There are two main points in 1 Jn 2:1-7 that we want to discuss in this lesson.  The first is that ye sin not, found in v.1.  And the second is that we keep his commandments, found in v.3.  There are many spiritual applications in 1 John that can help us in the church age.  But we must remember that, in some verses particularly, the doctrinal application is strictly to Tribulation saints.

That Ye Sin Not, v.1-2

John wrote his epistle to “my little children”.  These are saved people.  He refers to his little children like Paul called Timothy his son.  He’s addressing them as children, just the same way that Jesus spoke to him and the disciples in Jn 13:33.  

When he refers to his children, he’s telling us something that even a child can understand.  Like Prov 8:5, what he’s saying can be understood by the simple.  As in Prov 8:9, his words are plain to him that understandeth.  

The express purpose of v.1-2 is that “ye sin not”.  We have sin, 1 Jn 1:8, and we have sinned, 1 Jn 1:10, but we don’t have to sin.  The exhortation is “don’t sin”.  This is like Rom 6:12-14.

Thankfully, if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  An advocate is one who pleads the cause of another.  When Jesus pleads, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 1 Jn 1:9, because Jesus is the one who paid for them.  Through his propitiation, the wrath of God against our sins was appeased and we gain the favor of God.

Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.  This is definitely not limited atonement.  But for people to receive this propitiation they have to come to God through Jesus Christ, Rom 3:23-25.  If they don’t believe on Jesus, the wrath of God abides on them, Jn 3:36.

That You Keep His Commandments, v.3-7

John wrote, “We do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments”.  He’s writing about assurance here, like he did in 1 Jn 5:13.  However, John writes about assurance differently than Paul does in his epistles.  

John says we are assured if we keep his commandments.  Paul says we are secure in Christ because we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, 1 Cor 12:13, and we are sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption, Eph 4:30.

John’s doctrine comes directly from Jn 14:15, 15:10.  Much of his epistle is written like a continuation of his gospel.  

Keeping his commandments applies doctrinally to the Tribulation (Rev 14:12).  The church age is sandwiched between the resurrection and the rapture.  While we can derive much spiritual benefit from John’s epistles, we must remember that what he wrote is doctrine for Tribulation saints.  They must keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, Rev 12:17.

If a man doesn’t keep his commandments but says that he knows him, he’s a liar.  The truth is not in him, as in 1 Jn 1:8.  Compare what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Jn 8:44-47.  Like the devil, there is no truth in them.  John emphasizes the clear distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil.  See 1 Jn 3:10, for example.  The Tribulation saints must be able to tell the difference.

John wrote that they have assurance by other things, as well.

• By Keeping his word, 1 Jn 2:5, Jn 14:23-24
• By Loving the brethren, 1 Jn 3:14, Jn 13:34-35
• By Having the Spirit, 1 Jn 3:24, 1 Jn 4:13

In v.5 John wrote, “In him verily is the love of God perfected”.  Look at what Jesus said in Jn 15:9-10.  Continue ye in my love.  Ye shall abide in my love.  What is the condition of continuing and abiding in his love?  IF ye keep my commandments.  They have to keep his word.  Thus, Jesus said in Jn 14:23, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”. See also Jn 14:21.

v.6 begins like v.4 “He that saith”.  v.9 begins the same way.  The proof of their testimony is three-fold.  If he says he knows Jesus:

• Does he keep his commandments? v.4
• Does he walk as Jesus walked? v.6
• Does he love the brethren? v.9

To walk as Jesus walked, v.6, he would have to do as Jesus did.  Look at these verses.  Jn 13:14-16, serve one another, that ye should do as I have done unto you.  Jn 13:34 love one another as I have loved you.  Jn 14:12 the works that I do shall he do also.  Jn 15:16 ye should go and bring forth fruit.  Jn 15:20 if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.  Jn 20:21 as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

In v.7, John wrote that the commandment is the old commandment that they had from the beginning.  It is the word they heard from the beginning.  He’s referring back to the things Jesus told them, as we have seen by cross-referencing Jesus’s words spoken to the disciples in Jn 13-16, right before his crucifixion.

Conclusion: 1 John is easily understood when you realize that it is written as an extension of John’s gospel.  The admonitions to sin not and keep his commandments are very connected to what Jesus said.  He said to the lame man he healed, Jn 5:14, and the woman taken in adultery, Jn 8:11, “sin no more”.  He said to his disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”, Jn 14:15.  Doctrinally, these admonitions fit perfectly in the Tribulation.  Spiritually, they apply to both Tribulation saints and us.

To study the previous lesson, see The Word of Life. To study the next lesson, see A New Commandment.