. That obedience is the proper carrying out, or the exponent of the love which exists in the heart.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:5
“Hereby - By our keeping his word. We know that we are in him - So is the tree known by its fruits. To "know him," to be "in him," to "abide in him," are nearly synonymous terms; only with a gradation, - knowledge, communion, constancy.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:5
“Not merely repeating the proposition, 1Jo 2:3, or asserting the merely opposite alternative to 1Jo 2:4, but expanding the "know Him" of 1Jo 2:3, into "in Him, verily (not as a matter of vain boasting) is the love of (that is towards) God perfected," and "we are in Him." Love here answers to knowledge in 1Jo 2:3.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
must walk as Jesus walked: Abiding is the letter's word for a lasting union with Christ. Anyone who claims to abide in Him answers for it with a life shaped like the life Jesus lived. At John 13:15 Jesus washed the disciples' feet as an example to follow.
1 John 2:6
“Abideth in him - He who not only professes to have known Christ, but also that he has communion with him, and abides in his favor, should prove the truth of his profession by walking as Christ walked; living a life of devotion and obedience to God, and of benevolence and beneficence to his neighbor. Thus Christ walked; and he has left us an example that we should follow his steps. To be in Christ, 1Jn 2:5, is to be converted to the Christian faith, and to have received the remission of sins.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:6
“He that saith he abideth in him - which implies a durable state; a constant, lasting knowledge of, and communion with, him. Ought himself - Otherwise they are vain words.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:6
"Even as He walked" when on earth, especially in respect to love. John delights in referring to Christ as the model man, with the words, "Even as He," &c. "It is not Christ's walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called on to imitate" [LUTHER].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
An Old Command Made New: Light or Darkness
1 John 2:7-8
I am not writing to you a new commandment: John calls the love command of John 13:34 an old one, which you have had from the beginning. It is also new, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. The age of light has begun in Christ, and the full day is still ahead.
1 John 2:7
“Brethren--The oldest manuscripts and versions read instead, "Beloved," appropriate to the subject here, love. no new commandment--namely, love, the main principle of walking as Christ walked (1Jo 2:6), and that commandment, of which one exemplification is presently given, 1Jo 2:9, 10, the love of brethren. ye had from the beginning--from the time that ye first heard the Gospel word preached.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:7
“John is talking here about love. The commandment was not new, because long before that time it had been proclaimed by the prophets.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · CATENApatristic
1 John 2:7
“Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you - That is, what I am now enjoining is not new. It is the same doctrine which you have always heard. There has been much difference of opinion as to what is referred to by the word “commandment,” whether it is the injunction in the previous verse to live as Christ lived, or whether it is what he refers to in the following verses, the duty of brotherly love.”
I am also writing to you a new commandment: One command is called both old and new. It is old in that the readers heard it at the start, and new in that the true light shines in Christ and in them. The darkness is fading, and the age of light has already begun.
1 John 2:8
“The more our darkness is past, and gospel light shines unto us, the deeper should our subjection be to the commandments of our Lord, whether considered as old or new. Light should produce a suitable heat. Accordingly, here is another trial of our Christian light; before, it was to be approved by obedience to God; here by Christian love.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:8
“Which thing is true in him and in you - It is true that Christ loved the world so well as to lay down his life for it; and it was true in them, in all his faithful followers at that time, who were ready to lay down their lives for the testimony of Jesus. There is a saying in Synopsis Sohar, p. 94, n. 51, that may cast some light on this passage: That way in which the just have walked, although it be Old, yet may be said to be New in the love of the righteous.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:8
“It was exemplified in him, and is now fulfilled by you, in such a manner as it never was before. For there is no comparison between the state of the Old Testament believers, and that which ye now enjoy: the darkness of that dispensation is passed away; and Christ the true light now shineth in your hearts.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:9-11
hates his brother: Love is the second test: If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. The one who loves has no cause of stumbling in him, the Greek skandalon, a trap. The one who hates does not know where he is going.
