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In this chapter we will consider the crucial points concerning life and living in 1 John 2.
First John 2 contains twenty-nine verses. Even though this chapter is longer than chapter 1, we can easily acquire the two basic points concerning life by applying the principle of life and living seen in chapter 1. The first point concerning life is revealed in 1 John 2:1-2, which says, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.” In these verses the apostle John seems to say to the children of God, “You now have the life of God and desire to have fellowship with God; nevertheless, you will sometimes become defiled by sin. Whenever you are defiled by sin, your fellowship with God will be interrupted. However, do not be discouraged by thinking that your interrupted fellowship cannot be restored. Remember that we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He offered Himself to God on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and He has thus appeased the relationship between us and God and rectified the situation of God’s not being able to impart grace to us. Thus, we are able to restore our fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.”
Some may consider that the Lord Jesus’ being the propitiation for our sins refers to His being made a sin offering so that sinners may be brought back to God. However, this understanding is not accurate. Christ’s being the propitiation for our sins is not to bring sinners who are far from God back to Him but to recover and rectify the matter of God’s not being able to impart grace to people. The desire of God’s heart is to impart grace to people, but He is unable to do so because man has sin. The blood of the Lord Jesus has remedied this situation by accomplishing propitiation for our sins.
The Greek word rendered “Advocate” in 1 John 2:1 is the same word translated “Comforter” in the Gospel of John (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). This word refers to the One who comes alongside the saints to care for them and bear their responsibility for them. Today we have Christ as our Advocate with God and the Holy Spirit as the Comforter within us. These two—Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit—are one person (14:17-18, 20; 20:22). Before God, Christ is our Advocate, and within us, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. In other words, the Holy Spirit is in us as our Comforter, and Christ is before God as our Advocate, caring for us and bearing all responsibility for us. On one hand, the Comforter within us leads us to have fellowship with God the Father; on the other hand, the Advocate before God propitiates for our sins to restore and recover our fellowship with God when we transgress and our fellowship with God is interrupted.
The second basic point concerning life in 1 John 2 is the anointing mentioned in verse 27, which says, “The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you...and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.” Here the anointing refers to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is in us to be the Comforter; on the other hand, He is in us as the anointing so that we may have fellowship with God. Thus, the apostle John desired that we believers would abide in the Lord even as the anointing has taught us. This abiding according to the teaching of the anointing is to have fellowship with the Lord.
John’s first Epistle shows how the children of God have fellowship with Him. Chapter 1 reveals that man is able to have fellowship with God when he receives God as life. Then through man’s fellowship with God, he is brought into the light and sees his sins. By man’s confession of the sins that are exposed by the light, the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses him. This is the definite foundation laid in 1 John 1.
First John 2 speaks of how the divine fellowship is carried out and maintained. The divine fellowship is carried out based on the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us and is maintained by Jesus Christ the Righteous, our Advocate in the heavens. The carrying out and maintenance of fellowship result in our enjoyment of the eternal life that God promised us. That is, the anointing within us and the Advocate in the heavens cause us to practically enjoy the eternal life. According to man’s natural concept, the eternal life is an eternal scene, realm, or blessing that is to come in the future. However, the eternal life refers not to a realm or a future blessing but to the life that God Himself promised us (v. 25); thus, the eternal life, from our perspective, is a matter of enjoyment. These crucial points on life are the revelation in 1 John 2 concerning the line of life.
Furthermore, 1 John 2 reveals a crucial point on the line of living—abiding in the Lord. Verses 27 and 28 say, “Even as [the anointing] has taught you, abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him.” To abide in the Lord is to live in fellowship with Him, to have unceasing communion with God. Hence, 1 John 2:27-28 indicates that we need to live in fellowship with God.
Some may say that 1 John 2 speaks concerning many other things. However, we must realize that even though 1 John 2 speaks of many things, all those things are related to abiding in the Lord. For instance, chapter 2 first shows the kind of person who can abide in the Lord; then it reveals the condition of abiding in the Lord; and finally, it presents the result of abiding in the Lord and living in fellowship with God.
First, we will ask, what kind of person is able to abide in the Lord, or what kind of person actually abides in the Lord? First John 2:1 and 12 indicate that such a person is one whose sins have been forgiven because of the Lord’s name. Verse 1 says, “My little children, these things I write to you that you may not sin,” and verse 12 says, “I write to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you because of His name.” Both of these verses, spoken to God’s children, reveal that those who can abide in the Lord and have fellowship with God are those whose sins have been forgiven because of His name. Second, verse 29 indicates that only those who have been begotten of God have the ability to and actually do abide in the Lord. Third, verse 3 reveals that those who abide in God are those who know Him. In summary, only those whose sins have been forgiven, who have been regenerated, and who know God are able to abide in the Lord and actually do abide in the Lord.
The condition of the believers abiding in the Lord is of three categories: fathers, young men, and young children. What kind of believers are the fathers? First John 2:13-14 refers to the fathers twice as those who “know Him who is from the beginning,” indicating that the fathers are those who know God in a deep way. They know the Lord not only as the Word who became flesh and was manifested in time among men but also as the One who is from the beginning. The fathers who abide in the Lord are those who are experienced to such an extent that they know in the way of life the eternal, preexisting Christ, who is the Word of life from the beginning (1:1; John 1:1).
First John 2:13-14 says, “I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one...I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.” The two mentionings of the young men in these verses emphasize that they are strong and overcoming believers, indicating that abiding in the Lord should manifest in a believer the condition of being strong and overcoming so that he is able to deal with God’s enemy, Satan. The world is an orderly system established by and hanging on God’s adversary, Satan (5:19; John 12:31). Since the young men deal with and overcome the enemy Satan, they do not love the satanic system. They do not love the world, because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is opposed to God and against God and His will. Moreover, the world and its lusts are passing away, and only he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:16-17). Since the young men are those who abide in the Lord and are strong and have overcome Satan, they do not love the satanic system; they do not love the world.
In addition to the fathers and the young men, 1 John 2 mentions young children twice (vv. 13, 18). The young children are those who have recently received the divine life. Verse 13 says, “I write to you, young children, because you know the Father.” This knowing of the Father is a knowing in the initial stage. Galatians 4:6 says, “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!” Soon after a child is born, he learns to call, “Dada.” Such a calling indicates an initial and superficial knowing of his father. However, as the child grows and begins to mature in understanding, he will not only recognize who his father is but also know where his father comes from. Thus, as a person becomes more experienced, he increases in his understanding of his father’s history. Similarly, as a believer becomes more experienced in abiding in the Lord, he increasingly knows God in a deeper way, until he knows God as the One who is from the beginning.
In 1 John 2:18 the apostle John mentions the young children again and indicates that they are able to know the Father by knowing Christ the Son. Whereas the Son is God come in the flesh, some deny the Son, saying that He is not God come in the flesh. Such persons are antichrists, who do not have the Father, because they deny the Son (vv. 22-23a). However, we believers confess the Son and thus have the Father also (v. 23b). When a person confesses that the Son is God come in the flesh, that one receives salvation, has the Father, and becomes a young child in the Lord. Even though he has only been recently saved, he nevertheless has the anointing within him, which enables him to distinguish between the speaking that is of the antichrist and the speaking that is a testimony to the Lord. Moreover, as the anointing has taught him, he abides in the Lord (v. 27). The three categories of believers described above illustrate the three conditions of believers who abide in the Lord.
The apostle’s writing to the three categories of recipients begins in verse 13 and ends in verse 27. Then the apostle John returns to address all recipients in general, as indicated by the apostle’s address to “little children” in verse 28. This address refers to all the children of God, those who belong to God, that is, all the children in the house of God. In verse 28 the apostle John exhorts all of God’s children, saying, “Abide in Him,” for only by abiding in Him will they have boldness and not be put to shame from Him when the Lord is manifested at His coming.
The believers’ abiding in the Lord will produce several results. The first result is the keeping of the Lord’s commandments. First John 2:3 says, “In this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” Here the keeping of the Lord’s commandments, or the keeping of the Lord’s word, is not a command regarding what we should do but a statement of the fact that if a man abides in the Lord, he will inevitably keep the Lord’s commandments, His word. The second result of abiding in the Lord is walking as the Lord walked. Verse 6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.” The word here, like that in verse 3, is also not a command but a result of man’s abiding in the Lord. The third result is loving the brothers. Verses 9 and 10 say, “He who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light.” One who is in the light is living in fellowship with God and abiding in the Lord; the result of such abiding and fellowship will inevitably be loving the brothers. The fourth result is practicing righteousness. Verse 29 says, “He is righteous...Everyone who practices righteousness also has been begotten of Him.” One is able to practice righteousness because he possesses the life of God and abides in Him.
The four points in the aforementioned verses—keeping the Lord’s commandants, walking as the Lord walked, loving the brothers, and practicing righteousness—are written not in a tone or style of commands. Rather, they show that those who are begotten of God, who know God, who abide in God, and who live in the light will inevitably keep God’s commandments, walk as the Lord walked, love the brothers, and practice righteousness. These are the results of abiding in the Lord and having fellowship with God. They are also the behavior that comes out of living in fellowship with God.
