Walking in Obedience (2:3—6)

 3And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 6he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

 Saint John introduces this chapter with the assertion  that anyone who abides in Christ walks as Christ did. That puts us on the road to perfection.

 John proposes a test of our relationship with the Lord. If we know Him, we will keep His commandments (2:3). This reminds us of Jesus’ words quoted in the Gospel of John: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” This is not talking about the Old Testament law (the Torah). It refers rather to instructions that  Jesus gives to His disciples. If we really know Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we will want to learn the way of obedience to Him. This becomes clearer in verse 5 where John shifts the terminology to “keep His word.” This means that we will do what He says. The present tense in Greek refers to a continuing action. We can translate this as “the one who consistently obeys” His word. The wonderful verdict is that, in that person who consistently does what God says, the love of God has been made perfect (2:5). Love for God is our motivation for obedience, but the result of the obedience is the perfecting of God’s love in us. As we obey Him, we manifest His love perfectly.

 John’s conclusion is that, if anyone claims to be remaining in Jesus, that person must walk as Jesus walked (2:6). We know that Jesus was totally obedient to His heavenly Father. He could truthfully say: “I only say and do what My heavenly Father gives Me.”  Jesus was also a perfect manifestation of God’s love. He teaches His disciples this kind of love as they are obedient to Him.

 Obedience demands a close enough relationship with Him that we can always know what He is saying to us. This is no doubt what Jesus referred to when He said: “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.”  Walking in this kind of relationship requires that we believe that such a relationship is a possibility and that we make an act of the will to pursue it. Our faith must be based on the word of God, not past experience.

The Commandment of Love (2:7—11)

7Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. 10He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling. 11But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Obedience to Jesus is obedience to His commandment to love our brethren. “Our brethren” throughout this epistle refers to all members of the body of believers—those who are walking in the light of Christ.

John speaks of this as both an old and a new commandment (2:7, 8). It is old because it was given by Jesus Himself and has been a prominent part of the Gospel message from the first.  Even when Jesus spoke it, it was not really new because it had already been mentioned in the Old Testament.

 John explains that this commandment is new because, in Jesus, it has become a real possibility since the darkness is passing away, and the light of Christ is taking over (2:8). As believers, we are living in a totally different climate and culture in which the experiencing of Christ’s love is an option. This light is manifested initially and predominantly in the Christian community. This means that loving participation in that community is absolutely essential to spiritual growth and stability.

 Love has too foci: love of the brethren (i.e., love within the Christian community), and love for enemies or neighbors (those outside the Christian community). In 1 John 2:7-11, the focus is on the community as the locus for individuals to grow and mature in the light of Christ.

 John acknowledges two possibilities: love and hate. Failure to love as Christ loves is defined as hate. Showing God’s love for one another is defined as walking in the light. Failure to love is walking in the darkness. Those who fail to love each other are blind and do not know where they are going. They are blind to the purposes of God, blinded by their disobedience and disregard for the voice of God. Those who love their brothers are continually in the light and are in no danger of stumbling. This means that they are able to continue in the sanctified life for which God intended them from the beginning and this will fulfill all of God’s purposes for their lives.

 The love referred to in these verses is the same kind of love that operated in the life of Jesus. God sent His Son to manifest His love in the world. The love of Jesus always had a redemptive purpose. He healed the sick, restored dead sons alive to their mothers, set people free from demonic bondages, proclaimed by word and deed God’s rule and order in the world. He transformed His disciples into the most powerful redemptive force that had ever hit the world. After He ascended, He equipped His disciples with the strength, comfort, and redemptive power of the Holy spirit to enable them to continue His purposes in the world.

 Our love for one another must also be a redemptive love. We will do the same kind of actions that Jesus did with the same purpose of helping one another develop into the people God wants His disciples to be. The ultimate goal is the reversal of all the detrimental effects of the fall and the perfecting of the Church as the Body of Christ.

 Jesus wants to manifest this kind of love in the lives of His disciples in every age, but especially now to prepare all of creation for His second coming in glorious majesty. As we learn to be totally attentive to His voice, as He shares His secrets and His purposes with us, and as we become totally obedient to His directions, we will see this kind of redemptive love made perfect in us.

Stages of Christian Growth (2:12—14)

 12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake. 13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

 John distinguishes three levels or degrees of maturity in the Christian life: children, fathers, and young men.
 

 Interestingly, John does not follow chronological age in his arrangement of these ideas. He is dealing rather with levels of development of Christian life and ministry. It may well be that all of these characterizations apply at different times or in different ways to all Christians in their spiritual growth to maturity. They may apply also to our relationship to each other and to our functions in the Body of Christ.

 Children, in this sense, have received God’s forgiveness. They have come to an experience of  Chapter 1 of this epistle. Through their relationship with Jesus, they have come to know the Father, because Jesus has revealed Him. They have experienced the first stage in their Christian development.

 Fathers have come to a deeper knowledge of God in His eternal nature and purposes. They know the heart of God. They have come to a certain maturity in their relationship with God and are living in obedience to Him.

 Young men are spiritual warriors, able to defeat the power of the enemies of God. They are prepared to overcome the world. They have learned the secrets of effective service to God, ministry to His people, and outreach to others.

 These stages of Christian growth really form an outline in miniature of the entire epistle. Children represent the fulfillment of chapter 1:1-2:29. Fathers represent the fulfillment of chapter 3. Young men are living out chapters 4 and 5.

 All of these are functions of the Body of Christ and, in some measure, of each of us individually.

The Pull of the World (2:15—17)

 15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. 16For 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. 17And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.