1 John 2:9
“He that saith he is in the light - That he has true religion, or is a Christian. See 1Jn 1:7. And hateth his brother - The word “brother” seems here to refer to those who professed the same religion. The word is indeed sometimes used in a larger sense, but the reference here appears to be to that which is properly brotherly love among Christians. Compare Lucke, in loc. Is in darkness even until now - That is, he cannot have true religion unless he has love to the brethren.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:9
“He that saith he is in the light - In Christ, united to him. And hateth his brother - The very name shows the love due to him. Is in darkness until now - Void of Christ, and of all true light.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:9
"Where love is not, there hatred is; for the heart cannot remain a void" [BENGEL]. in the light--as his proper element. his brother--his neighbor, and especially those of the Christian brotherhood. The very title "brother" is a reason why love should be exercised. even until now--notwithstanding that "the true light already has begun to shine" (1Jo 2:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Whoever loves his brother remains in the light: Readers take the stumbling in two ways. Albert Barnes reads it as nothing in the one who loves his brother that trips himself, others as nothing in him that trips a brother. Both fit a man who remains in the light and sees his way.
1 John 2:10
“He that loveth his brother - For Christ's sake. Abideth in the light - Of God. And there is no occasion of stumbling in him - Whereas he that hates his brother is an occasion of stumbling to himself.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 John 2:10
“He that loveth his brother - That is, his neighbor, his fellow creature, whether Jew or Gentile, so as to bear him continual good will, and to be ready to do him every kind office; abideth in the light - not only gives proof that he has received Christ Jesus the Lord, but that he walks in him, that he retains the grace of his justification, and grows therein.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the darkness has blinded his eyes: Hatred keeps a person in the dark and blinds him. The one who hates his brother walks without knowing where he is going, and the blindness deepens the longer the hatred stays.
1 John 2:11
“Whoever does evil and hates his brother has extinguished the lamp of love, and therefore he walks in darkness.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Sermons on Leviticus 13.2.4patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:11
“But he that hateth his brother - The word here used would, in this connection, include both the mere absence of love, and positive hatred. It is designed to include the whole of that state of mind where there is not love for the brethren. Is in darkness - 1Jn 2:9. And walketh in darkness - He is like one who walks in the dark, and who sees no object distinctly. See the notes at Joh 12:35. And knoweth not whither he goeth - Like one in the dark.”
1 John 2:11
“He that hateth his brother - And he must hate, if he does not love him: there is no medium. Is in darkness - In sin, perplexity, entanglement. He walketh in darkness, and knoweth not that he is in the high road to hell.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Fathers, Young Men, Children: Love Not the World
1 John 2:12-14
little children: John addresses three groups twice, shifting from I am writing to I have written. The little children are the whole family, forgiven through His name. Fathers know Him who is from the beginning, and young men overcome because the word of God abides in you.
1 John 2:12
“He then indicates the stages of advancement and progress of souls that are still located in the flesh; and calls those whose sins have been forgiven, for the Lord's name's sake, "little children," for many believe on account of the name only.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · From the Latin Translation of Cassiodoruspatristic
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:12
“But from the thirteenth to 1 John ii, 13-27 the twenty-seventh verse, he divides them particularly into "fathers," "young men," and "little children." Because your sins are forgiven you - As if he had said, This is the sum of what I have now written. He then proceeds to other things, which are built upon this foundation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:12
“Two classes, "fathers" and "young men," are addressed with the same words each time (except that the address to the young men has an addition expressing the source and means of their victory); but the "little sons" and "little children" are differently addressed. have known--and do know: so the Greek perfect means.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:12
“Sins are forgiven either for God's name's sake, for the praise of his glory (his glorious perfections displayed in forgiveness), or for Christ's name's sake, upon his score, and upon the account of the redemption that is in him; and those that are forgiven of God are strongly obliged to relinquish this world, which so interferes with the love of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
I am writing to you, fathers: The verse turns to fathers and young men, and then to children again. Albert Barnes takes these as age groups in the congregation. Brooke Foss Westcott takes the children as the whole church, with the fathers and the young men as two parts of it.
