1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate s with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice ,t for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. u
God’s Commands
3 This is how we know v that we know him: if we keep his commands. w 4 The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps his word, x truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him: y 6 The one who says he remains in him z should walk just as he walked.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command a but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word b you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away c and the true light d is already shining. e 9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister f is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother or sister g remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother or sister h is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, i and doesn’t know where he’s going, j because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Reasons for Writing
12 I am writing to you, little children,
since your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name. k
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning. l
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have conquered the evil one. m
14 I have written to you, children,
because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
God’s word n remains in you,
and you have conquered the evil one.
A Warning about the World
15 Do not love the world o or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, p the lust of the eyes, q and the pride r in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, s but the one who does the will of God t remains forever. u
The Last Hour
18 Children, it is the last hour. v And as you have heard that antichrist w is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
20 But you have an anointing x from the Holy One, y and all of you know the truth. 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? z This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; a he who confesses the Son has the Father as well. b
Remaining with God
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son c and in the Father. d 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life. e
26 I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things f and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him. g
God’s Children
28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears h we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. i 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right j has been born of him. k
2:1–2. In the next sentence (2:1) the elder extends his ethical appeal to the entire audience; at the same time he emphasizes the availability of grace. He employs a word (“advocate”) used for the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John (Jn 14:16), but here he uses it in reference to Jesus. Conversely, he then employs an unusual reference to the “atoning sacrifice” (Gk hilasmos; see also 1 Jn 4:10; cf. Rm 3:25; Heb 9:5) of Jesus Christ the righteous one. The redeeming work of Christ is not simply for the community’s benefit; it extends to the entire world, and that is the power of the gospel being proclaimed (2:2).
B. The old commandment of the Lord: Love your brothers and sisters! (2:3–11). The true evidence of knowing Christ is incarnational: obeying his commandments (2:3), the chief of which is to love one another (3:11). To obey the original commandment of Jesus is to experience God’s love being perfected within (2:5). The elder now moves to the third-person singular in confronting the problematic community member. “The one who says . . .” is the hook, and three statements listed are that one has come to know him (2:4), to remain in him (2:6), and to be in the light (2:9). The true evidence of authenticity is that a person will obey Christ’s commandments (2:4), will walk as Christ walked (2:6), and will not hate his or her brother or sister (2:9). The clearest measure of one’s abiding in the love of Christ is the demonstration of loving consideration for others. Anything short of that is darkness and blindness (2:11).
C. Love not the world! (2:12–17). 2:12–14. Lest particular members of his audience feel singled out or left out, the elder now addresses specific demographic groups, covering the range of ages and relationships. To the “little children” he announces forgiveness in the name of Christ (2:12); to the fathers, he affirms their knowing of “the one who is from the beginning” (2:13a; cf. Jn 1:1–3); to the youth, he extols their conquering the evil one (2:13b). This triad is followed, then, by a second (2:14). To the children, he writes to affirm their knowledge of the Father; to the fathers, he writes because they know “the one who is from the beginning”; and to the youth he writes because they are strong and indwelt by the word of God, and because they have overcome the evil one.
2:15–17. The repetition and the parallel references add emphasis to his affirming message (2:15). Rather than spell out particular sins, however, the elder is content to leave the sins of worldliness general: the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and pride in wealth (2:16) cover the territory effectively. These drives come not from the Father but from the world. And the world, along with its desires, is a fleeting reality, not an enduring one (2:17). Doing the will of God, however, leads to eternal life.
A. The departure of the antichrists shows their inauthenticity (2:18–20). The schismatic crisis this Johannine community has experienced fulfills the prediction of old that an adversary to the Messiah would come. This shows that it is the last hour (2:18), calling for a special measure of faith and faithfulness. Many antichrists have come, and their advent is marked by community members’ having left John’s church and abandoned fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ (2:18–19). Further, their departure shows they never were convinced of the truth to begin with, which reflects the elder’s own thoughts on why some are able to remain with Christ and his fellowship and some are not. Those who remain are encouraged by the elder’s affirming their anointing by the Holy One and their abiding in true knowledge (2:20). [The Identity of the Antichrist ]
B. Those who deny Jesus as the Christ lose the Father (2:21–25). In declaring again why he is writing (1 Jn 1:4; 2:1, 7–8, 12, 13–14, 21, 26; 5:13; 2 Jn 5, 12; 3 Jn 13), the elder affirms what he hopes for in his audience as though it were an actualized reality: their knowing and abiding in the truth (2:21). The “liar,” though, is the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah (2:22a). This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son (2:22b).
C. Abide in Christ and his anointing (2:26–29). Here the deceivers (2:26) would be appealing to the hallmarks of Jewish faith and practice at the expense of the Jesus movement. The elder places emphasis on the spiritual anointing that believers have received from the one who abides in him and in whom they abide (2:27). Reminding them of the words of Jesus about God’s direct instruction through the Spirit (Jn 6:45; 14:26; 15:26; 16:1–15), the elder affirms the importance of abiding in Christ as the present teacher (cf. Jn 15:1–15). This will strengthen them in their time of trial, and it inspires them to live in the righteousness they have received as a result of being born anew in the life of Christ (2:29).