The Apostle John had a lot to teach the Christians of his day, and also Christians of today. He walked with Jesus and learned directly from Him, and he outlived the other apostles by many years. John was an anchor of the Christian faith and made sure that the people he came in contact with didn’t stray from that narrow path. John spoke in love, but he stood firmly upon God’s truth, and didn’t condone sin.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).
This chapter begins with John deeply concerned that those who were learning from him understood that they weren’t to sin. This isn’t a “Hell fire and damnation” letter but one that firmly states Christians aren’t to sin. The words “little children” aren’t sarcastic, but a kind way for a teacher to address his disciples. The word is “teknion.” He uses this term quite often, which shows how much he cared about those whom he taught…including us!
Why are there so few today who see the importance of not sinning? As I see apostate churches inviting drag queens to the pulpit and accepting many other heresies, I wonder how they can justify their doctrines of demons. They certainly don’t hold Scripture as God’s truth.
John had no problem confronting sin within congregations. Secular people have no basis to know right from wrong, but Christians have Scripture. Nonbelievers should be allowed to come into worship services, but they shouldn’t expect their sin to be accepted. Remember, we all sin and are saved by grace through faith.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
When we accept Christ for salvation, we need to allow Him to change us; we should never think we can change God. When we sin, we can be assured that if we’re repentant, we have an advocate to plead our case before God. The word translated “advocate” is the Greek word “parakletos,” which is first used by Jesus when He talked with His disciples before the crucifixion.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16).
In the Gospel, Jesus is talking of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, but in the letter, it speaks of Jesus. What does “propitiation mean? It’s translated from the Greek word “hilasmos,” which means appease. Jesus is the one who appeases. John was Jewish, and ever since Abraham obeyed his calling from God, the Jewish people had been the ones who were uniquely chosen. Now, since Jesus gave His life, the entire world has been able to find forgiveness through Jesus’ blood. Praise God!
Many people through the ages have asked the question “Am I really saved?” I think most people have times when they don’t “feel” saved. Mostly that happens when we aren’t obeying God’s commandments, when we are living a sinful lifestyle. John tells us how we can know we’re saved.
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:3-6).
This type of honesty doesn’t sit well with many congregations today. Could that be the reason there is so much apostasy and doctrines of demons among Christian groups? I think so.
It isn’t always easy to totally abide in Jesus. No matter how much I want to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, I fail. My thoughts are my biggest downfall. God knows I don’t like thinking bad things about other people, but just let someone cut in front of me in traffic, and, oh my! I fail in my walk. Then the cycle begins. I say I’m sorry and pray for the other person, and I’m fine until the next incident. Walmart’s parking lot is the worst place for me to keep my thoughts under control. Maybe I need to stop going to Walmart!
John wasn’t making any new rules to follow, but he reminds us that the old commandment is still in effect. “Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning” (1 John 2:7).
What is the old commandment? Jesus was asked about the first of all commandments. “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30).
Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy. John stayed true to what Jesus taught. The new commandment was really the old commandment. Once again, it’s important to understand the Greek word for new. “Kainos,” translated “new,” means something fresh. Like a new coat of paint on your house rather than a new or different house. Scripture can take on a deeper meaning if you look into the original language in which it was written.
A trend that I see today is that Christians will go out of their way to care for, help, and show love to unsaved people but turn a blind eye to the needs of fellow Christians. It’s a very good thing to show love to those outside of the Christian community, but we are truly admonished to love fellow Christians. John uses the word “brother” or “brethren” quite often.
“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11).
This doesn’t mean we only care about fellow Christians, but I’ve seen too many Christians who only reach out and care for non-Christians while many within the congregation with great need are ignored.
John tells us to whom he wrote this letter. He wrote to “little children,” “fathers,” and “young men.” Does this exclude women? No. The “little children” are teknion, which indicates all who desire to learn. The fathers are mature men in Christ who need to lead and teach. The young men are those who have come to know Jesus and must learn Scripture and be taught to be strong leaders.
“I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14).
The only way to learn God’s ways is to study Scripture and not twist His words. Adam was given the command not to eat the forbidden fruit, but Eve chose to twist God’s words, while Adam just kept quiet. Come on, men. Don’t be afraid to stand firm upon Scripture and teach others God’s truth. You older men, encourage the younger men to follow God’s truth and to understand God’s love.