1 John 2:13
“He styles "fathers" the perfect, "who have known what was from the beginning," and received with understanding - the Son, that is, of whom he said above, "that which was from the beginning." "I write," says he, "to you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one." Young man strong in despising pleasures. "The wicked one" points out the eminence of the devil. "The children," moreover, know the Father; having fled from idols and gathered together to the one God.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · From the Latin Translation of Cassiodoruspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 John 2:13
“Children in Christ should know that God is their Father; it is their wisdom. We say, It is a wise child that knows his father. These children cannot but know theirs; they can well be assured by whose power they are regenerated and by whose grace they are adopted.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
you are strong: The young men are strong for the reason the verse gives, the word of God living in them. Their victory over the evil one comes through that word. John repeats the address of verse 13 and adds its source.
1 John 2:14
“I have written unto you, fathers,.... This, with the reason annexed to it, is repeated, to raise the attention of the aged servants of Christ, and to quicken them to a discharge of their duty, who are apt to abate in their zeal, to grow lukewarm and indifferent, to cleave to the world, and to the things of it, which they are cautioned against in 1Jn 2:15. The whole of this, with the reason, because ye have known him that is from the beginning, is left out in the Vulgate Latin version, and Complutensian edition.”
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:14
“The word of God abideth in you - Ye have not only thoroughly known and digested the Divine doctrine, but your hearts are moulded into it; ye know it to be the truth of God from the power and happiness with which it inspires you, and from the constant abiding testimony of the Spirit of that truth which lives and witnesses wherever that truth lives and predominates.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:14
“In my opinion, if someone is a child inside, then he will appear to be a child on the outside as well, however old he is. The same is true of someone who is an overgrown teenager. But it also follows from this that anyone can be an adult and parent on the inside, whatever age they may be.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · CATENApatristic
1 John 2:14
“The word of God must abide in the adult disciples; it is the nutriment and supply of strength to them; it is the weapon by which they overcome the wicked one; the sword of the Spirit, whereby they quench his fiery darts: and those in whom the word of God dwells are well furnished for the conquest of the world.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world: The command Do not love the world uses kosmos for the order set against God, distinct from the world of John 3:16. Its triad the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life echoes Genesis 3:6. That world is passing away.
1 John 2:15
“Love not the world,.... The habitable earth, the world in which men live; this is not to be loved by saints, as if it was their habitation, where they are always to be, and so loath to remove from it, seeing they are but sojourners, and pilgrims, and strangers here; this is not their rest, nor dwellingplace, their continuing city, or proper country, that is heaven.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 John 2:15
“Having once for all, through faith, overcome the world (1Jo 4:4; 5:4), carry forward the conquest by not loving it. "The world" here means "man, and man's world" [ALFORD], in his and its state as fallen from God.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John names three things the world offers. The desires of the flesh reach for pleasure, the eyes for what can be seen and owned, and the pride of life boasts in possessions. None of the three comes from the Father.
1 John 2:16
“For all that is in the world - All that it can boast of, all that it can promise, is only sensual, transient gratification, and even this promise it cannot fulfill; so that its warmest votaries can complain loudest of their disappointment. The lust of the flesh - Sensual and impure desires which seek their gratification in women, strong drink, delicious viands, and the like. Lust of the eyes - Inordinate desires after finery of every kind, gaudy dress, splendid houses, superb furniture, expensive equipage, trappings, and decorations of all sorts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:16
“The eyes are delighted with treasures; riches and rich possessions are craved by an extravagant eye; this is the lust of covetousness. There is the pride of life. A vain mind craves all the grandeur, equipage, and pomp of a vain-glorious life; this is ambition, and thirst after honour and applause.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:16
“It was still, up to that time, accounted as being in Adam, with its own vicious nature, easily indulging concupiscence after whatever it had seen to be "attractive to the sight," and looking back at the lower things, and checking its itching with fig-leaves.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Modestypatristic
1 John 2:16
“Satan tried this temptation the first on Christ: Lu 4:3, "Command this stone that it be made bread." Youth is especially liable to fleshly lusts. lust of the eyes--the avenue through which outward things of the world, riches, pomp, and beauty, inflame us. Satan tried this temptation on Christ when he showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:16
“The desire of the flesh - Of the pleasure of the outward senses, whether of the taste, smell, or touch. The desire of the eye - Of the pleasures of imagination, to which the eye chiefly is subservient; of that internal sense whereby we relish whatever is grand, new, or beautiful.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
The world is passing away: The world and all it wants are already fading, the same verb used of the darkness at 2:8. Whoever does God's will lasts with Him. The contrast gives the reason for the command of verse 15.
