First John

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SALT LAKE BIBLE COLLEGE

a workbook by

Dr. T.E. VanBuskirk

A verse by verse study of the book of I. John

The King James Version of the English

Bible will be considered the final authority

and the only acceptable standard by

which all teachings are weighed.

I. John

Workbook

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without written permission from the author.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

SECTION ONE

THE BOOK

KEY TO
Gnostic Comparisons and Refutations

SECTION TWO

PART ONE

PART TWO

SECTION THREE
PART THREE

SECTION FOUR

PART FOUR

SECTION FIVE

PART FIVE

SECTION SIX
PART SIX
SUMMARY

INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the "Book of First John" class.

In this class we will examine the letter's origins, author, purpose, and a verse by verse study of its contents.

The textbook is divided into six sections. Not more than one section should be completed each week (5 days minimum). Some sections may take two weeks to complete. You must look up all scriptures referenced and read the book of I John while proceeding through the textbook.
You must also look up every Gnostic doctrine referenced as you see them indicated in the textbook by the Gnostic key symbol followed by the numbers indicating the Gnostic teachings.

At the end of each section you will stop and take the Section Test that corresponds with the section you just finished studying. All section tests are “open book,” which means you may use your textbook while taking the tests.

After completing a test:

If you failed the test then you must restudy that entire section and then retake the test. Repeat this process until you finally pass the test.

If you missed any of the questions on any test, then you must review the section corresponding to that test and look up the correct answers to any questions answered incorrectly.

Once you have found all of the correct answers, then you may continue on to the next section of the textbook.

FINAL TEST

This test is closed book.

- Once you have completed all sections of the textbook and passed all of the corresponding tests, and found the correct answers to any questions missed on any test, then you may Retrieve the Password and, upon receiving the Password, take the Final Test for the course. Final Test is "closed book" and you must submit the Final Test Contract Form before taking the test. There is a 20 minute time limit on the test. You will see a time remaining clock in the upper right hand corner of the test screen. Time does not start until your first question comes on the screen.

- If you fail the final test then you need to restudy both the textbook and all of the section tests and then retake the final test. Repeat this process until you pass the Final Test.

- Once you have passed the final test, do not take it again.

- If you miss any questions on the Final Test, then you need to review the textbook and all of the section tests and find the correct answers to the questions you missed. Your section tests will have all of the correct answers on it for comparison purposes.

And now, on with the class.

Dr. T.E. VanBuskirk

LESSON ONE

THE BOOK

Date- The first epistle of John seems to presuppose a knowledge of the Gospel of John and, therefore, must have been written subsequent to it. Since the Gospel of John is believed to have been widely published (not necessarily "written" but "published") between A.D. 85 and A.D. 90, then First John must have been written sometime around or after A.D. 90. Also, there is no mention of the persecution under Domitian when, in A.D. 95, the Apostle was banished to Patmos where he wrote The Revelation shortly thereafter. Nor is there any mention of the book of the Revelation itself. Therefore, the epistle is believed to have been written prior to the persecution and John’s banishment; and prior to the writing of the book of the Revelation.

The most logical and historically accepted date for the writing of I John is, therefore, A.D. 90 to 91.

Author- There has been some question of which "John" wrote the epistle. Was it John the Apostle or John the Ephesian elder mentioned by Irenaeus, Papias, and Polycrates?
A careful examination of the internal evidence given in John and I John lead to a compulsory conclusion that they were both written by the same author; and, that the common author of both was the Apostle John.

Place- According to reliable tradition the epistle was written from Ephesus.

Purpose-From a mixture of Greek, Oriental, Jewish, and Christian elements, an abhorrent mixture was concocted called Gnosticism. This philosophy concerned the meaning of existence or being; and toward the end of the first century Gnosticism was being used of the devil to make inroads into biblical Christianity and Christ’s church. Many who claimed to be Christians, but were not, tried to deny or explain away some of the most basic doctrines of Christianity.
The term itself, of the incompatible range of philosophies and religions of which it was made up. Therefore, some who called themselves Gnostics were puritanical to the extreme while others were libertarians who literally gloried in their sin and debauchery. Some were intellectual giants while others were intellectual pygmies. Such diversity in beliefs and actions manifested itself in the churches of that time in diverse and troublesome ways. Some Gnostics were so close in their beliefs and actions to orthodox Christianity that they caused nothing more than small ripples of inconvenience or came across as merely a little bit strange. Others, however, were so extremely radical in their thinking and actions that they were centers of subversion in the beliefs and actions of the churches where they maintained their membership. We might view the one end of the spectrum as mere trickles of strangeness while the other end would have to be characterized as raging whirlpools that sought to inexorably pull all of those around them down into a cesspool of heresy and/or debauchery. Whether they raged or trickled the result of their heresy would be that in the end they would destroy both the life and the faith of their churches.
By the making such inroads into the churches that John, under inspiration of God, was led to refute the major teachings of Gnosticism while at the same time strengthening the faith and beliefs of the true believers. size="4" face="Verdana"> Gnostic, was an extremely vague term because time of the writing of the epistle, Gnosticism was

