1 John 2

Translation

And in this we know that we have known him: if his commandments we keep. Someone who says “I have known him” and his commandments they do not keep, they are a liar, and the truth is not in them. Now, whoever should keep his word, truly in this person the love of God is made complete. In this we know that we are in him. One who says “I abide in him” is obligated, just as he walked, to walk likewise.

Beloved, this is no new commandment I am writing to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old law is the word which you heard. Again, a new commandment I am writing to you which is true in him and in you, that the darkness is passing away and the true light is now revealed. One who says, “I am in the light,” and hates their brother is in the darkness even now. The one loving their brother abides in the light, and in them there is no cause for stumbling. Moreover, the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and in the darkness they walk about, and they do not know where to go, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

I am writing to you, children, that sin has been forgiven you through his name.

I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known the one from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men, that you have overcome the evil one.

I wrote to you, little children, that you have known the father.

I wrote to you fathers, that you have known the one from the beginning.

I wrote to you, young men, that you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.

Do not love the world nor what is in the world. If someone should love the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of life) is not from the Father, but it is from the world. And the world is passing way, as well as its desire. But the one doing the will of God abides into the age.

Walking the Walk

How can I know that I’m a Christian?

“Once saved always saved?”

Blessed Assurance?

Worship in fear and trembling?

“You will know them by their fruits.”

Knowledge of God is the same as obedience to God.

Obedience is not the condition of knowing God, it is the characteristic of knowing God.

Likewise, to know God and to love God are not mutually exclusive

To know God is to love God, and one who knows and loves God is obedient to him.

Love of God is made complete

Christian perfection/Wesley

Perfection not incompatible with progress and growth

Perfection must be set alongside I John’s statement “we cannot say we are without sin”

In short, Christians look like Christ. If we say, “I abide in him”, we must walk like him.

Thus we must keep his commandments

“…teach them to obey all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28, Great Commission)

Ps 119

Command of Love

So is John suggesting we’re still under the law? Does he disagree with Paul? Which “commandments” is John talking about?

The command of love

Gal 5:14

The New Revised Standard Version The Nature of Christian Freedom

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matt 22:36-40

The New Revised Standard Version The Greatest Commandment

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Lev 19:17-18

The New Revised Standard Version Ritual and Moral Holiness

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

An old or new commandment?

Old: from Jesus, and from OT

New: “renewed” or “fresh”, seen in a new light/new understanding of it

“in him” and “in you”

Not passive, but active love

There is no “neutrality”. To not care about the brother is to hate them.

Jesus vs. Hillel: Golden Rule (Do or Do not?)

The Gospel is “faith working through love” (Gal 5.6)

No cause for stumbling

Always being active in love means always living with a heart full of love of God, and thus there is no room for sin that leads astray

Light and Darkness

Two ages; dark “passing away”, Jesus is light shining in the darkness

To abide in Jesus (i.e. “light”) is to abide in love, and thus to participate in the coming Kingdom of God

A foretaste of Divine Love and the life to come

Not to love is to live in darkness. Just as darkness blinds, so too does hate blind

Dulling of the senses toward those in need (“passive” hatred)

Living in the ways of this world

Conquering Character

Is John writing to “scare us straight?” Should we be worried if our hearts are not always perfected in love of God as John describes?

No! John is not using scare tactics. This letter is not written to instill doubt

“Children, Fathers, young men” = levels of Christian maturity

Sin is forgiven (therefore not perfectionism. “Perfected in Love” does not equal “Perfect”)

Known the one from the beginning (i.e. Jesus)

overcome the evil one (not only forgiveness, but victory over sin)

Victory and forgiveness mean we can “know the father” as children

Knowing the father means knowing the son

Matt 11.27

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Thanks His Father

All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Temptation of the World