1 John Phrasing
1 John 2
Walking in obedience and discerning the truth: two vital tests
#phrasing
#obedience
Published February 2nd, 2022; Updated February 2nd, 2022
1 John 2
1 John 2
editing
NT
1 John 2:1-27
esv
1 John: a letter to keep people from sin (and a powerful backup if they do!)
My little children,
Reference
I am writing these things
to you
Destination
so that you may not sin.
Purpose Advantage
But ... we have an advocate
Concessive (non-gram)
if anyone does sin,
Condition
with the Father,
Destination/reference
Jesus Christ
Explanation
the righteous.
He is the propitiation
Explanation 2 (non-gram)
for our sins,
Purpose Advantage 1
and not for ours only
Negative
but also for the sins
Purpose Advantage 2
of the whole world.
Possessive
Evidence of a True Knowledge of Jesus: Walking in Commandments
And ... we know
by this
Means
that we have come to know him,
Content
if we keep his commandments.
Whoever ... is a liar,
Expl 1 (non-gram)
says
Concessive
“I know him”
but does not keep his commandments
and the truth is not in him,
Explanation 2
but whoever ... in him truly the love ... is perfected.
Expl 2 (non-gram)
keeps his word,
of God
Objective
By this
we may know
that we are in him:
whoever ... ought to walk
he abides
in him
Locative sphere
in the same way
Manner
in which he walked.
Standard
The Old Commandment is the Message of Chapter 1: to walk in the light, since God himself is light
Beloved,
I am writing you ... but an old commandment
no new commandment,
that you had
from the beginning.
Temporal
The old commandment is the word
that you have heard.
At the same time, it is a new commandment
Concession
that I am writing
to you,
which is true
in him
Locative Spheres 1-2
and in you,
because the darkness is passing away
Grounds 1-2
and the true light is already shining.
2 Different Ways of Walking, Illustrated
Whoever ... is still in darkness.
says he is in the light
and hates his brother
Whoever ... abides in the light,
loves his brother
and in him
there is no cause for stumbling.
Result
But whoever ... is in the darkness
hates his brother
Explanations 1-3
and walks in the darkness,
and does not know
where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Ground
1 John: a letter to those who know God, to those forgiven, to those with victory over Satan
I am writing
to you,
little children,
because your sins are forgiven
for his name’s sake.
Deep Ground
I am writing
to you,
fathers,
because you know him
who is from the beginning.
I am writing
to you,
young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write
to you,
children,
because you know the Father.
I write
to you,
fathers,
because you know him
who is from the beginning.
I write
to you,
young men,
because you are strong,
Ground 1
of God
Producer
and the word ... abides
Ground 2
in you,
Locative
and you have overcome the evil one.
Ground 3
2 different ways of walking (just new terms, that’s it)
Do not love the world
or the things
in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love ... is not in him.
Ground (non-gramm)
of the Father
Objective (mainly)
For all that is in the world—
the desires
Content 1
of the flesh
Attributive (source?)
and the desires
Content 2
of the eyes
Attributive (poss, subj)
and pride
Content 3
of life —
Source (producer?)
is not from the Father
but is from the world.
Source
And the world is passing away
along with its desires,
Accompaniment
but whoever ... abides forever.
does the will
of God
The time of false professors and your True Discernment I
Children,
it is the last hour,
and as you have heard
Comparison
that antichrist is coming,
so now many antichrists have come.
Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
They went out
from us,
but they were not of us;
for ... they would have continued
if they had been of us,
with us.
But they went out,
that it might become plain
Purpose
that they all are not of us.
But you have been anointed
by the Holy One,
Agency
and you all have knowledge.
Content/Resu
I write
to you,
not because you do not know the truth,
but because you know it,
Grounds 1-2
and because no lie is of the truth.
False Professors and your True Discernment (Abiding) II
Who is the liar
but he
Answer
who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the antichrist,
Explanation (non-gram)
he
who denies the Father
and the Son.
No one ... has the Father.
who denies the Son
Whoever ... has the Father also.
confesses the Son
Let what you heard ... abide
from the beginning
in you.
Locative sphere
from the beginning
If what you heard ... abides
Conditional
in you,
Locative sphere
then you too will abide
in the Son
Locative spheres 1-2
and in the Father.
And this is the promise
that he made
to us —
Purpose advantage
eternal life.
I write these things
to you
about those
who are trying to deceive you.
But the anointing ... abides
that you received
from him
in you,
Locative sphere
and you have no need
that anyone should teach you.
But as his anointing teaches you
about everything,
Content 1
and is true,
Explanation 1-2
and is no lie—
just as it has taught you,
abide in him.
Content 2 (Main)
My own personal translation of "Whoever" in this chapter "This is the man who..."
Old : because they had heard this command countless times since becoming a Christian New : because before coming to Jesus, they had never heard it
2:16 translation all the things that are in the world, they are sourced in the “world system at a large”
Observations for commentary searching 1. Why sudden introduction of Antichrists? It is about the “Doctrine test”, which he will now introduce 2. What is verse 20ff connection of Anointing to Antichrist protection? It is showing that the Holy Spirit himself will lead us to internally know what is True Doctrine
General Overview of 1 John 2 *Emphasis of the Nature of the Christian’s walk *Purpose of the letter given 2 times: to not sin, to be re-assured that they do know god *Discernment of Doctrine: given to us as to who are or are not False Christians
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.