John would not bother himself in this epistle with the simply bothersome Gnostics, i.e., those who were only somewhat "strange," these were already well warned against by Paul and others. (cf I Tim 4:7 where false teachings were called "profane and old wives, fables" which we are admonished to "refuse;" and II Tim 2:16, where Paul warns us that we should "shun profane and vain babblings," all of these are to be applied to those who twist the Word of God with Gnosticism and other heresies.) In the first epistle of John we see that he, John, ignored the trivial and instead he unflinchingly faced down and reproved the more virulent and destructive forms of Gnostic heresy; he, so to speak, went right for the throat and bit the head completely off of their heresies.
One of the main tenets of Gnosticism (Gnostic, def. one who knows) is that they alone "know God" and that their knowledge of God was different than what was known by the "average" Christian. The Gnostic’s knowledge, many times, was derived from ecstatic visions and experiences; and the orthodox Christians who had no such special experiences were viewed as somehow deficient and limited in their knowledge of God because of their lack in those areas. In answer to this, John cautions and teaches in the epistle with passages concerning "knowing God" (2:4), and doctrines that are so "different" from orthodox (biblical) doctrines (2:24).

Dualistic Philosophy- Another major tenet of the Gnostics was the dualistic philosophy concerning spirit and matter. The former (spirit) was viewed as inherently good and the latter (matter) as inherently evil. This, according to Gnosticism, made the incarnation an absolute impossibility. In fact, it made it more than just impossible, it made it unthinkable! "Christian" Gnostics were faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem. How could "good" God be incarnated as "evil" flesh? This led to various heresies such as:

1. Docetism- which taught that the incarnation was in appearance only.

2. Cerenthianism- Started by Cerenthus who taught that Jesus and Christ were two different beings. Jesus was the man and at his baptism the "celestial Christ" (5:6 "he that came by water") descended upon him and merely spoke through him. Although the words were Christ's no one could really hear him, they heard the voice of Jesus. And although they could actually touch Jesus, certainly no one of evil flesh could touch the perfect Christ. Upon the completion of Christ's use of Jesus, He then left him and Jesus was then crucified. This meant that the crucifixion of Jesus had no significance whatsoever. As Cerenthus taught, "He (Christ) did not come by blood."

          In answer to the heresy of Docetism and the even more twisted heresy of Cerenthus, John wrote:
      I Jn 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ,"
   and 5:6 in which he unequivocally states about Jesus Christ,
      "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ;
        not by water only, but by water and blood."

In answer to several other major tenets of Gnosticism, John wrote:

1. Concerning those who thought they were "in the light" and yet looked down on their brethren from their own "privileged" spiritual height he wrote I John 2:9.

2. Concerning those who considered themselves on such a high "spiritual plane" and able to have "fellowship with God" that they no longer considered the sin done in their naturally "evil" bodies to be of any "spiritual" consequence at all he wrote 1:6, 8 & 10.

3. In answer to those Gnostic "Christians" that worried not about God's biblical laws but only about the Gnostic "laws" he wrote 3:4.

4. God, through John, also answers those many Gnostics who considered themselves to have almost attained to divine status or to have at least ascended so far above the "unenlightened" brethren that they considered those unfortunates to be on as base a plane as the lower creatures of God's material creation, the animals, birds, fish, reptiles, etc. Such an unbelievably high, pneumatoV, (spirit) being as themselves felt no more obligated to love as equals the less spiritual Christians than we would feel obligated to love a spider or an earth worm. To them he wrote I John 3:10, 15 and 4:8, 20.

