1 John 2:1

2:1,2 When have an Advocate with the Father; one who has undertaken, and is fully able, to plead in behalf of every one who applies for pardon and salvation in his name, depending on his pleading for them. He is Jesus, the Saviour, and Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed. He alone is the Righteous One, who received his nature pure from sin, and as our Surety perfectly obeyed the law of God, and so fulfilled all righteousness. All men, in every land, and through successive generations, are invited to come to God through this all-sufficient atonement, and by this new and living way. The gospel, when rightly understood and received, sets the heart against all sin, and stops the allowed practice of it; at the same time it gives blessed relief to the wounded consciences of those who have sinned.

II. (4) The third idea that arises from the great fact that God is Light has already been suggested (1John 1:7), but now takes its distinct place in the series. It is the doctrine of Reconciliation and Redemption. St. John does not wish them to contemplate with complacency the probability of sinning; but to remember gratefully, in spite of falls, that the Author and Restorer of Light has provided a remedy both for the offence before God, and for its effect on themselves. First comes the principle that we must not sin; second, the admission that we do sin; third, the consolation for actual sin when it is in spite of sincere zeal for sanctification. (1) My little children.—Six times in the letter occurs this diminutive of tender and caressing love: 1John 2:12; 1John 2:28; 1John 3:18; 1John 4:4; 1John 5:21. He was aged, he felt a fatherly care for them, he was their spiritual progenitor. (Comp. Galatians 4:9.) The thought of the shame and misery of sin melted his heart. “My child” was what he called out to the lapsed youth, according to Eusebius (H. E. iii. 23). These things.—He carries them on through the former points up to the new thought. That ye sin not.—Another side of the object of the teaching: their joy could not be full unless they were earnest against sin. And yet the most holy would not be perfect. If any man sin.—See 1John 1:8-10.

We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.—The word here translated Advocate was translated Comforter in John 14:16; John 14:25; John 15:26; John 16:7. It has two meanings; one, as in Job 16:2, he who comforts, or exhorts; the other, as here, he who is appealed to—a proxy, or attorney. (Comp. Romans 8:26; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 7:25.) The Redeemer, the Word made flesh, and reascended with His human nature, is that part of the Deity which assures us of the ever-active vitality of divine love. If the justice of God is connected most with the Father, the mercy is pledged by the Son. He has exalted our nature, undertaken our interests, presents our prayers, and will one day be surrounded by the countless millions of His human brothers whom He has rescued, wearing the same nature as Himself. He is represented as continuing our advocate, because otherwise His work might appear a mere separate earthly manifestation; “righteous,” because Christ, the only blameless example of human nature, can alone intercede for it with God (Hebrews 7:26; 1Peter 3:18; John 16:8-10). The Armenian translation actually adds “and blameless.” Augustine remarks that St. John did not set forth any apostle or saint as intercessor (here, if anywhere, he would have done so), but only Christ. “We” is not the Church corporately, but merely another instance of St.

My {1} little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an {a} advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1) It does not follow that we must give our wicked nature free rein, or sin much more freely, because our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ, but we must rather much more diligently resist sin, and yet we must not despair because of our weakness, for we have an advocate and a purger, Christ Jesus the Just, and therefore acceptable to his Father. (a) In that be names Christ, he eliminates all others.

1 John 2:1-2 . The Remedy for the Sins of Believers. “My little children, these things I am writing to you in order that ye may not sin. And if any one sin an Advocate have we with the Father—Jesus Christ, a righteous One. And He is Himself the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

1 John 2:1-2 . My little children — So the apostle frequently addresses the whole body of Christians, and so our Lord himself addressed his disciples, John 13:33 . It is a tender and affectionate appellation, denoting paternal authority, love, and concern, which, in the character of an apostle, St. John might have used in any period of his life; but as used in this epistle, it seems to imply, together with apostolical authority, the apostle’s advanced age. It is a different word from that which is translated little children, in several parts of the epistle, to distinguish it from which, it may here be rendered beloved children. These things write I unto you, that ye sin not — Thus he guards them beforehand against abusing the doctrine of reconciliation. All the words, institutions, and judgments of God, are levelled against sin, either that it may not be committed, or that it may be abolished. And if any man sin — Let him not lie in sin, despairing of help; for we have an Advocate — We have for our Advocate not a mean person, but Him of whom it was said, This is my beloved Son; not a guilty person, who stands in need of pardon for himself; but Jesus Christ the righteous — Not a mere petitioner, who relies purely upon liberality, but one that has merited, fully merited, whatever he asks. And he is the propitiation — The atoning sacrifice, through the merit of which our sins are pardoned when we repent and believe in him.