 John devotes the rest of this chapter to warnings of ways that spiritual growth can be hindered. 2:15-17 looks at the love of worldly things and their attraction. John clearly states that love of the world and love of God are incompatible (impossible). He identifies “the world” as:

 a) Lust of the flesh. Wanting to gratify the desires of the natural life—food, comfortable houses, people, sex, pleasant experiences, entertainment, money, and the like. These things, of course, are not necessarily bad in themselves; they only become detrimental when we get attached to them and they become the focus of our lives or we misuse them for our own purposes.

 b) Lust of the eyes. Looking covetously or enviously at people, things, position, reputation. The trouble with this is that these attractions distract us from our devotion to God. They compete with Him for our affections, our energy, and our time.

 c) Pride of life. Undue attachment to this life, to a particular life-style, pride in our circumstances, position, wealth, or achievements. This makes us pursue our own desires and objectives and greatly hinders our hearing His voice and obeying Him.

All these objectives are temporary; even in this life they may fade (2:17). The Lord blows on them and they disappear. In eternity they have no meaning at all. Such attachments greatly hinder spiritual growth. As we grow in love for the Lord and in obedience to Him, these characteristics of the world lose their grip on our minds and hearts. Our walk with the Lord becomes so much more attractive and consuming that we lose interest in other pursuits. The wonderful promise is that, if we walk in obedience, we will last forever and will know the fulness of the glory of eternal life (2:18).

Warning Against Drifting Away (2:18—25)

 18Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. 20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know. 21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

 Not all who have begun to walk in the light will continue steadfast on their pilgrimage. They may let go of the revelation they have received, separate themselves from the fellowship of God’s people, and even end up denying Christ. John’s harsh judgment on those who fall away is that they are antichrists.

 John always presents two clear alternatives: loving God or falling away; loving or hating our brethren, confessing Jesus as the Christ or denying both Christ and His Father; choosing death or life. John makes it clear that the more wrong choices we make, the more difficult restoration becomes. It may, in some cases, become impossible. Only as we allow His revelation to abide in us can we abide in Him; only then can we have a relationship with God the Father. This is the way of eternal life.

 The two categories are sharply contrasted:
 

  Adam and Eve did a disobedient and sinful act. They broke the rules. But then they took the next and more perilous step. They broke their relationship with God. They lost the glory of God which had clothed them. They were ashamed to come before God as they had always done, and they wanted to hide. This is why the first kind of sin (doing evil acts) is more easily reparable than the second (falling away from fellowship). If we do a sinful act, we can easily be forgiven and restored. But if, after the sinful act, we separate ourselves from God and from the fellowship of believers, we get established in our sin and become antichrists.

 Antichrists are, first of all, those who have broken fellowship with the body of believers. This refers back to verses 7-11 in which John says that a necessary sign of walking in the light is love for our brethren. When they broke fellowship with the brethren, it must be concluded that they were not really walking in the light with us (2:18). In 2:11, John had referred to people who broke fellowship as those who hate their brothers.

 Antichrists deny that Jesus is the Christ. They deny the incarnation in some way: they deny either the humanity of Jesus, as did the Gnostics among many others throughout history, or they deny that He is truly the Son of God. By denying Christ, they automatically deny the Father also, because Jesus is the One who reveals the Father (2:22).

 The presence of antichrists is an eschatological sign. Many promises in scripture indicate that, in the period leading up to Jesus’ parousia (second coming), the antichrist and his friends—false teachers, false prophets, false miracle workers, and general workers of iniquity will abound.

 Eternal life is not just infinitely long life, but a quality of life that we can only receive as a gift from God as we believe in Jesus and walk with Him in continual obedience.

The Anointing Gives Stability (2:26—29)

 26I write this to you about those who would deceive you; 27but the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him.

  John entertains the likelihood that these antichrists might try to deceive faithful Christians who are learning to abide in Christ. The safeguard is the anointing of the Spirit of truth. If we pray continually in the Holy Spirit and let Him direct us, the anointing will protect us from being led astray (2:27).

 The anointing of the Spirit is presented here primarily as our teacher who teaches us about everything and is absolutely trustworthy. When John says that “you have no need that any one should teach you, he means that we do not need to listen to human wisdom (which is, after all, fruit of the wrong tree). He is not talking about the revelation that God gives us through the fellowship of believers, as He speaks through members of the fellowship with gifts of the Spirit—prophetic words, visions, words of knowledge and wisdom, discerning of spirits, and inspired teaching. Nor is He talking about the practical teaching that we receive from God as we obey His instructions and see the manifestation of His power and love through our ministry. However we receive revelation, we need to discern clearly whether we are hearing the Holy Spirit or some other spirit. Jesus assures us that His sheep hear His voice.

 Verses 28 and 29 form a wonderful conclusion to this section on abiding in Christ. Those who remain steadfast in their obedience and love for God and the fellowship will have confidence on the day of Christ’s appearing. When Adam and Eve fell into disobedience, they lost the glory of God which had clothed them. They were ashamed before God and sought to hide. As we remain in Christ, and continue to mature in Him, this process is reversed; the shame is gone, the glory again clothes us, and confidence is restored.

 These two verses also form a bridge to the new topic covered in chapter 3 concerning the profound meaning of our new birth as children of God..

Summary

 John has explained that abiding in Christ is marked by spiritual growth in obedience to God’s commandments as He continues to instruct us day by day. This necessarily involves the fulfillment of Jesus’ commandment to love each other. After giving warnings about being led astray by worldly enticements, falling away from fellowship, being led astray by false teachers or prophets, John then gives us the marvelous promise of confidence before God at the last day.