5. And in answer to the basic tenet that was universally agreed upon by Gnostics, that Jesus was not Christ come in the flesh, which was the basis from which most of the previously mentioned heresies sprang, John writes that Christ undeniably did so and specifically connects the two by using the term "Jesus Christ" ten times in this book alone. (I Jn 1:3; et al) He also goes on to say that those who deny the fact that Jesus was the Christ come in the flesh (as the Gnostics did) are speaking by the spirit of antichrist and not by the Spirit of God. (I Jn 4:1-3)

The Apostle John- John has been called the Apostle of love and from his writings we see that this is so. Before his conversion he was one of the "sons of thunder" (Mk 3:17) who was a bigot (Mk 9:38; Lk 9:49), vindictive (Lk 9:54), and scheming (Mt 20:20-21 cf. Mk 10:35-37) but the power of God's love shown to him in the Lord Jesus Christ changed all that. Therefore, to John, the highest expression of God is love (Jn 3:16) and the highest motivation for Christians and an indicator that they are truly born of God is also love. This is shown in his heated rebuke and teachings against the Gnostic's lack of love for the spiritually "unlearned" brethren. His answer to them is given in I Jn 2:9-10; 3:11, 14; 4:7, 12, 16, 20, 21 and he also links belief and love with an inseparable bond in 5:1. Then the third link in the unbreakable chain is given by him- the keeping of the commandments; i.e., living righteous and avoiding all sin. This third link is joined to the other two with 5:2-3. With these three: love, belief, and keeping the commandments of God, John has been used of God to arm us to refute every doctrine of Gnosticism. In addition, he has given the Christians who were being swayed by the Gnostics, both those who had stayed and those who had left to start their own communities (2:18-19), an unbreakable chain to keep them tied to God. If any link is neglected then the chain is weakened and will soon become broken and worthless. To switch to a different metaphor, that of a three-stranded rope, if the believers will attend to all three, love, belief and the commandments, then they of John's time and on down to us today can claim the promise in Eccl 4:12 "... a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Available to all- In this epistle, I John, the point is made that all of the "secret enlightenment" promised by the Gnostics, is already freely given from God to the believer, in Christ. And that those words spoken by Him as Jesus, in the flesh, are not some secret to be learned from the Gnostics but were plainly spoken by Him and are there for all to believe and receive. If they will. Therefore, the Christians can be assured that they already possess what was promised by the Gnostics, that they might "know God." and that love for the brethren is part of the commandment of God and another indicator of our salvation.
In refuting Gnosticism, which is the purpose for which this epistle was written, God through John has given to us a three-fold cord to bind us to Him and to one another in true, loving, Christian fellowship. And this three-fold cord is based in belief, love, and obedience to the commandments of God, all given by God in his Word (His living Word, Jesus Christ, and His written Word, the Bible) and not through some secret teachings of the Gnostics that are claimed to give us a "special enlightenment" so we can know God. Its all ours for the taking, in Christ!

The benefit of the epistle for today- We may think that Gnosticism is a collection of dead heresies and, therefore, that the first epistle of John is of no use to us today. If we do think that, then we couldn’t be more wrong.
It is true that Gnosticism lost much of its strength and support by the fourth and fifth centuries but never make the fatal mistake of thinking that it died out. Since the blight of the new translations springing from the heretical seed of the "new" Greek text of Westcott and Hort in the late 1800's, Gnosticism has found an ally with which to start its rampage of destruction anew in the world and within Christianity at large. Many Gnostic teachings are once again running rampant and are even a greater threat to more people today than they were back during the time of the Apostle John and his epistle. The reason for my making that statement is simple logic. There are many more people in the world today than there were then. That means many more lost people that will stay lost and be consigned to hell because of Gnostic teachings today and many more Christians that can be tempted and led astray into Gnostic heresies today. Ergo, because it is running as rampant today as it was then, but it has a much much larger group of people to affect and infect, then it is an even greater threat today than it was then. Just a few of the more well known individuals and groups who are propagating Gnostic doctrine today are:

1. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, who deny the deity of Jesus Christ; therefore, they deny that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and teach an old Gnostic doctrine as a doctrine of their church.

2. Kenneth Copeland, an extremely famous TV preacher/teacher, denies that Jesus is the most high God and thus he also propagates Gnostic heresy.

3. The Mormon Church which denies that Jesus is God in the flesh and claims that He is just one of many spirit children of God who came to earth as a man and then ascended to godhood by his works. The first is a direct Gnostic teaching and the second is an offshoot of Gnostic teachings. Therefore, they too propagate Gnosticism.

4. EVERY preacher and church that uses one of the New Versions of the Bible. The new versions are, by and large, all rampant with mistranslations, omissions, and additions that are Gnostic in content and intent. Therefore, every preacher that uses them is guilty, either purposely or unintentionally, of propagating Gnosticism to all of those who sit under his preaching and teaching from those heretical texts. This would have to include all of the mainline churches that generally use the New Versions. These are such churches as Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Assemblies of God and the various other charismatic churches, Church of God in Christ, Church of Christ, Southern Baptists, and any others that use the New Versions. These are all guilty of spreading Gnosticism throughout Christianity today. Most sadly, it would also include those few Independent Baptist Churches that have turned their backs on the true Word of God (KJV) and started using the New Versions.

