1 John 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1John 2:1
Τεκνία μου, ταῦτα γράφω ὑμῖν ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε. καὶ ἐάν τις ἁμάρτῃ, Παράκλητον ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν δίκαιον.
My children, these things I write to you in order that you might not sin, and if anyone might sin, an advocate we have with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.
Paraphrase: Dear friends, I am writing this letter to you for a purpose. I sincerely desire that your life would be marked by a practical holiness and that you would learn what sin is and how to gain the victory over it. I know this can be so discouraging when we see our constant failures in this regard. Sin can often be very strong in our life, and we feel the shame that it brings, but be encouraged. I want you to know that even when we do fall into sin, we still have an One who takes up our cause before God, our Father. Jesus stands at God’s right hand and pleads our cause. He is uniquely qualified to do this because He is the righteous One; He has never transgressed God’s law; and therefore, He can be our Mediator.
Comments:
1John 2:2
καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστιν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν· οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου.
and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but even for the entire world.
Paraphrase: There’s more. Jesus is not just our Advocate at the right hand of God, but He is also our sin-offering. When He mentions our name before the throne of God, He can also point to His sufferings by which He purchased the right to save His sheep. The guilt which our sin brings on us is taken away by His sufferings. God’s wrath which is dreadfully provoked by our transgression is also removed when He smells the sweet savor of Christ’s offering. (Leviticus 4:31)
Comments:
The universality of Christ’s propitiatory work can be understood two ways here. First, it can be that John here references the truth that the atoning work of Christ is infinitely sufficient to atone for the sins of any and all people. More likely, the thought here is that Christ’s propitiatory work is not limited to any one ethnic group. God’s elect and those saved by Jesus’ propitiation are found in all nations and amongst all kinds of people. The apostles vigorously fought against the idea that only ethnic Jews could be saved. See the Canons of Dordt, second head of doctrine on this point.
1John 2:3
Καὶ ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐγνώκαμεν αὐτόν, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηρῶμεν.
and
Paraphrase:
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1John 2:4
ὁ λέγων ὅτι, Ἔγνωκα αὐτόν, καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ μὴ τηρῶν, ψεύστης ἐστίν, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν.
1John 2:5
ὃς δ’ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ τετελείωται. Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν·
1John 2:6
ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν, ὀφείλει καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησεν καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτως περιπατεῖν.
1John 2:7
Ἀγαπητοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν, ἀλλ’ ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν, ἣν εἴχετε ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατε.
1John 2:8
πάλιν, ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν, ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία παράγεται, καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἤδη φαίνει.
1John 2:9
Ὁ λέγων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῶν, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν ἕως ἄρτι.
1John 2:10
ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῷ φωτὶ μένει, καὶ σκάνδαλον ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν.
1John 2:11
ὁ δὲ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν, καὶ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ περιπατεῖ· καὶ οὐκ οἶδεν ποῦ ὑπάγει, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία ἐτύφλωσεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ.
1John 2:12
Γράφω ὑμῖν, τεκνία, ὅτι ἀφέωνται ὑμῖν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι διὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.
1John 2:13
Γράφω ὑμῖν, πατέρες, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. Γράφω ὑμῖν, νεανίσκοι, ὅτι νενικήκατε τὸν πονηρόν. Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, παιδία, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν Πατέρα.
1John 2:14
Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, πατέρες, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, νεανίσκοι, ὅτι ἰσχυροί ἐστε, καὶ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν μένει, καὶ νενικήκατε τὸν πονηρόν.
1John 2:15
Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ,
1John 2:16
ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία* τοῦ βίου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλὰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν.
1John 2:17
καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
1John 2:18
Παιδία, ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν, καὶ καθὼς ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἀντίχριστος ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν, ὅθεν γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν.
1John 2:19
ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξῆλθαν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἦσαν ἐξ ἡμῶν· εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἡμῶν ἦσαν, μεμενήκεισαν ἂν μεθ’ ἡμῶν. ἀλλ’ ἵνα φανερωθῶσιν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν πάντες ἐξ ἡμῶν.
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1John 2:20
Καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἁγίου, καὶ οἴδατε πάντες.
