1 John 2:2-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 2:1-2

These verses relate to the concluding subject of the foregoing chapter, in which the apostle proceeds upon the supposition of the real Christian's sin. And here he gives them both dissuasion and support. 1. Dissuasion. He would leave no room for sin: ?My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not, 1 John 2:1. The design or purport of this letter, the design of what I have just said concerning communion with God and the overthrow of it by an irreligious course, is to... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 2:3-6

These verses may seem to relate to the 1 John 1:7; between which and these verses there occurred an incidental discourse concerning the believer's duty and relief in case of sin, occasioned by the mention of one of the believer's privileges?his being cleansed from sin by the Mediator's blood. In that verse the apostle asserts the beneficial consequence of walking in the light: ?We have then fellowship with one another, such divine fellowship and communion as are the prerogative of the church... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 2:1-2

2:1-2 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But, if anyone does sin, we have one who will plead our cause to the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. For he is the propitiating sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. The first thing to note in this passage is the sheer affection in it. John begins with the address, "My little children." Both in Latin and in Greek diminutives carry a special affection. They are words... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 2:1-2

It will take us some considerable time to deal with these two verses for there are hardly any other two in the New Testament which so succinctly set out the work of Christ. Let us first set out the problem. It is clear that Christianity is an ethical religion; that is what John is concerned to stress. But it is also clear that man is so often an ethical failure. Confronted with the demands of God, he admits them and accepts them--and then fails to keep them. Here, then, there is a barrier... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 2:1-2

John goes on to say that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. The word is hilasmos ( Greek #2434 ). This is a more difficult picture for us fully to grasp. The picture of the advocate is universal for all men have experience of a friend coming to their aid; but the picture in propitiation is from sacrifice and is more natural to the Jewish mind than to ours. To understand it we must get at the basic ideas behind it. The great aim of all religion is fellowship with God, to know him as... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 2:3-6

2:3-6 And it is by this that we know that we have come to know him--if we keep his commandments. He who says, "I have come to know him" and who does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a man. The love of God is truly perfected in any man who keeps his word. This is the way in which we know that we are in him. He who claims that he abides in him ought himself to live the same kind of life as he lived. This passage deals in phrases and thoughts which were very... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 2:2

And he is the propitiation for our sins ,.... For the sins of us who now believe, and are Jews: and not for ours only ; but for the sins of Old Testament saints, and of those who shall hereafter believe in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signified in the next clause: but also for the sins of the whole world ; the Syriac version renders it, "not for us only, but also for the whole world"; that is, not for the Jews only, for John was a Jew, and so were those he wrote unto, but for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 2:3

And hereby we do know that we know him ,.... Either the Father, with whom Christ is an advocate; not as the God of nature, and by the light of it, nor as the lawgiver and Judge of the whole earth, and by the law of Moses; but as the God of all grace, as a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin, as the Father of Christ, and as in him by the Gospel; and this not in a mere notional and speculative way, but with love and affection; not with fear and trembling, as devils know him, nor in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 2:2

And he is the propitiation - ' Ἱλασμος· The atoning sacrifice for our sins. This is the proper sense of the word as used in the Septuagint, where it often occurs; and is the translation of אשם asham , an oblation for sin, Amos 8:14 . חטאת chattath , a sacrifice for sin, Ezekiel 44:27 . כפור kippur , an atonement, Numbers 5:8 . See the note on Romans 3:25 , and particularly the note on Luke 18:13 . The word is used only here and in 1 John 4:10 . And not for ours... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 2:3

And hereby we do know that we know him - If we keep the commandments of God, loving him with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, we have the fullest proof that we have the true saving knowledge of God and his Christ. The Gnostics pretended to much knowledge, but their knowledge left them in possession of all their bad passions and unholy habits; they, therefore, gave no proof that they had known either God or his Son Jesus - nor is any man properly acquainted with God, who is still... read more

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