These are just a few of the individuals and groups that make the teaching of I John so relevant and so necessary for today. We need its three-fold cord to bind us to God and keep us from the heresy of Gnosticism. We also need I John to give us effective ammunition to use in the war for the souls of the lost which we must wage against Satan and his Gnostic slide to hell!

Gnosticism and Mormonism-

       This study was originally written for the Sunday night Bible study at Ogden Bible Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah. During the beginning of the study of the book, one brother immediately came up with the statement that Gnostic teachings sounded a lot like Mormon teachings. I agreed with him, wholeheartedly. I had considered that very point but had not included it in the notes for the study. After his statement I reconsidered and included this short segment giving just a few of the Gnostic teachings of the Mormon church.

1. The Mormons consider themselves the only group that really knows who God is.
    This is a basic tenet of Gnosticism and is even the meaning of the term, Gnostic.
2. The Mormons believe they are the true Church. This is a basic doctrine of the Gnostics.
3. The Mormons believe they have "new truth" not possessed by orthodox Christians.
    This is also a basic tenet of Gnosticism.
4. The Mormons believe in a pre-existence before coming to earth.

The Gnostics also believe a similar doctrine. They believed that Christ, "the anointed," was the pre-existent form that became Jesus of Nazareth; and of the four "luminaries:" Geradamas, "Adamas, the heavenly Adam," was pre-existent Adam; the "heavenly Seth," was pre-existent Seth; and that "the posterity of Seth" were the pre-existent forms of those in the Gnostic Church. Also, they believed that "the luminous afterthought," was the pre-existent form of Eve. This parallels the Mormon belief of pre-existence.

5. The Mormon church believes that Mormons need to obey Mormon laws; although many of them contradict God’s biblical laws (commandments.) The Gnostics taught exactly the same thing.

6. We are warned in I John to be wary of the Gnostics and any others who teach doctrines that are so different from orthodox (biblical) doctrines. Mormon doctrine is at radical variance with bible doctrine; therefore, we are to be wary of them.

7. Mormons believe that Jesus is not the most high God (see #4 above). This denial is a most particularly Gnostic doctrine.

Summary: It is easy to see that Gnostic influences are very apparent in various teachings of Mormonism. Therefore, we must conclude that Mormonism may not be totally Gnostic in and of itself; but we also must conclude that they are perpetuating many Gnostic teachings. My question is, "How much Gnostic doctrine do you have to perpetuate in order to be considered Gnostic?" An example will give you an understanding of my point of view. It’s not the 99.5% good food that kills the rat, it is the .05% rat poison. Therefore, I believe that any religion that teaches even one spiritually poisonous Gnostic doctrine must be considered a Gnostic religion. Since we have already discovered with just a cursory examination that Mormonism teaches at least a half-dozen Gnostic doctrines then we are, or at least I am, forced to consider it a Gnostic religion.

KEY TO
Gnostic Comparisons and Refutations
Throughout the Book of I John

Whenever you see this "G" symbol followed by a number,
that is an indication that the passage directly relates to
a key doctrine of Gnosticism as numbered on the Key page.
Click on the symbol and it will open up the key page
in a new window.

STOP HERE and TAKE TEST!
SECTION ONE TEST

Should the test fail to open properly, please use F5 to reload or click the refresh symbol on the top of your browser page.

If you failed the test, then restudy this section and retake the test.

Once you have passed the test, do not take it again.

If you missed any questions on the test, then restudy the section and find all of the correct answers to any questions that you missed. A copy of your test was sent to you with the correct answers on it. You may use that for comparison purposes to make sure you have found the correct answers in the textbook.

LESSON TWO

PART ONE

I. The Word Declared (Jesus Christ.) (I Jn 1:1-2)

A. The person, the eternal Word- Christ. (1:1-2)

John starts with the person of Christ- "that which" he John has to declare.

1. The Word "... was from the beginning..."
He did not "come into existence at the beginning;" He "... was from the beginning;" i.e., He was already there, in existence, at the beginning.

2. They heard the Word. 1, 4, 5, 10, 12

3. They saw the Word.

4. They touched the Word.

5. They knew the Word was the Word of life.

6. The life was manifested unto them. (:2)

a. He, Jesus Christ, was that eternal life manifested unto them. (:2 cf :3)

b. John and the other Apostles personally saw him.

c. John and the other Apostles bore witness as to what they saw personally.

d. They give their testimony to others of what they had personally seen.

7. The distinct personality and equality of Christ is affirmed. (:1-2 cf Jn 1:1-2)

"life was manifested... eternal life... with the Father..."

a. The distinct personality of Christ is affirmed.

