1 John 2:1-6

1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2: and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

3: By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4: The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5: but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

*** 

In the first chapter, John explained that fellowship with God means to walk in His Light. It means to admit where we fall short or out of alignment with Him. Admitting to that is what we call confessing our sins. It is acknowledging that God's way is right and true, and anything out of alignment with His way is wrong. If we do not line up with His way, then we have done wrong--we have sinned. 

Without Jesus, we would be hopelessly lost at this point. However, when we confess our sin, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin and unrighteousness--and we remain in fellowship with Him. To deny our sin is to say we've not done wrong. We're calling God a liar when we say that the thing which He says is evil is really good. But admitting our sin is to say God is right, that right and wrong are defined by Him, not us; and we accept His way as right, even if we don't always do it right ourselves.

John took this one step further and said that he wrote these things to them so they may not sin. The ultimate goal is not just to receive forgiveness for sin, but to not sin in the first place--to walk like He walked, to keep His Word and commandments. This is how we know we've come to know Him and that we abide in Him (John 15:4). The one who says he knows Him but doesn't keep His commandments is a liar--the truth is not in him. Yet once again, John said though the goal is not to sin, and he wrote to help us not sin, if we do sin, we have Jesus as our advocate with the Father.

"Jesus Christ the righteous," is the only one who lived on earth without sinning. He walked in the Light constantly. He was and is the Light. The life in Him is the Light. He is the Word of God made flesh, and the Word is the Light which enlightens those who hear and believe. In doing so, it gives eternal life (John 1:4-9, John 8:12, Psalm 119:105, 130). This is how and why Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. This is the way He made for us to gain favor with God, and the offer is open to the whole world--to anyone who hears and believes.

John said the love of God has been perfected in the one who keeps His Word. Jesus said if anyone loves Him, he will keep His Word and the Father will love him and they both will come and make their abode with him (John 14:23). What a promise! His commandment is to love one another as He loved us. This is how all will know we are His disciples, by our love for each other (John 13:34-35). So, we begin to see the connection not only between the Light, the Life and the Word of God, but also the Love.



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