1 John 2:17
“And the world passeth away - Everything properly constituting this world where religion is excluded. The reference here does not seem to be so much to the material world, as to the scenes of show and vanity which make up the world. These things are passing away like the shifting scenes of the stage. See the notes at 1Co 7:31. And the lust thereof - All that is here so much the object of desire.”
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:17
“The world passeth away, and the desire thereof - That is, all that can gratify those desires passeth away with it. But he that doeth the will of God - That loves God, not the world.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:17
That we are not to obey our own will, but the will of God. In the Gospel according to John: "I came not down from heaven to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Of this same matter, according to Matthew: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt." Also in the daily prayer: "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jewspatristic
1 John 2:17
“The things of the world are fading and dying apace. The lust itself and the pleasure of it wither and decay; desire itself will ere long fail and cease, Eccl. xii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Many Antichrists, and the Anointing That Teaches You
1 John 2:18-19
it is the last hour: John opens his teaching on the antichrist: it is the last hour. The readers had heard that the antichrist is coming, one figure, and now many antichrists have appeared bearing his spirit. Those who left did not belong to us, and their departure made it clear.
1 John 2:18
“Little children, it is the last time,.... Or hour; not of the Jewish civil and church state, for that had been at an end for some time; this epistle was written some years after the destruction of Jerusalem; nor the last hour of the Gospel dispensation, or world to come, for this was but the first age of that; and much less the last hour of time, or of the present world itself, for that has been many hundreds of years since; but the last hour of the apostolic age.”
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:18
“Little children, it is the last time - This place is variously understood. This is the last dispensation of grace and mercy to mankind; the present age is the conclusion of the Jewish state, as the temple and holy city are shortly to be destroyed. But as there are many who suppose that this epistle was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, consequently the words cannot, on that supposition, refer to this.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:18
“The Gospel, therefore, knew no other son of man but Him who was of Mary, who also suffered; and no Christ who flew away from Jesus before the passion; but Him who was born it knew as Jesus Christ the Son of God, and that this same suffered and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, verifies, saying: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have eternal life in His name," -foreseeing these blasphemous systems which divide the Lord, as far as lies…”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIIpatristic
1 John 2:18
“The connection with 1Jo 2:15-17 is: There are coming those seducers who are of the world (1Jo 4:5), and would tempt you to go out from us (1Jo 2:19) and deny Christ (1Jo 2:22). as ye have heard--from the apostles, preachers of the Gospel (for example, 2Th 2:3-10; and in the region of Ephesus, Ac 20:29, 30). shall come--Greek, "cometh," namely, out of his own place.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
They went out from us: The false teachers had once sat in the churches John writes to. Their departure made plain that they had never belonged. John treats the leaving as the uncovering of what was already true of them.
1 John 2:19
“They were not of us - When they went; their hearts were before departed from God, otherwise, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest - That is, this was made manifest by their going out.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:19
“They went out from us - From the church. That is, they had once been professors of the religion of the Saviour, though their apostasy showed that they never had any true piety. John refers to the fact that they had once been in the church, perhaps to remind those to whom he wrote that they knew them well, and could readily appreciate their character.”