He is not the Father but was "with" Him.

b. "with..." His equality with the Father is shown by the word "with." (cf. Jn 1:1-2)

B. Gnostic heresies repudiated.

During this time there were already several prevalent Gnostic heresies afoot: One, that Jesus Christ was not a distinct personality from God the Father; Two, that Christ was not equal with God; and Three, that Jesus Christ, the man, was not actually the eternal Son of God. Here, in the first two verses of the epistle, God has already had John refute all three of these heresies by stating that Jesus Christ IS the eternal Word of God; and that He IS a distinct personality from God the Father; and that the human being, Jesus Christ, that John and the other Apostles, heard, saw, and touched WAS and truly IS the eternal Son of God.

II. The purpose. (I Jn 1:3-4)

John now tells us WHY he declares this message of Christ.

1. Fellowship amongst Christians is based first and foremost on the Incarnation of Christ, the living Word of God, as Jesus. (I Jn 1:3a) (Fellowship is the main theme of this entire epistle.)

The two intertwined facets of fellowship. 1, 6, 9

a. Its one facet is human; i.e., Christian to Christian. (I Jn 1:3a)

"Ye... have fellowship with us..."

b. The other facet is divine. All Christian fellowship is from human to human and at the same time it is between human and God. (:3b)

"... truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

2. Just as the basis for fellowship is the Incarnation of Christ; so the basis for Joy, for the Christian, is fellowship in its two facets, human and divine. (:4)

Continue on to:

PART TWO

The Conditions of Fellowship

(I Jn 1:5-10)

I. Fellowship Conforms to Certain Standards. (I Jn 1:5-7)

These scriptures give the lie to the Gnostic doctrine that moral conduct means nothing.

A. Holiness of God. (:5)

1. From "him," Jesus Christ, we learn an important fact about God. We learn that,

"God is light, and in Him is NO darkness at all."

2. Holiness is not what God DOES- it is what God IS; i.e., holiness is a part of His very essence. In theological terms, holiness is one of the attributes of God.

3. This lays the very foundation for the Christian’s code of conduct.

B. The Christian’s conduct and fellowship must emulate and center 1, 7, 8
around that essence of God just mentioned- holiness. (:6-7)
1. The negative.

a. To be out of the will of God, to be living in an unholy manner (cf :5 "darkness"), and still claim to have fellowship with Him is nothing else but a complete lie. (:6a)

b. "... and do not the truth:" (:6b)

The truth of holiness is not only verbal, it also must be born out by our actions.

2. The positive.
A true Christian walks in God’s light (in holiness) and not in darkness. 14

There are two consequences of walking in God’s light.

a. We can have fellowship one with another. (:7a)

b. And we receive ongoing sanctification. (:7b)

1) Walking in God’s light exposes our frailties- our sins.

2) And the blood of Christ cleanses us from "sin" (singular), as the singular principle itself; and also from sin in its many forms, "all," as in ongoing sanctification.

C. Confession. (I Jn 1:8-10)

1. Confession of the sin principle itself. (:8) 7, 8
To "have sin" is a phrase used only by John in the New Testament
(Jn 9:41; 15:22, 24; 19:11) and refers to the principle of sin itself, not to the act or acts.

2. The results of a lack of confession of the sin principle.
a. We deceive ourselves. (:8a)
To use a phrase from the Wycliffe Bible Commentary, we "lead ourselves astray, doing for ourselves what Satan endeavors to do for us."
b. We reject the truth, the light of God, and live in self-imposed darkness. (:8b)

3. Confession of sin in its various forms. (I Jn 1:9) 7
a. We must confess our sin in each of its forms ("sins") admitting that every one of its forms is wrong. There are no big sins, nor are there any small sins. There is just sin.
b. Once we confess that our "sins" (plural) are each and every one part of that thing called "sin" (singular
cf. :8) and view them the way that God does, in a forsaking manner, and realize that each one of the manifestations of it necessitated the death of Christ for payment, then God forgives us through the blood of Christ (:7) for the day by day outward actions ("sins") which are manifestations of our singular sin. (I Jn 1:9)

1) "forgive[ness]..." This is God freeing us from the punishment due us because of our sin, through the sacrifice and the shedding of the blood of Christ.

2) "cleans[ing]..." This is God freeing us from the darkness, the unholiness, the pollution of sin, by the blood of Christ.

4. Confession of sin in the concrete rather than the abstract. (:10)
a. We must admit that we personally have committed the actions of sin.
b. To refuse to do so is to call God a liar because everywhere in the   7, 8
     Bible, God makes the statement that all men are sinners.
    (Ro 3:9, 23; 11:32; Gal 3:22; also see the sin offerings of the Old
   Testament that every person had to offer for their sin.)
c. In addition to calling God a liar, we are proving that "his word is not in us,"
    because His Word says that we all have sinned.