And you have a charism from the Holy One, and all of you are knowing.
Paraphrase: Unlike such nominal Christians, you all have the anointing. By this, I mean to say that when you believed in Christ, you were joined to Him in such a way that you share in His life and gifts. One of these gifts is the Holy Spirit, Himself. You have read how the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and remained with Him. (Matthew 3:16; John 1:29-34) Now when the Spirit came down on Jesus, He also comes on all those who are in Christ. That is why I say you all have the anointing because you share in Jesus’ anointing.
Comments:
1John 2:21
οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι οἴδατε αὐτήν, καὶ ὅτι πᾶν ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἔστιν.
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you know her and because every lie is not of the truth.
Paraphrase: I am not writing this to you in order to teach you these things. On the contrary, I have every confidence that you already know the things I’ve mentioned. You know full well that the lies being proclaimed by many preachers in our day did not come from the word of truth, this word of truth which lives within you. (1John 2:14)
Comments:
1John 2:22
Τίς ἐστιν ὁ ψεύστης, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἀρνούμενος ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Χριστός; οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱόν.
Who is a liar? except the one denying that Jesus is not the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son.
Paraphrase: Now what are these liars teaching? They are teaching that Jesus is not the Messiah, the anointed One of God who was first promised to Adam & Eve, then to the patriarchs, and also to all the people of Israel. This is the lie they preach, and I’ve told you before and now tell you even weeping that all those who fall in with this teaching are the enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3:18); they have rejected both God the Father and His Son.
Comments:
1John 2:23
πᾶς ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐδὲ τὸν Πατέρα ἔχει. ὁ ὁμολογῶν τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα ἔχει.
Everyone who is denying the Son, does not have the Father. Everyone who confesses the Son has also the Father.
Paraphrase: Now mark this down as a fundamental truth of the Christian religion. Any person who rejects Jesus, the Son of God, and refuses to believe in Him is an enemy of God, and My Father will cast Him away forever into the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:42) On the contrary, all those who come to Jesus confessing their sins (1John 1:9), owning their guilt, and taking refuge in Him for mercy and forgiveness will find the Father to be a reconciled God who welcomes such penitent sinners into His family and adopts them as His sons and daughters. (John 1:12)
Comments:
1John 2:24
Ὑμεῖς, ὃ ἠκούσατε ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ἐν ὑμῖν μενέτω. ἐὰν ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ ὃ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἠκούσατε, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ μενεῖτε.
You, who have heard from the beginning, let this remain in you. If among you might remain what you heard from the beginning, even you in the Son and in the Father must remain.
Paraphrase: Many of you have been with me from the very beginning when Jesus first began to teach us the truths of the gospel and the reality of His glorious kingdom. You heard His teaching with your own ears; you saw Him with your own eyes; you looked on the Word of Life and touched Him with your own hands. (1John 1:1) Mark these truths! Study them carefully; learn them well and keep close to the teaching of our Master and to His Father, who sent Him.
Comments:
μενέτω is a third person, imperative. Decker writes: “In the strictest sense a third-person imperative expresses to a second party the volition of the speaker that something be done by a third person or persons.” Decker, Reading Koine Greek, 490. These are often translated “let…” as I did above which has the meaning of one giving permission; this can be misleading. Porter says that these third person forms are “as strongly directive as the second person” forms. Idioms of the Greek NT, 55.
1John 2:25
καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο ἡμῖν· τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.
E
Paraphrase: Now mar
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1John 2:26
Ταῦτα ἔγραψα ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν πλανώντων ὑμᾶς.
1John 2:27
καὶ ὑμεῖς, τὸ χρῖσμα ὃ ἐλάβετε ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, μένει ἐν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε ἵνα τις διδάσκῃ ὑμᾶς. ἀλλ’ ὡς τὸ αὐτοῦ χρῖσμα διδάσκει ὑμᾶς περὶ πάντων, καὶ ἀληθές ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ψεῦδος· καὶ καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν ὑμᾶς, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ.
1John 2:28
Καὶ νῦν, τεκνία, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ἐὰν φανερωθῇ σχῶμεν παρρησίαν καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
1John 2:29
Ἐὰν εἰδῆτε ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν, γινώσκετε ὅτι καὶ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται.