1 John 2
v.1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
v.2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Though Jesus made His propitiation for the whole world, yet the whole world is not saved and in fellowship with God. This is because atonement does not equal forgiveness. The Old Testament Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:34) demonstrates this, when the sin of all Israel was atoned for every year at the Day of Atonement, yet not all of Israel was saved.
v.3
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
v.4
The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
v.5-6
But if anyone obeys his word ,God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
The Christian no longer loves sin; it is the object of his sternest horror: he no longer regards it as a mere trifle, plays with it, or talks of it with unconcern… Sin is dejected in the Christian’s heart, though it is not ejected. Sin may enter the heart, and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.
v.9
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
v.13
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
Fathers - These are men and women of deep, long spiritual standing. They have the kind of walk with God that doesn’t come overnight. These are like great oak trees in the Lord, that have grown big and strong through the years. - You have known Him: This is what spiritual maturity has its roots in. It is not so much in an intellectual knowledge (though that is a part of it), but more so in the depth of fellowship and relationship we have with Jesus. There is no substitute for years and years of an experiential relationship with Jesus.
Young men - They are engaged in battle with the wicked one. We don’t send our little children out to war, and we don’t send our old men to the front lines. The greatest effort, the greatest cost, and the greatest strength are expected of the young men. - These young men have overcome the spiritual foes that would seek to destroy their spiritual life. They know what it is to battle against Satan and his emissaries as a partner with God.
Children - These young men have overcome the spiritual foes that would seek to destroy their spiritual life. They know what it is to battle against Satan and his emissaries as a partner with God. - John uses different words for little children in verses 12 and 13 (teknia and paidia, respectively). Teknia has more of an emphasis on a child’s relationship of dependence on a parent, while paidia has more of an emphasis on a child’s immaturity and need for instruction.
v.14
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Do you consider yourself one of the young men spiritually? Then are you strong? Are you putting your strength to some spiritual use? Do you resent that your strength is tested and developed by God? These young men, who had gained some measure of spiritual maturity, were known by the fact that God’s Word lived in them. The Word of God had made itself at home in their hearts.
v.15
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Self can no more find heaven in its world than in itself. To quote Pascal once again, “The Stoics say: ‘Withdraw into yourself, that is where you fill peace.’ And that is not true. Others say: ‘Go outside; look for happiness in some diversion.’ And that is not true: we may fall sick. Happiness is neither outside nor inside us: it is in God, both outside and inside us.
v.16
For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world.
9/2/2021 - Currently, I’ve started to realize the work and difficulty it will take to land a software engineering job - especially in Big Tech. I’m reading Cal Newport and just checked out Gayle McDowell’s The Google Resume for their valuable insight into this career field to best enable me to succeed. Yet, my prayer is that this career path would not sow “cravings of sinful man, the lust of my eyes, and the boasting of what I have done and am doing.” Lord, fill me the love of the Father! May I remain in you and you in me in every season!
v.17
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
9/1/2021 - Jason Martinez shared bits of his heart at UHOP. Afterward, I got to chat with him. He told his story of how he ended up at USC and encouraged us with what the wisdom his hindsight offerred: What we think is so BIG now will become so small years down the road. My desire to be excellent in whatever career field I end up in, to lead a successful ministry with many people and evident fruit, or even my desire for an amazing wife and kids will pass away. The will of God may contain such things but God promises that doing the will of God in this moment lets me “build happiness on a basis which is secure, and which can never pass away.”
v.18
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
v.20
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
Walker jokes around that NKJV says “you know all things.” 😂
When the New Testament speaks of anointing, it speaks of it as the common property of all believers. This is true even though all believers may not be walking in the anointing God has given them. The New Testament does not speak of a “special” anointing given to particular individuals.
ii. Among some Christians today, there is a rather magical or superstitious approach to this idea of anointing. In their mind, the anointing is like a virus or a germ that can be spread by casual contact or infect a whole group. Usually these folks think that when one “catches” the anointing, you can tell because they begin acting strangely. This isn’t the Bible’s idea of anointing.
iii. Anointing has the idea of being filled with and blessed by the Holy Spirit. This is something that is the common property of all Christians, but something we can and should become more submitted and responsive to. “As oil was used among the Asiatics for the inauguration of persons in important offices, and this oil was acknowledged to be an emblem of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, without which the duties of those offices could not be discharged; so it is put here for the Spirit himself, who presided in the Church, and from which all gifts and graces flowed.” (Clarke)
v.24
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
v.27
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.
We have the Spirit and we have gospel…we don’t need new stuff. So does this mean we don’t need teachers?
Absolutely not. It is the same Christ who gave the Spirit that also gave some to be teachers (Ephesians 4:11). It is hard to imagine that Christ would have gifted the church with teachers that we do not need.
In fact John is teaching them through his letter. But what ought to be noted is the way in which John is teaching them. This help us to see the function that teachers of the gospel are to have.
Gospel teachers aren’t new truth dispensers. We are dispensers of the very old truth. All believers are given the Spirit (that is John’s point) and when the gospel is proclaimed by teachers the Spirit within them affirms what is being taught.
And so this tells us how teachers ought to be teaching. Our goal is to lead people to a further grasp of the gospel. That’s it. You start teaching new and special things then nobody needs you as a teacher. But if you are a teacher that is laboring to help people grab hold of Jesus and apply the gospel then you are much needed in the kingdom. article link
v.28
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
v.29
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.