1 John Chapter 2

vs 15

The term "the world" gets used in so many different ways in the Bible, that you've got to be very aware of context to get its proper understanding. The Greek doesn't help - kosmos can mean any grouping, it can mean the physical world, the universe, the multitude of sinful mankind, the list goes on.

Whatever 'the world' is, we aren't to love it or the things in it, because love of 'the world' is against loving the Father.

vs 16

Oh, thank you John. Here's your context. The world is those things. With that definition, it is easy to see what we are not to love, and where those things come from. Notice they are all of man - so they are of that sinful-multitude-of-man world.

vs 17

John here, as in many other verses of the Bible, is linking the work of the man of God with their entrance into eternal life. But it's not work-based - it's what he's been talking about all along; that those with faith will do work.

vs 18

In greek, I've been told that it is really hard to tell which direction a clause like "This is how we know" links to. Does it link to the fact that many antichrists have already come? Or does it link forward to the next verse. And it's not static - it can go in both directions at any time. So either we know that it's the last hour because many antichrists have come, or because of where they came from...

vs 19

which is out of the church. It seems they split from the church, instead of staying. I guess if people aren't committed to the teaching of the church, they aren't going to hang around and get told they are wrong every meeting.

vs 20

But the receivers of this letter do know the truth, and have been anointed, possibly by the Holy Spirit, but certainly by some member of the Godhead.

vs 21

This letter is not written as a correction - John knows they know the truth. But they have obviously had some people leave them recently who didn't know the truth. That can be shaky, and so they might now be asking questions and feeling concerned about their knowledge. John assures them here that they know the truth.

vs 22

And here we have our definition of the antichrists - those people who deny Christ's divine sonship and his Lordship. They are the liars.

vs 23

So these heretics were probably following the modern trend - Jesus was a good man, a good teacher, but not the Son of God. And that teaching gets you nowhere.

vs 24

The problem with these churches is not that they didn't hear the gospel properly in the first place. It is that some people skewed it and went off on the wrong track. Interestingly, that can be a definition of the word 'sin'. Keeping to the original gospel is what keeps you in the Son and the Father.

vs 25

And eternal life is the result promised us for that.

vs 26

But John doesn't want the readers to think they are the ones he is rebuking. Although there might still be some false teachers in their midst, he is wanting to encourage those who are keeping in the Son and the Father.

vs 27

The anointing (of the Holy One) is referenced here again. This description, specifically the bit about it remaining in you and teaching you, really makes it clear to me that it's about the Holy Spirit. the suggestion of a counterfeit might mean that the false teachers were "pretending" to have the spirit somehow - something I wonder about with pentecostals sometimes...

vs 28

There is a great deal of encouragement to continue in the faith in 1 John. Of course, the last thing we want is to have ditched Jesus, only to have him return and say MY MY, HAVEN'T WE BEEN CARELESS?

vs 29

There is obviously more to this idea than this one verse can concoct - surely not everyone who does a just thing is in Christ? Surely there is more to it than that? Chapter 3 beckons.