(Re: Does "heavens" here mean the universe?) / (*Ouranos)
No, the original Greek word (ouranos: G3772) translated as "heavens" or "heaven" does not have to mean the universe. Instead, it can mean only the first heavens/heaven, the skies/the earth's atmosphere, the "air" in which the birds fly (Matthew 6:26, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 13:32), the "sky" which can turn red at sunset or sunrise (Matthew 16:2-3), or which can become filled with rain clouds and wind (Luke 12:54,56). Regarding "a new heavens", 2 Peter 3:13, Hebrews 1:10-12 and Revelation 21:1 can refer to God destroying only the earth's present atmosphere and creating a new one.
(See also 2 Corinthians 12:2(space) above)
~
(Re: *Full preterism?)
Just as the heaven and earth which "were of old" (2 Peter 3:5-6) were the literal first "heaven" (the sky/atmosphere, in which the birds fly: Genesis 1:20) and the literal "earth" (the dry land) which God created in Genesis 1:7-10 and which "perished" in Noah's Flood (2 Peter 3:5-6, Genesis 6:13-21), so the heaven and earth "which are now" (2 Peter 3:7) and which will perish in our future by fire instead of flood (2 Peter 3:7-12) are the earth's present atmosphere and surface. And so the New Heaven and New Earth which the Church is still waiting for (2 Peter 3:13) -- because the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1) will not be created until after the still-future events of Revelation chapters 6 to 20 -- will be a new atmosphere and surface for the earth.
(See also the "Full preterism?" section of Matthew 5:18 above)
So the "elements" in 2 Peter 3:10,12 are physical, just as the heaven and earth in 2 Peter 3:10,12 are physical. 2 Peter 3:10,12 can be, and in fact is, the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word "stoicheion" (G4747) is used to refer to physical elements, just as, for example, Revelation 6:6 is the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word "choinix" (G5518) is used at all.
--
*2 Peter 3:15-16 / *2 Pet. 3:15 -
This means that all of the apostle Paul's epistles are scriptures, which means that they are inspired by God and so are infallible (2 Timothy 3:16).
(See also 1 Corinthians 9:1 above, and the "inerrancy" section of 2 Timothy 3:16 above)
~
(The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation)
2 Peter 3:15a does not mean that God waits patiently for people to choose on their own to become Christians, but that He is patient with the sinfulness of non-Christian elect individuals before He initially saves them. He does not just go out and kill all non-Christian elect individuals immediately for their sins. Also, He is patient with any sinfulness of Christian elect individuals before He ultimately saves them, for if they commit a sin sometime subsequent to their initial salvation, that is, subsequent to their becoming Christians, then He will give them time to repent from it (Revelation 3:19, Revelation 2:21).
(See also Romans 9:11 above, and Revelation 3:19 below)
--
*2 Peter 3:16 / *2 Pet. 3:16 -
Not all of the apostle Paul's epistles survived to make it into the New Testament.
(See 1 Corinthians 5:9 above)
--
*1 John 1:5 / *1 Jn. 1:5 -
God being all good (1 John 1:5, Deuteronomy 32:4) does not require that He loves everyone, for He hates nonelect individuals (Romans 9:11-13). His hatred for them and His future, eternal punishment of them will eternally show that aspect of His goodness called His righteous judgment and wrath against evil (Romans 2:5, Romans 9:22, Revelation 14:10-11).
~
(Re: Is love the greatest virtue?)
Love is the greatest virtue for humans (1 Corinthians 13). But for God, His greatest virtue is not only His love but also His divine holiness, which can be expressed by His eternally consuming fire and hatred/wrath against evil individuals (Hebrews 12:29, Romans 9:13b,22, Revelation 14:10-11).
(See also the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
--
*1 John 1:7b / *1 Jn. 1:7b -
This has a condition attached to it in 1 John 1:7a, which condition would include Christians doing 1 John 1:9 and not doing Hebrews 10:26.
(See also section 4 of James 2:14 above, and see Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*1 John 1:8,10 / *1 Jn. 1:8 -
This means that Christians cannot claim to be without sin before they repent from their sins, confess them to God and then are cleansed from them by God (1 John 1:9,7b, Romans 3:25-26).
--
*1 John 1:9 / *1 Jn. 1:9 -
(Re: Does it say: "If we are confessing our sins"?)
The original Greek simply uses the present tense: "If we confess our sins". But in practice, this does become the same as: "if we are confessing our sins". For 1 John 1:9 applies not only to the one-time, initial confession of prior and present sins when people first become Christians, but also to Christians subsequently confessing and asking for forgiveness every day (Matthew 6:11-12, Luke 11:3-4) for any as-yet-unconfessed sins which they committed subsequent to their becoming Christians. For faith in Jesus Christ's sacrificial blood only remits sins that are...