1 John 2:19
“What does the fierceness of wolves do in the Christian breast? What the savageness of dogs, and the deadly venom of serpents, and the sanguinary cruelty of wild beasts? We are to be congratulated when such as these are separated from the Church, lest they should lay waste the doves and sheep of Christ with their cruel and envenomed contagion. Bitterness cannot consist and be associated with sweetness, darkness with light, rain with clearness, battle with peace, barrenness with fertility, drought with springs, storm with tranquillity.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise I. On the Unity of the Churchpatristic
1 John 2:19
“Still, it is no fatal necessity, but a "voluntary necessity" [DIDYMUS], which causes men to remain, or else go from the body of Christ. "We are either among the members, or else among the bad humors. It is of his own will that each is either an Antichrist, or in Christ" [AUGUSTINE].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:20-21
an anointing from the Holy One: Against teachers claiming superior knowledge, every believer has an anointing from the Holy One, the Greek chrisma, the Spirit given at conversion. John writes because you have it, to confirm what they know. The anointing gives discernment, since no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:20
“But ye have an anointing - A chrism; perhaps so termed in opposition to the name of antichrist; an inward teaching from the Holy Ghost, whereby ye know all things - Necessary for your preservation from these seducers, and for your eternal salvation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:20
“But ye have an unction - The word χρισμα signifies not an unction, but an ointment, the very thing itself by which anointing is effected; and so it was properly rendered in our former translations. Probably this is an allusion to the holy anointing oil of the law, and to Psa 14:7: God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness - he hath given thee the plenitude of the Spirit, which none of thy fellows - none of the prophets, ever received in such abundance.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:20
“But ye have an unction from the Holy One,.... Meaning the Spirit, and his graces, with which Christ, the head, is anointed without measure, and his members in measure; from whence he is called Christ, and they Christians. These were really the Lord's anointed ones; they were true believers; were the wise virgins who had oil in their vessels with their lamps, which would never go out.”
1 John 2:20
"It appears that we all are the body of Christ, because we all are anointed: and we all in Him are both Christ's and Christ, because in some measure the whole Christ is Head and body." and--therefore. ye know all things--needful for acting aright against Antichrist's seductions, and for Christian life and godliness.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
no lie comes from the truth: John writes to people who already hold the truth, to confirm it and to arm them. Any teaching that contradicts that truth cannot come from it. The readers can test each new doctrine against what they already know.
1 John 2:21
“I have written - Namely, 1 John ii, 13. To you because ye know the truth - That is, to confirm you in the knowledge ye have already. Ye know that no lie is of the truth - That all the doctrines of these antichrists are irreconcilable to it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:21
“I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth - You are not to regard my writing to you in this earnest manner as any evidence that I do not suppose you to be acquainted with religion and its duties. Some, perhaps, might have been disposed to put this construction on what he had said, but he assures them that that was not the reason why he had thus addressed them. The very fact that they did understand the subject of religion, he says, was rather the reason why he wrote to them.”
1 John 2:21
“For right (a straight line) is the index of itself and of what is crooked [ESTIUS]. The Greek is susceptible of ALFORD'S translation, "Because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth" (literally, "every lie is excluded from being of the truth").”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:22-23
denies that Jesus is the Christ?: The confession test is sharpest: the liar is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and he denies the Father and the Son. The two are bound together: Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, and the one who confesses the Son has both.
1 John 2:22
“John, moreover, brands that man as "a liar" who "denieth that Jesus is the Christ; "whilst on the other hand he declares that "every one is born of God who believeth that Jesus is the Christ." Wherefore he also exhorts us to believe in the name of His (the Father's, ) Son Jesus Christ, that "our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Praxeaspatristic
3 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:22
“Who is that liar - Who is guilty of that lying, but he who denies that truth which is the sum of all Christianity? That Jesus is the Christ; that he is the Son of God; that he came in the flesh, is one undivided truth. and he that denies any part of this, in effect denies the whole.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:22
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? - Here we see some of the false doctrines which were then propagated in the world. There were certain persons who, while they acknowledged Jesus to be a Divine teacher, denied him to be the Christ, i.e. the Messiah.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 John 2:22
“He that opposes Christ denies the witness and testimony of the Father, and the seal that he hath given to his Son; for him hath God the Father sealed, John vi.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father: The Father is known only through the Son, so a person who rejects the Son has no access to the Father. Confession of the Son brings the Father with Him. The verse closes the door on any claim to worship God apart from Jesus.