II. Summary.

True Christian fellowship, human to human and human to God, depends on seeing the light and responding to it in the abstract AND the concrete. This results in moral conduct (walking in the light) brought about by a realization of our sin (exposed to us by the light) and a forsaking of it by us in emulation of God’s holiness.

We must leave no sins unconfessed nor forsaken, and then we will not only grow individually as Christians but we can also grow through true fellowship with other godly Christians as well as through true fellowship with God.

STOP HERE and TAKE TEST!
SECTION TWO TEST

Should the test fail to open properly, please use F5 to reload or click the refresh symbol on the top of your browser page.

If you failed the test, then restudy this section and retake the test.

Once you have passed the test, do not take it again.

If you missed any questions on the test, then restudy the section and find all of the correct answers to any questions that you missed. A copy of your test was sent to you with the correct answers on it. You may use that for comparison purposes to make sure you have found the correct answers in the textbook.

LESSON THREE

PART THREE

The Conduct of Fellowship

(I Jn 2:1-29)

I. Conduct Based In Imitation. (I Jn 2:1-11) 7
A. Imitation introduced. (:1-2)

1. The aim of imitation. (:1a)
The tense of "sin not" in the Greek indicates not sinning AT ALL!

2. Failure of imitation. (:1b)

"And if any man sin" takes into account the fact that we are, after all, human beings; and though we are to zealously aim at not sinning (by imitating Christ) the fact is that we will, from time to time, fall short of the mark (commit a sin.)

3. The righteous pleader to the Father if we fail. (:1c)
a. "advocate" Gk paraklhton, para-klay’-ton, one called or sent
for to assist another; spec. one who pleads our cause for us.
b. This word is used only by John in the NT. (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7)

1) In the book of John, the word is used to describe the Holy Spirit- "the Comforter," who assists us Christians in the physical absence of Christ from this earth.

2) In I John, the word is used to describe Christ- "an advocate" who assists us Christians by pleading our cause before the Father when we do sin.

c. "Jesus Christ the righteous..." He, Christ, is totally righteous; therefore, He is qualified to effectively plead our cause before the Father, the righteous God.

B. Propitiation. (I Jn 2:2)

This seems to be a change from the theme of "imitation" but it is not.    2, 8

       It is however an expansion of a thought so that it includes the entire

    human race.
1. Imitation.
   When we fail to imitate Christ, He pleads our cause with the Father based upon His (Christ’s) being the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for all of our sin. (:1b)

2. Expansion of the thought of propitiation to include the whole world.

        Although propitiation is the basis of Christ’s advocacy for Christians, propitiation itself is not only for the sins of Christians but is also for "the sins of the whole world" (meaning the whole human race.) (:2)

a. Christ’s advocacy before the Father is ONLY for those who have accepted Christ as their sacrifice (their propitiation) because that one perfect (righteous) sacrifice was sufficient to cover ALL of our sins. (:2a cf Heb 10:10-14)

b. Propitiation, on the other hand, is sufficient for the sins of every human being   2
who ever was, is, or ever will be, not just for us Christians. (I Jn 2:2b)

    How sad it is that most people will go to hell for sins that God says the atoning sacrifice of Christ ("propitiation") is sufficient to cover. In their case, it is not "propitiation" that is lacking but "appropriation." They reject Christ as the sacrifice for their sins and thereby force God to judge them by their works (Rev 20:11-15); i.e., they force Him to judge them still in their sins, find them guilty, and send them to hell and at the final judgment to cast them into the lake of fire forever. And all of this because the have not an "appropriation" of Christ’s "propitiation" for themselves even though it is offered to them- they are lost only because they refuse to accept Christ and be saved!

3. "propitiation" (I Jn 2:2a)

"And he is the propitiation..." We must note that God has John use the word "propitiation" rather than the use of the word "propitiator."

    The reason for this is so that we will realize that Christ is not just a propitiator but that He himself is also the propitiation that is offered.
    "he" Gk autoV, au-tos" self, very, alone We would say "He himself..."
    "propitiation" Gk ilasmoV, hil-as-mos, a root word meaning a propitiation, an expiation

    This is God’s way of telling us that Christ was not only the Saviour (4:14) who is the true high priest (Heb ch. 7; 10:10-21; ) who offers the blood upon the mercy seat, which also is Christ (Ro 3:25) but He is also the acceptable offering (I Jn 2:2 "propitiation") that is offered by Him upon himself; i.e., HE IS everything: the acceptable sacrifice, the high priest, and the mercy seat. Truly He IS the Saviour!