Christians are to love. God is love, and when we come to Christ, brotherly love should be a main purpose in our life. Still, we need to be careful about what we love.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
That’s an interesting idea coming from the man who recorded what Jesus said to Nicodemus. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
If God loves the world, shouldn’t we? Yes, and no. God loves all people, but He loved us enough not to leave us in sin. Sin separates us from God, and only the shed blood of Jesus can take our sin away. We cannot hold onto the sin in our life and say we love Jesus.
John wrote in the first part of this letter that if we do this, we call God a liar. It’s the sin in the world we aren’t to love. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
Pride is a great sin, especially taking pride in sin. Life in this world is temporary, but we make the choice now as to where we will spend eternity. Only faith in Jesus will allow us to spend eternity in Heaven with Him; only rejecting Jesus will bring eternal damnation. We aren’t saved by works, but once we place our faith in Jesus, the ways of the world should hold no interest for us. Gossip, lying, cheating, sexual sin, foul language, drunkenness, and more are things we need to remove from our character.
Study Scripture and learn to love what God loves, and hate what God hates. He loves people but hates sin.
When Jesus talked to His disciples (including John) about the final days, He told them that when certain things happened, the people were to get out of Jerusalem immediately and not look back. He said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). When Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed because of the sin there, Lot and his family were told to run and not look back. Lot’s wife looked back at the place where sin was glorified. Because she didn’t heed the warning, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
When you come to salvation, don’t look back at sin.
We hear much today about the soon-coming Rapture that will precede the final seven years of the world. Those final years will be horrific, and the only way to escape is to put your faith in Jesus now, and you’ll be taken away from God’s wrath. When will that happen? I really hope that it’s soon, but we have no way of knowing for certain. John knew that time was running out, and he lived many years ago.
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18).
Many modern translations say “hour” instead of “time.” Either way, we are much nearer to the Rapture today than when John wrote this letter. John expected Jesus to return at any moment, and that’s the way we should live.
If He called His church Home today, what would He call you away from? Will you be about the Father’s business, or will He call you away from surfing pornographic sites on the internet? Will you be sharing a nice dinner with your spouse, or will you be slinking around having an extramarital affair? Will you be sharing the Gospel, or will you be gossiping?
The world is growing darker, and the prophetic signs are coming quickly. John said that even in his time there were many antichrists. One man will soon emerge into world politics and take over everything. He is pure evil and is called the Antichrist. Anti can either mean against or instead. This man will either be against Christ or instead of Christ.
What do you spend your time on that isn’t Godly and/or is against Biblical truth? We are in the last minutes of the last hour. If you need to turn to Jesus for forgiveness, do it now. Don’t wait. If you’ve already done that, then turn away from the world.
There are many false teachers in the world today. Many are very subtle in how they twist Scripture. Most were probably, at one time, very knowledgeable in God’s truth, but along the way began preaching false doctrine.
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).
So many false teachers come to mind. Avoid anybody who preaches a name-it-and-claim-it doctrine, anybody who preaches New Age lies, anybody who preaches that only those who “come to my church” are saved, anybody who denies the deity of Christ. The list is long, and the only way to stay on God’s righteous path is to study God’s word and hold it as absolute truth.
John didn’t teach that “all paths lead to Heaven” but was clear that Christ is the only truth. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 John 2:22-23).
There are many very nice people who will knock on your door and try to convince you that Jesus wasn’t God. I do get very annoyed with them. Why is it that these people –who, according to John, are antichrist –are more knowledgeable of their false teachings than most Christians are of Scripture?
Can you defend the fact that Jesus was God made flesh? Animal blood could only cover sin, never remove sin. Human sacrifice is never an option. Jesus had to have blood that was untainted by sin, and that only could happen because He had no earthly father. John was very concerned that smooth-talking false teachers would persuade Christians away from the truth.
“These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2: 26-27).
Don’t be confused if someone comes along with some new concept in preaching the Gospel. If you don’t see it clearly taught in Scripture, then don’t fall for it. God never changes. What He said in the beginning is still truth today. Don’t be a flip-flop Christian. Take Scripture seriously and don’t follow trends.
“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him” (1 John 2:28-29).
Live your life as close to Scripture as you can. Abide in the Lord, and He will abide in you.
John has many lessons for us, and a wise person will learn from him.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
All original Scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).