The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live

1 John 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

³ By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.

⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. ¹¹ But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.

In today’s text it says: Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.  It is an old commandment that says we are to love others. In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”  If we truly love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, then we must also love those that He sent His Son to redeem. Just as we cannot walk both in the light of Christ and the darkness of the world, we cannot have both true love and hatred in our hearts.

The world though, or those who are in the world and walking in darkness, will often twist and pervert what this love means. They say that if we truly love others, we must tolerate and accept their choices and actions. Tolerance is not love. In truth, it is closer to the opposite of love than to love itself. We tolerate what we don’t like. If we look at the context of today’s text, we can see that surely John is not suggesting that we love or embrace sin and darkness. The text begins saying: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  So, first we recognize that Christ is our advocate. Romans 8:34 says: Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Jesus intercedes; advocates for us at the right hand of the Father. Even more, He advocated for us on the cross. He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  In Luke 23:34 Jesus said: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” In John 19:30 Jesus said: “It is finished!” His sacrifice on the cross is all that is necessary for our sins to be forgiven. He died so that we could live. It is vital though that we understand and believe that Jesus did not embrace the sins of the world. Instead, He embraced the suffering of the cross so that we could be redeemed from our sin.

The text continues: By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.  In John 14:15;21;23-24, Jesus Himself says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. The one who does not love Me does not follow My words.”  We cannot walk just as Jesus walked, we cannot walk in love, if we don’t first and foremost Love the Lord with our whole heart, soul and mind. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. We will be obedient to His word. We will not love and embrace the very things that Jesus died to redeem us from. The text concludes saying: Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.

May the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 be our declaration and prayer. May it be the model for our love, just as it is the description of God’s love.  Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Amen.