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1 John 2:1. My children! I write this to you so that you will not sin; and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 1 John 2:2. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. The Apostle, knowing that our nature is fickle and sinful, that we always carry an attraction to evil within ourselves, that the envious devil hinders our salvation with his forges, that therefore those who have already been reconciled with God through confession, if they live carelessly, will not avoid sin, now inspires that even if we have fallen after the forgiveness of our sins, we should not despair. For if we turn, we can again receive salvation through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He, interceding for us before the Father, will make atonement for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. The Apostle said this because he was writing to the Jews, he said it in order to show that the benefit of repentance is not limited to them alone, but also extends to the pagans, or that this promise applies not only to contemporaries, but to all people of subsequent centuries. He calls Jesus Christ an intercessor for us, beseeching or persuading the Father. This likening of God to man is used for a special purpose, as are the following words: “The Son can do nothing of Himself” (John 5:19). The latter was said so that He would not be considered an opponent of God. And that the Son also has the power to forgive sins, He showed this by the example of the paralytic (Matthew 9:6). Also, when He gave the disciples the power to forgive sins, He clearly showed that He gave such a right autocratically. But the Apostle, as we said, now says this with a special purpose, namely, to imagine that the Son has one nature and one power with the Father, and that the actions of One of the three most holy Persons are common to the other Persons. 1 John 2:3. And we know that we have come to know Him by keeping His commandments. It is the custom of this blessed man to use the same words to designate different objects, as for example in the verse: “He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). So now he used the word “know” in different meanings. For the word know expresses both knowledge of something and very close acquaintance with someone. This meaning is in the words: “The Lord knew those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19), and: “He made him who knew no sin to be a sacrifice for sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21). 1 John 2:4. He who says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him; 1 John 2:5. and whoever keeps His word, in him is truly the love of God perfected: by this we know that we are in Him. And by contradiction, he confirms the same thing, using the most complete evidence. 1 John 2:6. He who says he abides in Him must do as He did. Perfect love, he says, is proven by deeds. But as it happens that someone outwardly observes the commandments correctly and accurately, but his inner disposition is unclean, which is why he is far from God, then the apostle says that he who has been assigned to God must live as closeness to God requires. 1 John 2:7. Beloved! I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an ancient commandment, which you had from the beginning; the ancient commandment is the word that you heard from the beginning. The speech begins about love for one's neighbor. He says that closeness or love for God is first of all recognized through love for one’s neighbor. For it is impossible for one who is illuminated by the knowledge of God and filled with love for Him to have the darkness of hatred towards his brother; because light and darkness cannot be together at the same time in the same object. Therefore, illuminated by love for God and having God, he also has a light in relation to his brother, which is kindled from love for his brother. And whoever says that he loves God, meanwhile hates his brother, is in constant darkness, his rational eyes are always darkened, because he has lost the light of communication with God and with his brother. He no longer knows what can be useful for himself. 1 John 2:8. But at the same time I write to you a new commandment, which is true both in Him and in you: because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:9. He who says that he is in the light, but hates his brother, is still in darkness. 1 John 2:10. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no temptation in him. 1 John 2:11. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Since this epistle is conciliar, written generally to everyone, to Jews and pagans, then in relation to the Jews we can say that the apostle writes to them the commandment about love is not new, but ancient. For on the tablets of Moses it was written: “love,” after God, and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). But how, another will say, does the apostle write about the ancient commandment in relation to the pagans, when they have nothing of the kind anywhere? We answer. The law of love for neighbors was also written among the pagans. How so? It is written on the tablet of their hearts with natural thoughts. And that the thoughts planted in us with nature are called natural law, this can be confirmed by the Apostle Paul, who says: “I see another law warring against the law of my mind” (Rom. 7:23). So, the pagans also accepted the ancient law or commandment, since nature itself commands us to be meek to each other and to everything related to us; As a result, man is a social animal, and this is impossible without love. Ancient stories even record many testimonies of people who died for others, and this is a sign of the highest love, as our Savior explained, saying: “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Since the commandment about love for one’s neighbors was given to both Jews and pagans, the apostle says that with the ancient commandment that you heard about love for one’s neighbor, I am writing you another new commandment, which is true both in Him who appropriated you to God through communion with Him, and in you who have entered into communion with Him; for He says: “I am light come into the world” (John 12:46), and the true Light, according to His word, is already shining, and in the light there is no darkness. Let the true light of love shine in a true and unfeigned disposition towards the brothers, and let the darkness of hatred pass, that is, disappear; for the Apostle Paul also gives this meaning to the word “passes away” when he says: “For the image of this world passes away” (1 Cor. 7:31). 