In essence, 1 John 2 reveals that receiving God’s life into us brings us into fellowship with God, and the Holy Spirit as the anointing within us leads us to continue participating in this fellowship. However, when we sin, our fellowship is interrupted; nevertheless, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins and thus restores our interrupted fellowship. These two—the anointing and the Advocate—maintain our fellowship with God, giving to us and causing us to enjoy God’s promise of the eternal life (v. 25). To maintain such an enjoyment of the eternal life, we need to abide in the Lord by living a life in fellowship with Him. Such a living will result in our inevitably keeping the Lord’s word, walking as He walked, loving the brothers, and practicing righteousness. This is a summary of the two points on life, the point on living, and the four results of living as revealed in 1 John 2.
Regrettably, when preachers in traditional Christianity speak concerning 1 John 2, they speak neither of life nor of living but only of the results of abiding in the Lord, which are keeping His commandments, walking as He walked, loving the brothers, and practicing righteousness. They especially add the words you must; that is, you must keep His commandments, you must walk as He walked, you must love the brothers, and you must practice righteousness. Such preaching ignores life and living and focuses only on human effort. It is like cutting off the head, abandoning the torso, and speaking only of the hands and feet. If the co-workers among us neglect life and living in their speaking, they employ the same principle; that is, they speak only of the hands and feet but neglect the head and the torso. In other words, their speaking is like a tree that has only branches and leaves without roots and a trunk. Such speaking does not touch what life is or the living that issues forth from such a life but touches only the behavior manifested from such a living.
Once we abandon the lines of life and living and speak only on behavior, we are teaching human work, that is, self-cultivation. In brief, we are using the Bible to teach Confucianism. I am concerned that even when we encourage others to preach the gospel, we may be speaking only of the hands and the feet, of the branches and the leaves. When we lead the believers to preach the gospel, we must cause them to see first that the Lord is in them as their life. Then we need to lead them to learn how to live out the Lord as life. Third, when they live out the Lord as life, they will automatically preach the gospel because the Lord’s life produces in them a love toward sinners. In this way their preaching of the gospel becomes an action lived out from the life within. In contrast, if we abandon life, do not speak of the living that issues from life, and only encourage people to preach the gospel, we carry out and encourage natural human work.
Not only our leading people to preach the gospel but also our exhorting others to pray can be natural human effort. Traditional Christianity is full of teachings that exhort people to preach the gospel and pray. Many preachers charge other believers, saying, “You must always pray. You must pray unceasingly. You must watch and pray.” Regrettably, many such charges and teachings speak merely of hands and feet cut off from the rest of the body. When we lead others to pray, we must cause them to see primarily that God desires to enter into them to be their life. Then we need to help them to realize that the life of God within them is a praying life. Moreover, since the Spirit of life is the Spirit of prayer, if they learn to live God’s praying life by the Spirit of prayer, they will spontaneously live out a life of prayer from within. The kind of prayer produced from such a living is not mere behavior but the hands and feet joined to the head and the body, the branches and leaves grown from a tree with roots and a trunk.
Today many Christian teachings emphasize only behavior and cut off the lines of life and living. Such teachings issue in behavior that is entirely produced by man. This differs from the revelation in the Bible. The Bible reveals that everything we do should issue from our living out the life of God. The New Testament mainly reveals three things: first, how God in His Son as the Spirit enters into man to be man’s life and everything; second, how man lives before God by the life of God; and third, the kind of behavior, deeds, and work that are manifested when man lives out God as life before Him. Such deeds and works have their source in God as life in man; thus, they are not mere behavior but the outcome of man’s living according to the life of God.
Regrettably, we do not have such a concept in our natural being. Since our concept is to emphasize outward behavior, such as keeping the Lord’s commandments, walking as the Lord walked, loving the brothers, and practicing righteousness, when we read 1 John 2, we are unable to see the line of the Lord desiring to be our life or the line of our living in Him. Our natural concepts are a hindrance to our Bible reading. Thus, we need to put aside our concepts when we read the Bible and hold only to God’s concept, which is that God desires to be our life in His Son so that we may live by God as life before Him, allowing His life to produce various results from within us. If we hold only to such a concept when we read the Bible, the Bible will be crystal clear. Only in this way can we uncover the points concerning life as the source, the points concerning living, and the results of living the life of God.
We need to see the vision in the Word concerning life and living, and this vision needs to influence the messages that we give, the work that we do, and the churches that we establish. This is a tremendous matter. The kind of messages that we give, the kind of work that we do, the kind of churches that we build are all based upon what we acquire from our reading of the Bible. Thus, if we desire to improve our work, our speaking, and the churches that we labor on, we must improve in this matter of reading the Scriptures. This is a serious matter.
May the Lord have mercy on us so that we may continue to touch the Scriptures based on the two lines of life and living. May we beseech the Lord to enable us to gain from the Bible the points concerning life and living and let go of all other things. If we use such a principle to read 1 John 2, we will see that there are many riches in this chapter and that what we gain from our reading are all important revelations.
