My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 1 John 2:1 NLT
Read 1 John 2:1-6.
I have decided to slow down a bit with chapter 2. John’s speech pattern is direct and packs quite a punch with each verse; so, we need to ingest each one slowly and methodically, taking the time to savor every morsel of truth and wisdom.
Let’s start simply with the very first phrase, “My dear children.” In chapter 1, John had dispelled false teaching that had permeated the early church, yet he was encouraging the believers as well. As we begin chapter 2, we see John speaking to the early believers with affection. He is in no way condescending or talking down to them, but he is portraying his role as a loving, spiritual father.
He then reveals his purpose in writing. He says, “I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.” John is much more outspoken against sin in these epistles than Paul is in his letters to the early church. There are some scholars who feel that the two men contradict each other. Paul, on one hand, emphasized the teaching of grace and being saved through faith, apart from works. We can never earn our salvation or do enough works to be declared righteous in our own effort. Yet, Jesus paid the price for our sins and declared us “Not guilty,” and He offers us the free gift of eternal life.
John, on the other hand, talks much about obedience and living a holy life. He urges the early believers to abstain from sin, and teaches that the evidence of a genuine relationship with Christ is a life that is no longer steeped in sin. In chapter 1, he is so bold as to declare that if anyone is continuing to practice deeds of darkness, then this person cannot say he has fellowship with God at all.
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. (1 John 1:6 NLT)
John continues this teaching of abstaining from sin in chapter 2, and he proclaims this as his purpose in writing this letter. However, he quickly offers hope since he understands that as humans, we will never be perfect. He states that if we do sin, we have the best Defense Attorney available to plead our case for us.
There are some who would read John’s writing and use it to argue that if we sin, we could lose our salvation. After all, John did say that we cannot live in darkness and have fellowship with Jesus, the Light of the World, at the same time. I will come back to verses 1 and 2 in a moment, but some will use verses 3-6 as the basis for their legalistic teaching. Let’s examine these first, and then we will bring the proper perspective in the light of the first two verses.
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6 NLT
Does this contradict Paul’s teaching? Is faith not enough to be saved? I thought salvation was a free gift from Jesus, and that works had no bearing. Now, I read that if I say I know God but continue to disobey Him, I am a liar. John says that the way I live my life will show whether or not I truly live in God.
Let’s clarify this. John is not saying that keeping the law will ever make us holy. That was the teaching of the Pharisees that Paul had dispelled with his teaching about grace. On the contrary, John is saying the opposite, that when we are holy, works will follow.
Paul’s message was particularly to Gentiles who were being beaten down by the teachings of the legalistic Jews of the time. Paul was correct in teaching that our holiness comes from Christ alone, and not from our works. We can come to Jesus as we are, in faith, confess our sin, confess our belief in Him, and declare Him as our Lord, and we have assurance of salvation apart from the law.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 NIV
John wasn’t contradicting Paul, but he was merely writing from a different perspective. Once a person chooses to follow Christ and proclaims to be a child of God, his lifestyle on the outside is the evidence of his relationship with Christ on the inside. John is not saying that if we sin we are no longer in fellowship with God, but if we have fellowship with Him, we will no longer make it a habit, or a practice of sinning. Our life has changed.
If we truly love God, it will show in the way we live. Love results in obedience, and obedience is the evidence of our love.
So, John is not defending the legalistic hacks, nor is he opposing Paul’s writing. He is actually rounding out Paul’s teaching on grace.
Our job is to have faith in Christ, which is counted as righteousness, and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit resides within us, and He begins a sanctifying work in our lives. If this relationship is genuine, then as John explains, we will naturally obey the commandments of Christ.
We are all works in progress. We are being perfected and refined more and more into the image of Christ, but His sanctifying work will not be complete until we make it to heaven. We are already 100% forgiven and 100% justified in God’s eyes, but we are also still growing in Him.
Therefore, we will still sin on occasion. That is not the same as practicing sin or living a sinful lifestyle, nor does it justify giving in and doing anything and everything our flesh desires. As long as we live in our human bodies, we will have a constant tug-of-war within, between our spirits and our flesh. However, genuine love for Christ will result in obedience as well as growth and maturity in our walk with Him.
Meanwhile, we have been declared sons and daughters of God, and He does not reject the very children His Son died and rose again to save.
Now, we are ready to go back to verses 1 and 2.
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 1:1-2 NLT
Notice that John is speaking to his dear children when he is giving the remedy for sin. Yes, we may still sin. However, the good news and the amazing hope we have is that Jesus Christ will plead our case before the Father. Jesus is the only one who is truly righteous and pure. He never sinned, and His holiness is absolute. Therefore, when God looks at us, He sees the holiness of His Son covering us. Our sins have been completely atoned for and erased for all eternity. God will never bring up our sins again!
This piggy-backs on the closing verse from chapter 1 that bears repeating:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 NLT