1 John 2:23
“Whosoever denieth the Son,.... Jesus Christ to be the true, proper, natural, essential, and eternal Son of God: the same hath not the Father; or does not hold the Father; or "believe the Father", as the Syriac version renders it; for there cannot be a father without a son; and he that honours not the Son, by owning him as such, honours not the Father; whatever reflects dishonour on the Son, reflects dishonour on the Father.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:23
“These words ought not to be in italics, as though they were not in the original: for the oldest Greek manuscripts have them. hath--namely, in his abiding possession as his "portion"; by living personal "fellowship." acknowledgeth--by open confession of Christ.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 John 2:23
“As there is an intimate relation between the Father and the Son, so there is an inviolable union in the doctrine, knowledge, and interests of both; so that he who has the knowledge of, and right to, the Son, has the knowledge of, and right to, the Father also. Those that adhere to the Christian revelation hold the light and benefit of natural religion withal.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:24-25
let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you: John returns to abiding: let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. The apostolic teaching guards against the new teaching of those who left. The condition is an appeal, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father, and the promise is eternal life.
1 John 2:24
“Let that therefore abide in you - Continue in the doctrines concerning the incarnation, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of the Lord Jesus, which you have heard preached from the beginning by us his apostles. Ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father - Ye who are preachers shall not only be acknowledged as ministers of the Church of Christ, but be genuine children of God, by faith in the Son of his love; and ye all, thus continuing, shall have fellowship with the Father and with the Son.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:24
“It is the truth of Christ abiding in us that is the means of severing us from sin and uniting us to the Son of God, John xv. The Son is the medium or the Mediator by whom we are united to the Father. What value then should we put upon gospel truth!”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:24
“Let that--truth respecting the Father and the Son, regarded as a seed not merely dropped in, but having taken root (1Jo 3:9). ye--in the Greek standing emphatically at the beginning of the sentence.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
this is the promise: The promise is eternal life. It is the life named at 1:2, given to those who remain in the Son and the Father, and 5:11 places life in the Son.
1 John 2:25
“And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life - This is evidently added to encourage them in adhering to the truths which they had embraced respecting the Son of God. In maintaining these truths they had the promise of eternal life; in departing from them they had none, for the “promise” of heaven in our world is made only to those who embrace one class of doctrines or opinions.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 John 2:25
“Great is the promise that God makes to his faithful adherents. It is suitable to his own greatness, power, and goodness. It is eternal life, which none but God can give.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:26-27
those who are trying to deceive you: The warning names its target, those who are trying to deceive you. The anointing remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you, yet John teaches them in this very letter. The Spirit makes the church able to discern false teaching and novel doctrine.
1 John 2:26
“These things have I written - Either meaning the whole epistle, or what is contained in the preceding verses, from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 25th. Them that seduce you - Περι των πλανωντων ὑμας· That is, the deceivers that were among them, and who were labouring to pervert the followers of Christ.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the anointing you received from Him: The anointing is the Holy Spirit, given to every believer as at 2:20. John is teaching them even as he writes this letter. His point is that they need no new teacher to add to what the Spirit has already taught them.
1 John 2:27
“But the anointing which ye have received of him,.... The Spirit, and the grace of the Spirit, which they had received out of the fulness of grace which is in Christ; and is compared to oil or ointment; See Gill on 1Jn 2:20; for Christ, the anointed, is the fountain of it all, and it is had from him in a way of giving and receiving.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:27
“But the anointing which ye have received of him - See the notes at 1Jn 2:20. Abideth in you - The meaning is, that the influence on your heart and life, which results from the fact that you are anointed of God, permanently abides with you, and will keep you from dangerous error. The apostle evidently meant to say that he felt assured that they would not be seduced from the truth, and that his confidence in regard to this was placed in the fact that they had been truly anointed unto God as kings and priests.”
1 John 2:27
“It is meet that the Lord Jesus should have a constant witness in the hearts of his disciples. The unction, the pouring out of the gifts of grace upon sincere disciples, is a seal to the truth and doctrine of Christ, since none giveth that seal but God. Now he who establisheth us with you (and you with us) in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, 2 Cor. i.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 John 2:28-29
remain in Christ: Abiding prepares for His return: remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed at His coming, the Greek parousia. Righteousness marks the new birth, for everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him, the theme chapter 3 builds on.