The word ιλασμος , here rendered propitiation, is nowhere found in the New Testament, but in this passage, and 1 John 4:10 . But it occurs often in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, where it signifies a sacrifice of atonement. Thus, Leviticus 6:6-7 ; Numbers 5:8 , κριος ιλασμου , is a ram for a sin- offering. And Ezekiel 44:27 , προδφερειν ιλαδμον , is, to offer a sin- offering. “In considering the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, St. John, like the other apostles, followed his Master, who, in the institution of his supper, directed his disciples to consider it as designed to bring to their remembrance his blood shed for many for the remission of sins.” For our sins — Who believe; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world — Just as wide as sin extends, the propitiation extends also.

1 John 2:1 . Τεκνία μου , my little children ) The diminutive, used as a mark of love. Now for the first time he names those to whom he writes.— ταῦτα , these things ) which follow.— ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε , that ye sin not ) μὴ , lest , to be pronounced with emphasis. He fortifies their minds beforehand, lest they should abuse his discourse concerning reconciliation to a license for sinning. There is in this place προθεραπεία , a precautionary warning ; and a similar ἐπιθεραπεία ,1 an after-qualification of his previous words, ch. 1 John 5:18 , note. All the Divine purposes, words, and judgments, have for their aim to oppose sin, either to prevent its commission, or to destroy it.— ἐάν τις ἁμάρτῃ , if any man sin ) and lose the confidence of asking for himself; respecting which, see John 16:26 .— παράκλητον , an advocate ) who pleads our cause, so that the Father may not turn away His love from us.— δίκαιον , the righteous ) 1 John 2:29 . Jesus Christ, in the presence of the Father, at His right hand, chiefly from [owing to His] access to Him, having offered a sacrifice for sins, is called The Righteous , John 16:10 . His righteousness takes away our sin : and it is not itself lessened from this circumstance, that He is the Advocate for sinners: Isaiah 53:11-12 .

My little children (τεκνία μου) Τεκνίον, little child, diminutive of τέκνον child, occurs in John 8:33; 1 John 2:12, 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:7, 1 John 3:18; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:21. This particular phrase is found only here (best texts omit my in 1 John 3:18). Used as a term of affection, or possibly with reference to the writer's advanced age. Compare Christ's word, παιδία children (John 21:5) which John also uses (1 John 2:13, 1 John 2:18). In the familiar story of John and the young convert who became a robber, it is related that the aged apostle repaired to the robber's haunt, and that the young man, on seeing him, took to flight. John, forgetful of his age, ran after him, crying: "O my son why dost thou fly from me thy father? Thou, an armed man, - I, an old, defenseless one! Have pity upon me! My son, do not fear! There is still hope of life for thee. I wish myself to take the burden of all before Christ. If it is necessary, I will die for thee, as Christ died for us. Stop! Believe! It is Christ who sends me." Iwrite More personal than we write (1 John 1:4), and thus better suiting the form of address, my little children. If any man sin, we have The change from the indefinite third person, any man, to the first person, we have, is significant. By the we have, John assumes the possibility of sinful acts on the part of Christians, and of himself in common with them, and their common need of the intervention of the divine Advocate.

So Augustine: "He said, not 'ye have,' nor 'ye have me,' nor 'ye have Christ himself;' but he put Christ, not himself, and said 'we have,' and not 'ye have.' He preferred to place himself in the number of sinners, so that he might have Christ for his advocate, rather than to put himself as the advocate instead of Christ, and to be found among the proud who are destined to condemnation." An advocate (παράκλητον) See on John 14:16. With the Father (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα) See on with God, John 1:1. An active relation is indicated. On the terms the Father and my Father, see on John 4:21. The righteous Compare righteous, 1 John 1:9. There is no article in the Greek. Jesus Christ righteous. See on 1 John 1:9.