{"id":3168,"date":"2025-10-10T00:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T00:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/?p=3168"},"modified":"2025-09-30T23:55:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T23:55:33","slug":"meditations-on-1-john-21-2-with-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/meditations-on-1-john-21-2-with-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditations on 1 John 2:1-2, with Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 2 <\/strong>(NIV–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NKJV and NIV link the following two verses to the preceding verses in chapter 1.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 1,<\/strong> 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\u2014Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) \u201cThe statements in 1:8, 10 about believers\u2019 sinful tendencies do not encourage sin; they actually put perceptive Christians on guard against it.\u201d \u201cAdvocate … 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\u2019s faith from collapsing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(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. \u201cHis atonement satisfies God\u2019s just demands regarding our moral failures, thus securing forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Vincent\u2019s II) \u201cIf any man sin, we have. <\/strong>By the we have,<\/em> 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.\u201d (Wiersbe) \u201cTo people who are feeling guilty and condemned, John offers reassurance. … the best defense attorney in the universe is pleading your case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

v. 2,<\/strong> He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) \u201cShould any sinning believer wonder on what grounds he might secure God\u2019s 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 <\/em>be saved.\u201d \u201catoning Sacrifice … the placating of God\u2019s wrath against sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Vine\u2019s) \u201cThrough the \u2018propitiatory\u2019 sacrifice of Christ, he who believes upon him is by God\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Vincent\u2019s II) \u201cThe propitiation. <\/strong>… the sense of the means of appeasing,<\/em> as here. … There is a propitiation in the matter of the sin<\/em> or of the sinner<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Cultural) \u201cWhereas the OT and Jewish tradition limited the Day of Atonement to Israel, Jesus\u2019 sacrifice was offered not only for Christians but even for the those who would reject this priceless gift, leaving them without excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ESV) \u201cJesus is an advocate … Otherwise their sin would bring judgment upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIRST JOHN 2 MEDITATION vv. 1-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These verses present one of the strongest cases for assurance of salvation. We\u2019ve already learned in chapter 1 that believers do sin, but the sin can be confessed and forgiven on the basis of Christ\u2019s work. God will<\/em> forgive what we have confessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, if we do sin, we have a defender at God\u2019s right hand who will plead for us. Jesus will not plead our case based on any merits of our own (\u201cI\u2019ve been pretty good overall, so You should forgive me\u201d). 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His blood spilled as a substitutionary sacrifice initiates the new covenant, which includes forgiveness of sins when we ask. God\u2019s forgiveness and Christ\u2019s advocacy are twin rails that keep the fellowship on track moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is the \u201cpropitiation,\u201d 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\u2019s problem; Jesus was sin\u2019s solution. He lived up to His name: Jesus, \u201cGod is Salvation.\u201d 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\u2019s wrath from the believer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[591],"class_list":["post-3168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-meditations-on-1-john"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3169,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions\/3169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}