1 John 2:28
“And now, little children - Τεκνια, Beloved children, abide in him - in Christ Jesus. Let his word and spirit continually abide in you, and have communion with the Father and the Son.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 John 2:28
“And now, beloved children - Having finished his address to each, he now returns to all in general. Abide in him, that we - A modest expression. May not be ashamed before him at his coming - O how will ye, Jews, Socinians, nominal Christians, be ashamed in that day!”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
everyone who practices righteousness: A child shows its father's likeness. God is righteous, so a life that practices righteousness shows birth from Him. This is the letter's first mention of being born of God, a theme that runs through chapters 3 to 5.
1 John 2:29
“If ye know that he is righteous - This is not said as if there could be any doubt on the subject, but merely to call their attention to it as a well-known truth, and to state what followed from it. Everyone who has any true acquaintance with God, must have the fullest conviction that he is a righteous Being. But, if this be so, John says, then it must follow that only those who are truly righteous can regard themselves as begotten of Him.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 John 2:29
“Everyone - And none else. Who practiceth righteousness - From a believing, loving heart. Is born of him - For all his children are like himself.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 John 2:29
"Every one," he says, "who does righteousness is born of God;" being regenerated, that is, according to faith.
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · From the Latin Translation of Cassiodoruspatristic
How this psalm is built
The form: The first cycle of the letter's tests carried through, with obedience, love and belief in the Son each tested in turn, ending at 2:28, as Law classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Little children, fathers, young men | Verses 12 to 14 address three groups six times, three with I am writing and three with I have written, as the Berean text reads. Each address gives its reason: sins forgiven, knowledge of Him who is from the beginning, and victory over the evil one.The chapter's Berean text, counted from the store, translation id 3, 1 John 2:12 to 14. | 1 John 2:12, 1 John 2:13, 1 John 2:14 |
| Three claims, three tests | Verses 4, 6 and 9 each quote a claim, to know Him, to abide in Him and to be in the light. Beside each the chapter sets a test of life: keeping His commandments, walking as Jesus walked, and loving a brother.The chapter's Berean text, counted from the store, translation id 3, 1 John 2:4 to 11. | 1 John 2:4, 1 John 2:6, 1 John 2:9 |
| Remain, said again and again | The verbs remain and abide stand nine times in the Berean text of this chapter, and five of them fall in verses 24 to 28, where the chapter turns to its closing call.The chapter's Berean text, counted from the store, translation id 3, 1 John 2. | 1 John 2:24, 1 John 2:27, 1 John 2:28 |
| Flesh, eyes and pride | Verse 16 names three things that make up all that is in the world. The site's published exposition of verses 15 to 17 records that many teachers set the three beside the tree of Genesis 3:6 and the temptation of the Lord in the wilderness.This site's published exposition of 1 John 2:15 to 17, The exposition_notes row on 1 John 2:15 to 17, citing Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. | 1 John 2:16 |
Where the chapter stands
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 2 finishes the first cycle of the letter's tests, which Robert Law traced from 1:5 to 2:28 (The Tests of Life, 1909). Verses 1 and 2 answer the confession of 1:9, and verse 29 opens the theme of birth from God that chapter 3 carries forward.
The debated reading: the whole world
Verse 2 says the atoning sacrifice reaches the sins of the whole world. John Calvin reads the whole world as believers scattered through every nation, and holds that the saying that Christ suffered sufficiently for all and effectually for the elect is true yet does not fit this passage (Commentary on 1 John, on 2:2). Albert Barnes reads the phrase at its full extent, as an atonement made for all people (Notes on the New Testament, on 1 John 2:2). Each position is stated by its holder and the page settles neither.
The anointing
The anointing of verses 20 and 27 is read as the Holy Spirit given to every believer. The site's published exposition of verses 26 and 27 records that the anointing makes the church discerning and leaves its teachers in place.
The antichrist and the antichrists
Verse 18 speaks of the antichrist who is coming and of many antichrists already present. The site's published exposition of verses 18 and 19 holds the futurist reading for the final figure, and the feature page on the antichrist sets out the positions with their holders.
Keep studying
Studies10
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The form and classifications
Robert Law, The Tests of Life, 1909.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistles of St. John; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on 1 John; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.