1 John 2:12. I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake. Having said that he is writing them a new commandment, the apostle also indicates the disposition of those who will accept his message; denotes those degrees that occur during bodily growth. For he knew that not everyone would accept his words with the same respect and attention, but some would accept them superficially, like children, to whom he assimilates the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Others will be accepted as having reached “a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), so that they can be fathers to others: to such is attributed the knowledge of Jehovah from the beginning. Who is this if not the Word of God, which in the beginning “was with God” (John 1:1)? Others will be accepted as young men: to them, as blossoming and full, is attributed the honor of victory over dishonorable passions. Then he repeats the same thing again in a different order, applying his teaching word to the measure of spiritual age. Since I, he says, know that you will accept my message to you according to the difference in age, it is necessary for me to measure my teaching with the location of your age and to talk with some of you as with children who have come to know the Father, that is, God; with others, as with fathers, who have greater knowledge than children, namely, they knew not only that He is the Father, but also that He is from eternity and inexplicable, for He was from the beginning: such need the most perfect teaching about God; with others, as with young men, strong and capable of struggle and exploits. Giving the latter the glory of victory shows that they need courageous and warlike speeches. 1 John 2:13. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known Jehovah from the beginning. “Children” are those who sin due to the immaturity and unfoundedness of children, which is why the apostle says to them: you were worthy of forgiveness when you happened to know that “the Lord is good to everyone and His compassion is in all His deeds” (Psalm 144:9). “Fathers” are those who, with advancement in age, received knowledge of Existence from the beginning. “Young men” are those who, due to their maturity, are skillfully able and ready to wear the signs of victory over enemies. 1 John 2:13. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, youths, because you have come to know the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you have come to know the Beginningless One. 1 John 2:14. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. The apostle above adapted these very names from age to moral teaching, and now he repeats them out of disposition, without interrupting his instruction. 1 John 2:15. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world: whoever loves the world does not have the Father’s love in him. Having applied the teaching to spiritual ages, the apostle adds an exhortation. "Don't love the world". This speaks as if to children; for children always tremble with joy at what seems pleasant. Then he expresses the reason why no one should love the world, nor what is in the world. Then he offers teaching to fathers and youths who are more capable and perfect. So that you do not understand by the world the totality of heaven and earth, the apostle explains what the world is and what is in the world. And, firstly, by the world he means vicious people who do not have the Father’s love within them. Secondly, by being in the world he means that which is done through carnal lust, which, acting through the senses, arouses lust. For by the eyes, the main instrument of the senses, he also meant the other senses. By lust we mean all kinds of evil: adultery, drunkenness, indecent courtesies, murders (whether they are committed out of greed or to destroy rivals), deceit, which must also be understood as any opposition - in general, everything hostile to God, but committed by us through carnal lust. 1 John 2:16. For everything that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but from this world. 1 John 2:17. And the world passes away, and its lusts, but he who does the will of God abides forever. We have already said that the apostle calls vicious people the world, just as the Lord said to the disciples: “you are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 15:19, 17:16). The father of this world, that is, worldly sensuality and disorder, is the devil. Therefore, the Lord says about His disciples to the Father: “I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from evil” (John 17:15), that is, the world about which in another place (1 John 5:19) the Apostle says that it lies in evil. Otherwise. If the evil one is opposed to the good Father, and the one who serves the lusts of the world is not from the Father, but from the world, it is obvious that whoever is not from the Father, but from the world, is from the devil. So in the Gospel it is said to the Jews: “Your father is the devil” (John 8:44), that is, you have carnal inclinations, which the devil sows and increases. And these worldly lusts are short-lived and impermanent, but what happens according to the will of God is long-lasting and eternal. But it is not in the nature of the prudent to run around the constant and grasp at the momentary; for to do so is the same as to build a house on sand. 1 John 2:18. Children! lately. And as you have heard that the Antichrist will come, and now many antichrists have appeared, we know from this that the time is last. "Lately". It's easier to explain this way. Since the conciliar message is directed to every person, and the limit of life is not the same for everyone, and one’s own death is not known to anyone, the apostle decently reminds everyone of his death, so that everyone feels that the last time of his life is coming, and is constantly sober, and so that in this way all Christians always lead an immaculate life and do pure deeds. There is another explanation, which would be inappropriate and crazy to laugh at. Every thing can be divided into three parts: beginning, middle and end. Without a doubt, there is nothing inappropriate to call everything that follows the middle the end. Therefore, if the Lord came in the middle of ten thousand years (for His coming to earth was almost in 5500), then all the time following this, without any dispute, can be called the last. And since the order of millennia at the coming of the Lord stepped beyond the middle, then all the time that followed can decently be called the last. John Chrysostom also accepts the truth of this explanation. 