Chapter 2 (NIV–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)
The NKJV and NIV link the following two verses to the preceding verses in chapter 1.
v. 1, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “The statements in 1:8, 10 about believers’ sinful tendencies do not encourage sin; they actually put perceptive Christians on guard against it.” “Advocate … The thought here … is of a defense attorney who takes up the case of his client before a tribunal. … admirably illustrated in His prayer for Peter (Luke 22:31-32). … Jesus asked the Father to prevent Peter’s faith from collapsing.”
(Moody) 2:1-2 addresses 1:10 to prevent leniency, that confessing sin is not to be the norm; and severity, that if anyone sins, it is not hopeless, because we have an Advocate. “His atonement satisfies God’s just demands regarding our moral failures, thus securing forgiveness.”
(Vincent’s II) “If any man sin, we have. By the we have, John assumes the possibility of sinful acts on the part of Christians, and of himself in common with then, and their common need of the intervention of the divine Advocate.” (Wiersbe) “To people who are feeling guilty and condemned, John offers reassurance. … the best defense attorney in the universe is pleading your case.”
v. 2, He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “Should any sinning believer wonder on what grounds he might secure God’s mercy after he has failed, the answer is found in this verse. … Christ genuinely died for everyone. … This does not mean, of course, that everyone will be saved. It means rather than anyone who hears the gospel can be saved.” “atoning Sacrifice … the placating of God’s wrath against sin.”
(Vine’s) “Through the ‘propitiatory’ sacrifice of Christ, he who believes upon him is by God’s own act delivered from justly deserved wrath, and comes under the covenant of grace. … it is man who needs to be reconciled to God, and not God to man. … Christ annuls the power of sin to separate between God and the believer.”
(Vincent’s II) “The propitiation. … the sense of the means of appeasing, as here. … There is a propitiation in the matter of the sin or of the sinner.”
(Cultural) “Whereas the OT and Jewish tradition limited the Day of Atonement to Israel, Jesus’ sacrifice was offered not only for Christians but even for the those who would reject this priceless gift, leaving them without excuse.”
(ESV) “Jesus is an advocate … Otherwise their sin would bring judgment upon them.”
FIRST JOHN 2 MEDITATION vv. 1-2.
These verses present one of the strongest cases for assurance of salvation. We’ve already learned in chapter 1 that believers do sin, but the sin can be confessed and forgiven on the basis of Christ’s work. God will forgive what we have confessed.
Chapter 2:1-2 tells us that the last part of chapter 1 was written so we would not sin deliberately, but take the way of escape. We can prize our fellowship with a holy God by living to please Him and live holy to maintain that fellowship. We can continue to pursue the fellowship, and confess sin so we are not cut off from the fellowship permanently. Christ as our advocate means God is serious about guarding the fellowship.
Furthermore, if we do sin, we have a defender at God’s right hand who will plead for us. Jesus will not plead our case based on any merits of our own (“I’ve been pretty good overall, so You should forgive me”). He will point to the wounds in His hands and the work of the cross as the basis for forgiving us. It is an active work on His part to pray for us, to intercede for us. He ever lives to do this mediatorial work between man and God as our great high priest.
His blood spilled as a substitutionary sacrifice initiates the new covenant, which includes forgiveness of sins when we ask. God’s forgiveness and Christ’s advocacy are twin rails that keep the fellowship on track moving forward.
He is the “propitiation,” which means that God sent His Son to die on the cross to satisfy His wrath for sin. Jesus came willingly to do His will and placate His wrath. God saw the problem with man separated from his Maker and came and did something about it Himself when He came as a human being. Sin was man’s problem; Jesus was sin’s solution. He lived up to His name: Jesus, “God is Salvation.” He died for sinners. His death was enough for all sinners for all time, though the benefits are limited to those who trust in Christ to save them. That trust is sufficient to fully remove God’s wrath from the believer.
