1 João 2
William MacDonald · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 2:1-6
William MacDonald has a comforting comment - John gives us God’s perfect standard for His people, and His gracious provision in the event of failure. The little children refers to all the members of the family of God. God’s perfect standard is then set forth in the words these things I write to you, that you may not sin. Because God is perfect, His standard for His people is absolute perfection. He would not be God if He said: “These things I write to you so that you sin just as little as you can.” God cannot condone sin in the least degree, and so He sets perfection before us as the goal. The Lord Jesus did this with the woman who was caught in the act of adultery; He said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” At the same time, the Lord knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust, and so He has graciously made provision for us in the event of failure. This is expressed in the words, “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” An advocate is one who comes to the side of another person in time of need in order to help. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus does for us when we sin. He immediately comes to us in order to restore us to fellowship with Himself. Notice that it does not say, “If any man confesses his sins …” As our Advocate, the Lord seeks to bring us to the place where we do confess and forsake our sin. (Believer's Bible Commentary - borrow one hour)
1 João 2:7-11
William MacDonald - Thus the darkness (skotia)…passing away (parago) whenever men receive the light of the gospel. The darkness has not all vanished because many have not come to Christ, but Christ, the true light, is already shining, and whenever sinners turn to Him they are saved, and henceforth love their fellow believers. (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) J
1 João 2:7-11
William MacDonald - If one professes to be a Christian and yet hates those who are truly Christians, it is a sure sign that such a one is in darkness until now. This latter expression shows that it is not a case of backsliding that is in view (ED: See discussion of Backsliding and Quotes on Backsliding). The man continues to be what he always was, namely, unsaved. (BORROW Believer's Bible Commentary ) Fleming - If hate determines their behavior, they live in darkness. They are spiritually blind and therefore they do wrong. If people claim to be Christians but hate others, they only deceive themselves (1Jn 2:9-11). (AMG Concise Bible Commentary) Jamieson - There is no mean between light and darkness, love and hatred, life and death, God and the world: wherever spiritual life is, however weak, there darkness and death no longer reign, and love supplants hatred; and Luke 9:50 holds good: wherever life is not, there death, darkness, the flesh, the world, and hatred, however glossed over and hidden from man‘s observation, prevail; and Luke 11:23 holds good. “Where love is not, there hatred is; for the heart cannot remain a void” [Bengel]. (1 John 2 Commentary) Robert Candlish - “HE that saith he is in the light” is one who professes to obey the “new commandment;” to realise in himself, personally, the new position or state of things implied in its being “true in Christ and in him,”—in him as in Christ,—“that the darkness is passing and the true light is now shining.” He says he is in the light which is now shining and chasing the darkness away. But he hates his brother; one who says the same thing; one in whom, as in Christ and in him, the same thing is true. He refuses to recognize him as a brother, or to regard him with brotherly love. And that is enough to prove that he cannot really be himself one of those in whom, as in Christ, “this thing is true, that the darkness is passing and the true light is now shining.” (1 John 2:9-11 Brotherly Love a Test and Means of Being and Abiding) Marvin
1 João 2:7-11
William MacDonald - This may mean that the man himself is not in danger of stumbling, or that he will not cause others to stumble. Either interpretation is true. If the Christian is really living in touch with the Lord, the light illuminates his own pathway, and no one else is offended because of any discrepancy between his profession and his practice. (BORROW Believer's Bible Commentary ) James Montgomery
1 João 2:15
William MacDonald notes that "We are plainly warned not to love the world or the things that are in the world, for the simple reason that love for the world is not compatible with love for the Father. (Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) Believers are not to love the world but are to love the souls in the world. David Clarkson (1621-1686) observes "That which we most love—we worship as our God. For love is an act of soul-worship. To love and to adore are sometimes both one. That which one loves—he worships. This is undoubtedly true, if we intend hereby that love which is superlative and transcendent—for to be loved above all things is an act of honor and worship, which the Lord demands as His due in peculiar (Deut. 6:5). In this the Lord Christ summed up all that worship which is required of man (Mt. 22:37). Other things may be loved—but He will be loved above all other things. He is to be loved transcendently, absolutely, and for Himself. All other things are to be loved in Him and for Him. He looks upon us as not worshiping Him at all, not taking Him for a God, when we love other things more or as much as Himself (1 John 2:15). Love to the creature, whenever it is inordinate, it is an idolatrous affection. (From his paper entitled Soul Idolatry Excludes Men out of Heaven) YOUR CHOICE: LOVE THE FATHER OR LOVE THE WORLD As discussed, love for the world precludes and even "pushes out" love for God -- the best "antidote" in our fight against this pervasive powerful pull to love the world is to be zealous to love the Father (cp Mk 12:30+, Mt 6:24+), and by fighting this good fight of faith (only possible by His Spirit and His grace - not by a legalistic lists of do's and don'ts!) we avoid the shipwreck of our souls on the "deadly reefs" of the world (cp 1Ti 1:5, 18, 19+). The choice is between the world's lie and the Word's truth. The battle ground is our mind. And the battle will be life long. The battle will continually rage between being "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." (2Ti 3:4+) And while it is important in our Christian journey to "pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2Ti 2:22+), not even godly companions can guarantee we will not fall prey to the subtle, seductive lies of the world, for as Paul wrote with much grief even "Demas having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica" (2Ti 4:10+; see chronological chart of Demas' tragic life in Col 4:14 commentary). Believers are to be IN the world but not OF the world. John
1 João 2:24
William MacDonald - Our great safety is to stay close to the word of God. We should test everything by "What do the Scriptures say?" If a teaching does not agree with the Bible, then we should reject it also. As Dr. Ironside used to say, "If it's new, it's not true, and if it's true, it's not new." (BORROW Believer's Bible Commentary) Kruse - Recalling people who are being faced with false teaching to the message of the Gospel as they first heard it, and by which they were converted, is a strategy that is also employed elsewhere in the NT (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-11) and needs to be practised today. (The Letters of John (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Classic Bible Commentary - He then urges them to persevere in the faith, so that what they had learned might remain fixed in their hearts. (Edited by Owen Collins) Ray
1 João 2:24
William MacDonald: Jesus made a distinction between those who are disciples (Ed: see the professing "disciples" in John 6:66, cp 1Jn 2:19, 2Jn 1:9) and those who are disciples indeed. A disciple is anyone who professes to be a learner, but a disciple indeed is one who has definitely committed himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are true believers have this characteristic—they abide in His Word. This means that they continue in the teachings of Christ. They do not turn aside from Him. True faith always has the quality of permanence. They are not saved by abiding in His Word, but they abide in His Word because they are saved. (BORROW Believer's Bible Commentary) J
1 João 2:25-27
William MacDonald - …ye need not that any man teach you.” (1 John 2:27) At first glance this verse poses problems. If we don’t need anyone to teach us, why did the risen Lord give teachers to build up the saints for the work of ministering (Eph. 4:11, 12)? In order to understand John’s meaning, it helps to know the background of his letter. At the time he wrote, the church was being plagued by false teachers known as Gnostics. These heretics had once professed to be sincere believers in the Lord Jesus and had been in the fellowship of local assemblies. But then they had left to push their false views concerning the humanity and deity of Christ. They professed to have superior knowledge, hence the name Gnostic, from the Greek word gnosis—“to know.” They probably said something like this to the Christians: “What you have is good, but we have additional truth. We can take you beyond the simple teachings and initiate you into new and deeper mysteries. If you are going to be full-grown and fulfilled, you need our teachings.” But John warns the Christians that it is all a hoax. They don’t need any of these imposters to teach them. They have the Holy Spirit. They have the Word of Truth. And they have God-ordained teachers. The Holy Spirit enables them to discern between truth and error. The Christian faith has been once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), and anything that claims to be in addition to it is fraudulent. Christian teachers are needed to explain and apply the Scriptures, but they must never transgress by going beyond the Scriptures. John would be the last one to deny the need for teachers in the Church. He himself was a teacher par excellence. But he would be the first one to insist that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate authority, and that He leads His people into all truth through the pages of Holy Writ. All teaching must be tested by the Bible. If it professes to be in addition to the Bible, if it claims equal authority with the Bible, or if it does not agree with the Bible, then it must be rejected. Horatius Bonar - THE HEAVENLY ANOINTING—1 JOHN 2:27. SATAN as the angel of light, the prophet of all natural knowledge, was abroad among the early churches. He was a lying spirit in some of the primitive teachers, sending them forth to seduce the saints. To Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth,—everywhere,—he sent them on their errand of seduction. For this there was but one remedy, one antidote,—not a larger amount of human wisdom, or ‘refined culture,’ or ‘liberal thought,’ but a fresh infusion of ‘that wisdom which cometh from above.’ There was only One who could meet this spirit of evil knowledge and counteract his wiles,—the Holy Ghost, here spoken of as ‘the unction’ or anointing. I. The anointing.—Our Master’s name is Messiah, Christ, the Anointed; and we are, like Him, anointed ones,—‘Christians.’ The oil is the Holy Ghost, and from Him directly we have the anointing. It is His office to anoint. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me.’ It is His office to make Christians, and to keep them such. He is both the Anointer and the unction; and it is through Him that we are made what we are. He comes on us; He comes into us. This anointing is the Church’s birthright: as the sun is the birthright of humanity, so is the Spirit the birthright of the Church. II. The source of the anointing.—It is not from ourselves, but from another. It is ‘received.’ It is not from beneath, but from above; it is from the Holy One. Is this Christ, or the Holy Spirit? It is true of both. We get the Holy Spirit from Christ; and from the Spirit we get the gifts and graces. Thus in both of these senses we have an unction from the Holy One. All is of God; and yet as free and accessible as if at our side. III. Its permanence.—It abideth in us. It is no passing touch, no drop which falls on us to-day, and disappears to-morrow. It abides; it abides in us; it has taken up its permanent dwelling in us. It is not liable to our fluctuations; it is constant, ever remaining, ever operating. Christ abideth in us; the Spirit abideth in us. All is everlasting,—increasing, not decreasing. IV. Its rendering us independent of human teaching.—It not only fits us for overcoming the evil one; not only enables us to resist those that seduce us; but it makes us independent of man. He may or he may not teach us: it does not matter; we are not dependent on him. We need him not. This is not self-dependence, nor absolute independence; it is simply independence of man because of dependence upon God. For, having God’s teaching, we need not that any man teach us. We have a Teacher wiser, better, truer, more patient, more loving than man. Let us welcome this, let us prize it, let us daily employ it. We shall need it more and more in these last days, when the prevalence of false teaching will fling us from man altogether, and throw us upon God alone. V. Its character.—(1) It teacheth us. The object of the anointing is specially teaching; and the reference here is to the anointing of prophets for their work (as Elisha, 1 Kings 19:16), and to Messiah’s anointing for preaching the gospel (Isa. 61:1). The expression, ‘Anoint thine eyes with eye-salve,’ is of the same import. The Holy Spirit is our teacher. (2) It teacheth all things. Its circle of instruction is wide, extending to all truth on the one hand, and to every part of our being on the other. There is nothing which we need that this anointing does not comprehend. It embraces all that ‘Christians’ can require. (3) It is truth. For He is the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of Him who is the truth; He ‘guides into all truth. The certain, the authentic, is with Him. (4) It is no lie. It contains nothing that is untrue or uncertain. It is not the false spirit who speaketh lies; no lie is in Him or His anointing. VI. Its object.—That we should remain in Christ. Christ Himself said, ‘Abide in Me;’ and He connected this with His ‘words abiding’ in us. The object of the anointing, the work of the Holy Spirit, is to produce and maintain this abiding. Connection with Christ, connection of the most intimate kind, connection as the result of the anointing,—this is what we need. What a needful text is this in our day! The world’s wisdom is estimated so highly; spiritual truth is at a discount; dependence on supernatural teaching is reckoned weakness; reliance on intellect is the chief thing recommended; speculation, unbounded and unchecked speculation, is counted a noble thing; the risk of embracing a lie is sneered at; error is not deemed sin; truth, as the very health of the soul, is not deemed indispensable, provided there be earnestness; the word of God is not treated as infallible and its information certain, but rather as a cabinet of playthings for the intellect. In opposition to all this, our text comes in with the assertion of a divine Teacher and an infallible teaching; a teaching not narrow and straitened, but wide and all-embracing; a teaching of truth, in opposition to every lie of man or Satan, of the Church or the world, of priest or philosopher. Ah, this is the real thing that the vexed soul needeth! This is rest for the weary intellect, satisfaction for the empty soul. Walter Kaiser - What Is the Anointing? - Hard Sayings of the Bible - see page 688 What type of anointing is it that 1 John 2:27 claims the Christian receives? Is it anything like what was received in the Old Testament? Why does John then say that this means that “you do not need anyone to teach you”? How does an anointing teach us something? Can we now dispense with human teachers altogether? This verse is a continuation of a thought first introduced in 1 John 2:20, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” References to both anointing and knowing the truth appear in each of the two verses. In the Old Testament the anointing given kings and priests was with oil to consecrate them to ministry. There is clearly a consecration or initiation going on in this passage as well, but there is no mention of oil. By the time of Tertullian (A.D. 200) anointing with oil was practiced in the context of baptism, but there is no evidence that such a practice occurred as early as the New Testament period. In the New Testament oil is only connected with anointing the sick for healing (Mk 6:13; Jas 5:14–15). Yet the practice of the later church does give us a clue to the meaning here, for the oil meant the reception of the Spirit. Even in the Old Testament the anointing of kings (1 Sam 16:13) and prophets (Is 61:1) is connected with the Spirit coming upon them. Jesus at his baptism is said to be anointed with the Spirit (Acts 10:37–38; compare Acts 4:27; Heb 1:9), and in Luke 4:18 Jesus quotes, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me” (Is 61:1), which was the theme of his ministry. Jesus was never anointed with oil (other than