C. The pattern we are to imitate. (2:3-6) 1, 7, 8

1. We are to keep Christ’s Word. (:3-5)
a. It gives us assurance that we do know Him. (:3)
b. Those who don’t obey Christ’s commandments, such as the Gnostics,
show they are lying frauds; i.e., they do not really know Christ. (:4)
c. Obeying His commandments shows our true position- in Christ. (:5)

2. We are to imitate Christ’s walk (way of life.) (:6)

D. We need to show a proof of our imitation- love. (:7-11)

How is our love manifested to others? Through loving the brethren!

1. Love was commanded from the "beginning" of the Christian life. (:7)   2
    Therefore, it is not new to the Christian but "old." We had it and heard it from "the beginning" of our new creation in Christ through both the living Word and the written Word.
    We know he is talking about the "beginning" of the Christian life because of his use of the word, "Brethren," which limits the time frame to the Christian life, beginning with the new creation, rather than the temporal time frame of the old creation, the universe.

2. Love is reiterated here as also being something "new." (I Jn 2:8a)   9
    To the lost and to the believer that has not yet realized the truth of it or who was being led astray by the Gnostics, and as a rebuke to the Gnostics who thought they were too "exalted" to be loving to their "less enlightened" brethren, John teaches God’s commandment to love one another as being something "new," to them. (cf. Jn 13:34 & 15:12)

3. A statement of what is real, orthodox (biblical), truth about love. (I Jn 2:8b)
a. Love is of God and IN God. "in him..."    6, 13
b. And if you are truly saved, it is also "in you..."
c. Why? (:8c)
       "because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth."
    There is no darkness in God (1:5) and if you are saved then the light shines in you as it does in God. Or at least it should if you are truly saved.

4. A refutation of Gnostic elitism. (:9-11)
a. Gnostics claim to be enlightened (in the light.) (:9a)    6, 9, 14
b. But their lack of love for the brethren proves they are not. (:9b)

c. Love of the brethren proves who is really in the light. (:10a)

d. The results.
1) Positively. (:10b)
    Those who love the brethren and truly walk in the light will have nothing in their own behaviour that might cause a brother to stumble.
     skandalon, skan’-dal-on, (Eng. scandal) a stumbling-block,
     anything against which one stumbles, an impediment

2) Negatively. (:11)

a) Those who claim to be in the light but show a lack of love toward the
brethren, such as the Gnostics, are in reality walking "in darkness,"
not in the light.(:11a)

b) They are so much in the dark that they are blind and can’t find their
own way because of the darkness around them. (:11b)

c) And compared with the statement in :10b that those who love the brethren and thereby prove they are truly walking in the light and give no "occasion of stumbling," then here in :11 we can easily see that the blind Gnostic stumbling around in the darkness would naturally give a multitude of offenses to the brethren that would cause them to stumble also.
Mt 15:14b ...And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

II. Conduct Expressed In Separation. (I Jn 2:12-15) 7, 8, 14
A. The reason for separation lies in the position enjoyed by all Christians.
They are all in Christ (saved), and so enjoy a special position that brings with it responsibility.

1. All Christians are as "little children" and have experienced the forgiveness of their sins that, in Christ "for his name’s sake", was universally made available to all mankind.
    There is no "special" salvation reserved only for the few, as the Gnostics believed, but only a universally available one that has been experienced by all who have accepted Christ as their Saviour and thereby become children of God.
    (:12 cf. Mt 18:3; 19:14; Mk 10:14-15; Lk 18:16-17; 24:47; Ro 8:16-17; Eph 1:5)

2. The division of the congregation into two groups. (I Jn 2:13-14)
a. "fathers..." (:13a & :14a)
      All had experienced forgiveness but some occupied a place of prominence
   in the congregation because of their maturity in their knowledge of God and His ways.
b. "young men..." (:13b & :14b)
        The younger converts (as true, new converts always are) are zealous and strong.
    They, through "the word of God" within them, are victorious over the devil.

3. "little children..." (:13c)
   Once again God addresses the group as a whole, as Christians who’s sins are forgiven,    1
and lets them know that they, not the Gnostics, are the ones who really "have known the Father."

B. An exhortation to walk as befits their special position in Christ. (:15-17)
1. The way of separation.

a. True, godly, love is not to be expressed in love of, nor indulging in, the lusts of the world. (:15-16) Someone who is truly saved will not indulge in the sins of the world. (Jas 1:27)

b. Lust and pride are the antithesis of true, godly, love. (I Jn 2:16) 7, 8, 15
They are not of God but of the world. (cf. Mt 6:24; Ro 12:2; Jas 4:4)

2. The result of separation. (I Jn 2:17)
Those who follow the lust of the world will perish with it; but those who follow the way of God will abide as long as He will, "forever."