1 John 2:19. They left us, but they were not ours: for if they were ours, they would have remained with us; but they came out, and through this it was revealed that they were not all ours. Having mentioned the Antichrists, he adds where they come from and says: they are from us. He adds this without interfering with the clarity of speech. He seemed to ask himself: where do these Antichrists come from? And he answered: they are from us. This should have been done, but he did not do so, perhaps in order to show the trouble caused by them by the unity of his speech. Why are the Antichrists among the Lord's disciples? In order to have trust from those who are being deceived, so that those who are being deceived would think that they, as one of the disciples, preach the teaching according to the thoughts of the Teacher, and are not completely contrary to His preaching. Therefore, he says, “they left us,” that is, although they were disciples, they fell behind the truth and invented their own blasphemies. “They weren’t ours,” that is, from among those being saved. For otherwise they would have remained in alliance with their own. Now they have “left us” to make it clear that they have become completely alien to us. Among them there are also those who are not from us, but who were joined by those who came out from us. It was for their sake that the apostle said: “not everything is from us.” 1 John 2:20. However, you have anointing from the Holy One and know everything. 1 John 2:21. I wrote to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, as well as the fact that every lie is not from the truth. 1 John 2:22. Who is a liar if not he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, rejecting the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:23. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; and he who confesses the Son also has the Father. 1 John 2:24. Therefore, whatever you heard from the beginning, let it remain in you; If that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you, then you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2:25. The promise that He promised us is eternal life. So that after the apostle has expressed the previous things, someone does not think that he is acquiring the knowledge of this only for himself and therefore boasts of it before other believers, he appropriately adds: you also have the anointing. He seems to say this: but why am I discussing this with you, as if you do not know this? no, you know that yourself. For at holy baptism you received the sacred anointing, and through it the Holy Spirit. If so, then know that I wrote to you about this not as those who do not know, but as those who know that now is the last time, that the Antichrists are powerfully active, that everyone is full of lies. Since the lie has multiplied, I said that many Antichrists have appeared. For if Christ is the truth (John 14:6), and you who know Him have the truth in yourselves; then, obviously, a liar who opposes the truth, that is, Christ, is the Antichrist. Who's the liar? The one who says Jesus is not the Christ. So the nasty Simon babbled that the Other is Jesus, and the Other is Christ; Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary, and Christ is descended from heaven to the Jordan. So, whoever agrees with this lie is the Antichrist. The liar is the Antichrist and the one who rejects the Father and the Son. For other heretics (from whom the accursed Valentine degenerated) said that the Other is the nameless Father, and the Other is called the Father of Christ. These same ones reject the Son when they say that He is a mere man, and not God by nature, God from God. Therefore the apostle adds: whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The Jews, for example, reject the Son and appropriate to themselves the knowledge of the Father. But let them know that they have not yet known the Father; for if they knew Him, they would also know the Son, because He is the Father and the Only Begotten Son. Simon's like-minded people also said the same thing. These are the opinions of heretics. But you keep to yourself what you heard from the beginning, namely, that Christ is God; for this is what the words mean: let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abide in you, then you will also abide in the Son and in the Father, that is, you will be in communion with Him. For His promise is this: “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John. 17.21); and again: that they may have eternal life, “and this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3). 1 John 2:26. This is what I wrote to you about those who deceive you. Having finished the speech given above, the apostle adds about those who deceive them with the heresies that have appeared in large numbers. Then, in order to remove sadness from them, he repeats again: “and the anointing that you received from Him.” By anointing, as has already been said, of course the Holy Spirit. So, if you firmly hold within you the Holy Spirit, whom you have received, you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as this very Spirit teaches you everything, then abide in what He taught you; for what He has taught you is true and not false. 1 John 2:27. However, the anointing that you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; but just as this very anointing teaches you everything, and it is true and not false, whatever it has taught you, abide in it. The order is this: since the anointing you received from Him remains in you, there is no need for anyone to teach you; but you must continue in what it has taught you. 1 John 2:28. Therefore, children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 1 John 2:29. If you know that He is righteous, know also that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. You might be interested in: