◄ 1 John 2 Devotional Commentary ►

1 John 2:1

What gracious words to the Church are these wise instructions on holy living from the aging apostle John. The desire of his heart is that those who have come to faith through his ministry might not sin but would strive to live lives that are holy and acceptable to God: "My little children," he says, "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin..." 

As part of God's family, through faith in Christ, read more...

1 John 2:2

We have been brought into sweet fellowship with the Heavenly Father by grace through faith in our Saviour, Jesus Christ, but this can only be maintained and strengthened as we walk in the light. But we live in a fallen world and are subject to the enticing lusts of the flesh, whether they be sinful actions of the body, prideful thoughts of the mind, or ungodly motives of the heart.

How important therefore to seek to live godly in read more...

1 John 2:3

Sinners are saved from the penalty of sin by God's grace, once and for all, through trusting in the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation, but believers must mature in the faith and continue the process of ongoing salvation. This ongoing salvation process, or sanctification, happens moment by moment, as the life on Christ within, saves us from the power of sin in our lives. And this is a lifelong process.

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1 John 2:5

God wants us to hear His Word, to know His Word, to trust His Word, and to keep His Word. The Lord has placed His Word in a superior position above His holy name. Whether we are talking of the written Word of God or the Living Word of God - the God-breathed Scriptures or the Lord Jesus Christ in Person - God wants us to hear, to know, to trust, and to keep His Word.

We can only keep His Word if we trust His Word. We can read more...

1 John 2:6

The ultimate fruit of the Spirit towards which all Christians are pressing is to be like Christ in His humanity - to live as He did, in total dependence upon His heavenly Father. To walk as He did.. in spirit and in truth - to do only those things that He heard from the Father. To live as God desires us to live is to learn in all things to rejoice and say: My bread is to do the will of My Father - so that no matter what we face in life we can say with read more...

1 John 2:7

Jesus proclaimed a new commandment to His disciples. The new instruction He implemented was to love one another, in the same way that Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us. The love we have for one another should mirror the love that the Lord Jesus demonstrated towards us - in that while we were yet sinners, at enmity with God and without hope in the world, Christ set aside His heavenly glory to be clothed in mortal flesh - and died, to save us from sin, Satan, read more...

1 John 2:8

It was the Father's love that Christ came to display, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. And as His children we are to reflect this holy love of God in our lives.

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is Love, and by this.. the love of God is manifested within us, in read more...

1 John 2:11

All of Scripture should be read in context, and this letter from John was written to fellow believers. The apostle is laying out the basic principles of fellowship within the Body of Christ, during times of increasing deception in the wider world, where the love of many has grown cold and Christians are instructed to act as lights in a world darkened by a web of deceit and duplicity.

The 'one' in this verse is a believer, and John states that the one read more...

1 John 2:12

In his later years, the apostle John was often called 'the apostle of love', for this fiery son of thunder displayed such a gentle grace in his twilight years.

Whether the brothers and sisters to whom he was writing were new into the faith or well-weathered, seasoned saints, they were often referred to as 'little children', for all had been sinners saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, all had their sins forgiven through read more...

1 John 2:15

We live in a very beautiful world, but it is still a world that is under a curse and a world that is currently under the dominion of an evil, fallen angel. And over and again, we are warned of the dangers that befall any one of us when we start to love this world and the things of this world.

One cannot love this world system and the things that are in the world, and love the Lord our God at the same time. The whole reasoning and read more...

1 John 2:16

In this section, we receive a strong warning against the many influences of the world and our fallen, fleshly nature, which conflicts with all that is holy and true. As Christians, we have been forgiven of all our sins for the sake of Christ. Because of our faith in His sacrifice on the Cross, when He took the punishment for our sin, God looks at us through our covering of Christ, and because of Him we are declared righteous.

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1 John 2:17

Man’s viewpoint of the world is very different from God’s perspective. Man likes to think that everything is going to continue on as it has in bygone days, but God has purposed that the world, with all it passions and lusts, is passing away and will one day be folded up like a blanket.

This present world system, with its fleshly desires and materialistic vices, is fading away, and we should live our lives keeping this truth read more...

1 John 2:18

As children of God, we are to walk in the light of the Lord as He is in the light. We are to shine as beacons of pure light in an increasingly darkening world. However, we are not to be dazzled by the counterfeit illumination of the fallen world system - which places the beautiful side of evil and the deceptive lies of false teachers in our path and seeks to entrap and ensnare us with their shallow enticements and ungodly philosophies.

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1 John 2:19

False teachers who profess to be Christians, and unbiblical doctrine that is not founded on Scripture, is not only evident today, but was starting to seep into church life during the times of the apostle. Together with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, false teaching was one of the main problems in the early Church and was vigorously addressed by all the apostles.

False doctrine and deceptive read more...

1 John 2:20

What blessings are given to those who believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. What joy is ours when we are born-again of the Spirit. We are regenerated. We are brought back into a relationship with God and declared righteous in His sight. The indwelling Holy Spirit, Who comes to reside within the body of all believers, empowers us from above with divine energy.

He gives us sufficient grace to carry out the good read more...

1 John 2:23

In the early days of Christ's ministry, John (the energetic 'son of thunder') was disposed to call down fire on those who refused to welcome Jesus into their village. But at the end of his life, we discover him to be a gracious old man of God whose desire was to build up the Body of Christ and teach us more of the love of God.

John wrote his epistles to remind us of the importance of personally knowing the Lord and maturing in read more...

1 John 2:27

There are two insidious dangers to Christian fellowship and the growth of believers - 1) the infusion of the world into the Church and 2) the false teachers that deliver a false gospel. Both the world and false teachers can have a devastating effect on a believer's spiritual growth... but knowing biblical truth and being able to discern what is false is key to standing firm in this evil day.

John knows that any true born-again read more...

1 John 2:28

John is not addressing unbelievers in this epistle - he is talking to fellow Christians. He is exhorting brothers and sisters in Christ to stand fast in the spiritual journey and abide in Christ. We are not to be influenced by the allurements of this world's system, nor hoodwinked by the many deceptions that play havoc with our Christian growth.

It was Jesus who first called His disciples to "abide in Me, and I in you." read more...