3. The life of separation. (:17b)

Separation is not just an attitude it is a way of life; i.e., those who are truly separated think right, true, but they also act right. Thus, they are those that "doeth the will of God."

C. Our creed for conduct- affirmation that Jesus is Christ. (:18-29)
Why we are properly separated from the world and its sins of the flesh, the eyes, and pride in possessions, and to be separated to God and to be godly in our conduct toward one another and toward those who are lost and in the world, begs for a creed for our conduct; and that creed, for us, is affirmation. This separates us from the heretical apostates, some of whom appeared religious in their actions but denied Jesus was Christ.
1. Why do we need a creed for conduct? (I Jn 2:18-21)

a. Because the deterioration of the world deeper into heresy and further away from God is accelerating toward the end time; i.e., John was saying, even back then, sin was deepening and they were running out of time. If time was already running out 2,000 years ago, where does that leave us today on God’s clock? (18a)

b. We also need a creed because of the antichrist crowd that existed even at       11
   the time of John that tried to lead them, and now us, away from God and into
   sinful heresy. (I Jn 2:18b- 19)

1) Only John, of all of the NT writers, uses the term "antichrist," and that only 4 times. (I Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; II Jn 1:7)

2) That term "antichrist" is, however, analogous to the terms: "man of sin" and "son of perdition" used by Paul in II Thess 2:3; and "that Wicked" of II Thess 2:8; and "the prince" of Dan 9:26; and "the king" of Dan ch. 11.
Also, it is analogous to John’s own term, "the beast," of his book of the Revelation.
(Rev 13:18; et al)

3) The Gnostics proved they were antichrist heretics by leaving the orthodox congregations
   and starting their own groups. (I Jn 2:19)
a) "They went out from us..." They attended the church and put on airs that they were
   really born-again Christians; i.e., they claimed to be saved. (:19a)
b) "but they were not of us..." Although they claimed to be Christians, they possessed
   only a head knowledge of Christ and not a heart knowledge. (:19b)
      This type of people are what we term "apostate;" i.e., they never truly saved,
   they were simply religious people.
c) The proof that they were antichrist heretics was that they left the orthodox
    (biblical) congregations to start their own heretical congregations. (:19c)
d) But the true Christians had a special anointing ("unction") from God    1, 13, 15
    and because of it they had within themselves the God-given ability to
    discern between truth and error. "ye know all things." (:20)

NOTE 1: Christ and unction are from the same root word, criw, khree-o’ to anoint
The Wycliff Bible Commentary makes the point that John may have been drawing a parallel between Antichrist and his "antichrists" and Christ and his "christs" (meaning the true Christians).
I tend to agree. This would be a logical reason why we need to have a creed to direct our conduct. That need being, to show outwardly to the world that we are truly Christ’s "christs" inwardly.
NOTE 2: "the Holy One," in the NT, refers to the Son, not the Father. (Mk 1:24; Lk 3:34; Acts 2:27; 3:14; 13:35)

e) Why did John write to them?
Not because they were lost and therefore ignorant of and unable to understand the things of God, but because they possessed the God-given ability to understand. Because of their special unction from God, they not only knew truth from error but they also knew that no lie is of the truth. (I Jn 2:21)

2. What is the essence of the creed? (I Jn 2:22-29)
a. Affirmation that Jesus is the Christ.                     5, 10, 11
    1) Only a liar would deny this. (:22a)
    2) By denying the Son they also deny the Father since the Father and the Son are one.
         (:22b cf. Jn 10:30-33; Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58)
    3) Since the Father and the Son are one, then your relationship with the Father and your
            relationship with the Son are inextricably intertwined.

i. Negatively.
A reiteration that those who deny the son, specifically the Gnostics are in view here, did not have the Father either. This condemnation of the Gnostics, and any others who espouse their heresy, could not be made any more plain. To not have a living relationship with the living Son of God negates any possibility that the unbeliever could ever have such a relationship with the Father. (I Jn 2:23a)

ii. Positively.
An affirmation that those who did believe that Jesus was the Christ really did have a
living relationship with the Son; and that meant that they also had a living relationship
with the Father. (:23b)
NOTE: Manuscript discoveries of the last century (20^th) have shown that the latter half of verse :23 was most likely actually in the originals; and, therefore, they really didn’t need to be italicized in the KJV.

b. Encouragement to hold onto the creed of affirmation that Jesus is the Christ.
1) Hold on to it. (:24a)
2) It is the guarantee of your relationship with the Father and the Son. (:24b)
3) It is also the assurance of your possession of God’s promise of eternal life. (:25)

3. Warning about those who deny