perhaps the perfume poured over him at the end of his ministry in Bethany), but he was anointed with the Spirit, which came upon him at his baptism. It is quite appropriate (and probably a deliberate play on words) that Christians, who are followers of the Christ (which means Messiah, or “anointed one”) should bear that same anointing (the root of “Christ” and “anointing” are the same in Greek). Paul indicates that Christians have been anointed with the Spirit when he says, “He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21–22; the grammar indicates that this is one event, not several). The experience of the Spirit was a normative part of early Christian initiation. Paul explicitly denies the modern idea that one is not supposed to experience or feel anything at conversion when he argues that one knows if one is a Christian because of the presence of the Spirit within (Rom 8:9; see 1 Jn 3:24; 4:13). Acts also connects the reception of the Spirit to Christian initiation (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:15–17; 10:44–48; 19:5–6). In the New Testament, then, baptism is normally associated with the experience of the Spirit, as are repentance from “dead works” and commitment to Christ. The four form a complex, but they are not interchangeable with each other. All need to be present for the complete initiatory experience. The data of Acts shows that at times the order of the events is different, and in some cases the various parts are separated by some time. But the assumption of the New Testament writers is that all four are present. Thus in 1 John 2:27 the anointing is something that has been received at a past point in time, the point of Christian initiation. However, John is not discussing baptism here, and therefore does not identify the anointing he is talking about with baptism. John also does not identify the anointing with the Word, although he does not place Word and Spirit over against one another. In 1 John 2:24 we read, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.” The “what you have heard from the beginning” is the apostolic witness to Christ (1 Jn 1:1–3), which in the Gospel of John became Scripture. Those anointed are not the false teachers who have rejected this apostolic witness and left the orthodox Christian community, but precisely those who have accepted the witness, in which it remains. We see a similar continuity between the Spirit and Christ in John 14:26 and John 15:26. There is no conflict between the Spirit and the gospel tradition. Yet the two are not the same. The anointing is not “that which you have heard,” but a complement to it, the Spirit within. Those who have the Spirit (in whom it “remains,” a continuing action), then, “do not need anyone to teach” them. This again parallels what we read in John 14:26 and John 15:26, not to mention the ongoing revelation of John 16:12–15. John has at least three reasons for writing this. First, the false teachers were probably claiming to have some secret knowledge into which they had been initiated and which the orthodox Christians did not have. Nonsense, says John, you yourself have the real, not the counterfeit. Unlike them you have Truth himself within. Second, these people already have received the apostolic witness and remain in it, the anointing of the Spirit showing them that it is indeed true. There is no need for supplementary teaching, for they already have what is true. Third, the Spirit within will guide them into truth. While teachers may be helpful and an exhortation or teaching like 1 John useful, John trusts that the Spirit himself will be the real teacher, showing them the true and exposing the false, just as Paul trusts that the Spirit will lead Christians into righteous living (Gal 5:16, 18, 22–26) and James expects the “wisdom that comes from heaven” to bear the proper fruit (Jas 3:13–18). Christians who are listening to the Spirit should “smell a rat” when they see false versions of the faith or outright evil, and they should recognize the family likeness in that which is of God. Unfortunately, Christians often do not listen to the Spirit, and when they do their perceptions can be warped, so the external guidelines of Scripture are always necessary. Furthermore, in the process of conversion the human teacher also instructs students in the truth, the apostolic witness, which they must accept and remain in to receive this anointing. Again John does not separate Word from Spirit or substitute one for the other, but he does recognize that the Spirit should be giving true discernment to the believer. Since he still has a place for the Word, John also has a place for human teachers, yet he recognizes that they may fall into error and it may be hard for Christians to sort out the true teacher from the impostor. It is the discernment taught by the Spirit that John believes will enable the believer who is committed to Christ to see correctly in this situation. The human remains important, but the divine Guide is the one in whom John places his ultimate confidence. This passage is difficult, then, in two ways. First, it relies on our understanding the Jewish background of anointing so that we will connect it with the Spirit and Christian initiation. Second, it expects our experience of the Spirit to be real enough that we will understand that the Spirit himself does indeed teach us and lead us into truth. The challenge of the verse is to live in this experience, not in rejecting the role of the Word, for John never does that and in fact easily slips back and forth from Spirit to Word, but in so walking in obedience to the words of Christ in Scripture and the inner voice of the Spirit that we recognize immediately when the world tries to seduce us through that which claims to be Christian but is tainted in some way. Andrew