1 John 2:20-23 The Father and the Son

2:20

In one sense we are just ordinary people, but in another we are special, for we have been adopted as sons of God. In some ways it is like Jesus, He was the Son of Man, fully human, but He was also the Son of God, and could do amazing things. John expresses it by saying we “have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. This is a defence against any group that tries to make us feel inferior.

2:21

John assures them that they already know the truth. Again it is a counter against false teachings that seek to make us doubt. Remember that in Eden the serpent said “did God really say....” we should have confidence in the gospel.

2:22

We have had lifestyle tests, now we come to the key doctrinal test, and doctrine matters. Some try to tell us that to be concerned about right doctrine is a mistake, such people are the ones who are truly mistaken. The first test is denying that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is indeed the Christ, He is the centre and the focus of everything. If we deny Jesus then we are also denying the Father, for the Fathers sent Christ in order to fulfil His plans.

2:23

The matter is very simple, we cannot have the Father without the Son. They come as a package., you cannot have one without the other.

1 John 2:15-19 - Do not love the world

2:15-17

There are many false teachers who “love the world”, this can come in the form of so-called “prosperity teaching", or those who go along with the world's crazy and corrrupted ideas on sexuality. We cannot love the world and God. The world’s ways are in rebellion to God, so if someone is motivated primarily by worldly thinking they are not of God. The world and is ways will pass away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever, we need to make the right choice and to listen to those who have made the right choice, not ones following the way of death.

2:18,19

Some may say this teaching causes division, but Jesus said He came not to bring peace, but division (Lk 12:51). Some appeals for unity are actually appeals for toleration of wrong teaching. In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation there are criticisms from Jesus of  those who tolerated wrong teaching. Those who leave because false teaching is not tolerated show that they never really belonged to God nor to us. Note the strong line that John takes against false teachers, they are even identified with the antichrist.

1 John 2:7-14 Knowing God

2:7,8

What is all this stuff about not being a new commandment, (v7) and then “I am writing a new command”(v8)? When we sinned we became slaves to sin, when we come to know Jesus we are born again, we are set free, what was once impossible is now possible. 

2:9,10

So a definite sign that we do know Jesus is that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we hate our brothers then that is a pretty sure sign that we are still in the darkness, and the converse is true. Knowing Christ changes our attitude to other people.

2:11

The person who hates his brother is walking in the darkness. We should not follow such people for they have been blinded, they have no idea where they are going.

2:12-14

John is talking about sin, but we approach the subject from the position that we have been forgiven, John then mention two other groups, fathers and young men, Both are approached from a positive angle. Fathers know Him who is from the beginning, young men have overcome the evil one. The Gnostic types would claim to have special knowledge, and to be able to give the young men special power, but the way to overcome the evil one is through Christ alone. We have all the power and salvation that we need in Christ

1 John 2:3-6 - A test

2:3-6

We don’t earn salvation by what we do, but what we do shows whether or not we are saved, If Jesus comes into our lives things will start to change, we will start to change. Keeping His commands is a sign that we do actually know Him (see John 14:23). Conversely, if someone claims to know Jesus but does not obey Him, then they are a liar. We can ignore such a person. A sign that the love of God is complete in us is obedience to God. Obedience is the fruit of the gospel.Obedience to Christ is a test we should apply to all teachers.

1 John 2:1,2 - The perfect sacrifice

2:1,2

“My dear children”, John is writing to them with affection. The teaching on sin, and our attitude to it is vital. On the one hand there is a recognition that all of us do sin,  on the other hand the fruit of the gospel is that we become more and more christlike, i.e. we sin less. We should detest sin, especially in ourselves, but also in others. So what when we do sin. We need to repent, and we can be confident that God will forgive us, for we have an advocate with the Father. JHesus Christ speaks on our behalf, and He is the perfect atoning sacrifice. Our sins deserves God’s wrath, but Christ is a propitiatory sacrifice, He turns aside God’s wrath. Some people object to the propitiatory nature of Christ's sacrifice, but such people are fools, we should rejoice in the nature of Christ’s sacrifice, for it means we can come to God, and that anyone can be saved.

1 John 1:5-10 walking in the light

1:5

The gnostic types had their high falutin ideas, but the apostles had direct experience of Jesus and preached a simply effective message.  “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. This would counter some of the gnostic nonsense.  We need to remember that the glory of the gospel is that it works.

1:6

God is light, so if we claim to have fellowship with God then we too must live in the light. The lives of the gnostics were questionable, to say the least. If we live in darkness, yet claim to be representing God we are liars and know nothing of the truth.

1:7

Instead we must walk in the light as He is in the light. Then we have fellowship with one another. Two key aspects to being true disciples of Christ are (i) fellowship with Christ; (ii) fellowship with fellow believers. We are purified by the blood of Jesus,

1:8

Claiming perfection immediately identifies us as liars and know nothing of the truth. 

1:9,10

This verse always amazes me. “He is faithful and just” The gospel is a gospel of forgiveness, Jesus came to save sinners, not the righteousness. The cross is the perfect and complete answer to our sinfulness. But it is not just a matter of forgiveness, but of changing us as well, “purifying us of all unrighteousness”. If we think that because of forgiveness we can do what we want and be forgiven, then this only serves to demonstrate that we have a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel, we have missed it. 

1 John 1:1-4 - the Word of Life

1:1

There are similarities in the introduction to the start of John’s gospel. He speaks about the Word, and stresses that the word was from the beginning, i.e.  the Word is eternal, also it is the Word of life. John also stresses his personal experience of the Word, i.e. that which we have seen, looked at and touched.

1:2

The Gnostics may have had grand sounding theories, but John, and others, had direct personal experience of the Word. The Word came from the Father, note how much stress is put on this in John’s gospel.

1:3.4

John and the apostles proclaimed what they had seen, and his hearers could have the same fellowship, they were not some special select group, their fellowship was with the Father and the Son. And they were delighted to share this good news. The gnostic types presented themselves as somehow set apart.