1 John 2

     2:1-2.  Christ our Advocate; we are in a bad case, but we have the kind of attorney money can’t buy, a righteous advocate.  He pleads for us by interposing himself between us and our sins in such a way that not only are we defended, but the perfect justice of God is administered and fully satisfied.  For he himself is the propitiation for our sins (2; 4:10; cf. Ro. 3:25 and notes; Heb. 3:27).

     “Christ is…called ‘the propitiation [not expiation] for our sins’.  RSV, by using a word which means simply the removal of the guilt of sin, obscures the fact that this term…signifies rather the removal of wrath.”  Leon Morris, The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p.1263.  Morris goes on to imply that many modern theologians (who suppress the truth) don’t much like the idea of a God of wrath (John 3:36; Ro. 1:18; Eph. 2:3).  I notice the NIV substitutes “atoning sacrifice”, which doesn’t directly bring up God’s anger either (but it does in a marginal note, perhaps a sign that some on the translation committee objected).  Translators can’t say they make these substitutions for clarity, since most people have no idea what expiation or atonement mean either.  (No, atonement definitely does not mean “at-one-ment”, as I once heard set forth at length in a liberal pastor’s sermon).

     In one of the great paradoxical mysteries of the faith, the act of God’s pouring out his wrath upon our sins as Jesus represented us on the cross is the same act by which God’s perfect love, forgiveness, and grace is poured out upon us through the righteous man.

Together met are truth and grace
While righteousness and peace embrace 
(Ps. 85:10, from The Book of Psalms for Singing).

 
And Christ’s propitiation for sins is not just for me and for thee, but for the whole world.  What does this mean in this context?  What it cannot mean is a universally propitious atonement that has taken away God’s wrath from the whole world (cf. 15-17; 5:19).  What it does mean is that we can assure anyone in the world that there is provision sufficient for all their sins, and it is for anyone anywhere who puts their hope in Christ.  Christ is the only effective advocate there is in the whole world, and there is salvation in no one else and in no other way (John 14:6, 17; Acts 4:12; 10:34, 35).  Please see the notes at John 3:1-21, and Jesus’ use of the word world (KOSMOS) in John 3:16.

     2:3-17.  Obedience, love, and truth: the three major strands of John’s rope that secures our assurance continue to be twisted together here.  “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecc. 4:12).

     2:3-6.  Cf. John 14:15, 21; 15:9-12; Jas. 3:14.

     2:7-8.  Though the Lord’s commandments are ageless, “They are new every morning,” like his never failing grace (Lam. 3:23).

     2:10.  Love fulfills the Law; (cf. Mt. 22:36-40; Ro. 7:6; 13:8-10).

     2:12-14.  We come to God like little children, needy, trusting in the Father’s love.  As young men, we are called to fight the good fight of faith with courage.  Maturity in the faith as old men brings us to know the Father even as the children do, for we are always his children.  John writes this, then writes again what he has written, that they be encouraged the more (cf. Php. 3:1; 4:4).

     2:15-17.  Our worst sins are not sins of weakness, but the sins of strength (16).  But the pride of life is fleeting, and this lusty world that boasts so much is passing away (17; cf. Jas. 5:3, 5).

     2:18.  The last hour; i.e., the end of the ages, or the last days.  Christ now rules at the Father’s right hand, there to reign until the consummation of all things, a time set by the Father.  He shall come suddenly without further sign or warning (cf. Mt. 24).  The sign of the Antichrist who is to come first has been more than fulfilled, John says.  Cf. Luke 10:20; Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:20, 4:7; 2 Pet. 3:3-10.  Antichrist; 18, 22, 4:3 (cf. Mark 13:22; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:3; 2 John 7).  Watch and be ready.  “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you…” (2 Pet. 3:9).  That is, he is patient for the full number of his elect to come to repentance.  It is not a time to tarry, for no man knows the hour of his death any more than he knows when the Lord comes.  But it is the last hour.  The Judge is already right at the door (Jas. 5:9).

     2:19.  If God’s children abide in the light, those who hate the light will depart from them (10, 11).

     2:20-29.   Many deny Jesus as the Christ openly, and many honor him only with their lips.  But all who do not obey him have denied him, whatever they may say (3-4, 29; cf. 2 Tim. 3:5).  Abide in Christ, in his word, and know the indwelling witness of the Holy Spirit which is given to you, and your confidence will not be shaken.