(See "past" under Hebrews 10:26 above)
All Christians sin at least in some way every day. That is why they are told to pray (Matthew 6:9a) not only for their bread every day (Matthew 6:11) but also for the forgiveness of their sins every day (Luke 11:4). And this forgiveness will be granted only if they have forgiven all those who have ever wronged them (Matthew 6:14-15), and if they have done all that they can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to and peace with everyone whom they have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26). Christians should be continually striving to have a conscience void of offense toward both God and all other people (Acts 24:16).
~
(Re: Does it say all sins?)
1 John 1:9 means all sins (1 John 1:7b), for otherwise not all of our sins could be forgiven and so we could not be cleansed from "all" unrighteousness (1 John 1:9b).
(But see Mark 3:29 above)
~
(Re: Are "forgive" and "cleanse" in the future tense?)
No, in 1 John 1:9 the original Greek does not use the future tense but the aorist tense for "forgive" and "cleanse". For Christians are forgiven and cleansed from their sins whenever they repent from them and confess them to God.
~
(Re: Do we have to repent from our sins and confess them to God more than once?)
No, in the sense that the same, individual instance of the commission of a sin need not be repented from and confessed to God more than once. For after it is repented from and confessed to God, it is completely and forever forgiven by God (1 John 1:9, Hebrews 10:17). But after an individual instance of the commission of a sin has been forgiven, if there is a subsequent instance of the commission of that same sin, then that subsequent commission does need to be repented from and confessed to God as well (cf. Luke 17:4).
~
(Re: Is that crucifying Jesus again?)
No, a Christian repenting from and confessing an act of sin to God does not crucify Jesus Christ again, but allows that act of sin to be forgiven (1 John 1:9) through faith in Jesus' one-time crucifixion for our sins (Romans 3:25-26, Hebrews 10:12).
~
(Re: Do Christians need to be anxious?)
No, in the sense that Christians need not be anxious regarding sins if they do 1 John 1:9 and do not do Hebrews 10:26, that is, sin without repentance.
~
(Re: So you can reject salvation, repent, take back salvation, reject, repent, take back, repeat ad nauseam?)
No, for salvation can only be lost once, at death (1 John 5:16), or at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Luke 12:45-46), due to such things as apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8), unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29), or unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30).
(See also the "NOSAS" section of Hebrews 3:6 above)
--
*1 John 2:1-2 / *1 Jn. 2:1 -
This and 1 John 1:9 mean that if a Christian commits a sin, if he subsequently repents from it and confesses it to God then he will be completely forgiven for it and cleansed from it by God.
(But see Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*1 John 2:2 / *1 Jn. 2:2 -
Jesus Christ's suffering during His Passion was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2) because Jesus is not only a human but also God (John 1:1,14, John 10:30, John 20:28). His soul is infinite and so the suffering of His soul (Isaiah 53:11, KJV) was infinite in amount even though it was not infinite in duration. And so His suffering could satisfy God the Father's justice (Isaiah 53:11, KJV; 1 Peter 3:18) which requires an infinite amount of human suffering for sin (Matthew 25:46). Because humans who are not God have finite souls, in order for them to suffer an infinite amount for their sins they must suffer over an infinite duration of time (Matthew 25:46, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:46).
Every human has sinned (Romans 3:23) except Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15b; 2 Corinthians 5:21). But because Jesus suffered for sins (1 Peter 3:18, Isaiah 53:11, KJV) an infinite amount, when elect people repent from their sins and believe in Jesus' human/divine sacrifice they can have their past sins forgiven (Romans 3:25-26, Matthew 26:28) while God the Father's justice remains fully satisfied by Jesus' suffering for their sins (Isaiah 53:11, KJV; 1 Peter 3:18).
(See also section 2 of Isaiah 53:11 above, and section 4 of Romans 3:25 above)
~
(Re: Was God *cruel to make Jesus suffer like that?)
No, for God the Father did not make Jesus Christ do anything that Jesus was not willing to do in obedience to God the Father (Luke 22:42) and in Jesus' own great love for those individuals whom He came to save from hell (John 15:13-14, John 10:11). Also, Jesus knew that being God Himself, He had the power to raise His human body physically from the dead (John 10:17-18, Romans 1:4, Luke 24:39) and that it was not possible for His human body to remain dead for very long (Acts 2:24, Luke 24:46; 1 Corinthians 15:1-7).
(See also John 1:1,14 above)
~
(Re: The elect)
Jesus Christ's divine/human sacrifice was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2), but it was performed to actually forgive the sins not of everyone (Romans 9:18-24) but only of elect individuals.
(See section 2 of John 10:11 above, and the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
~
(Re: Was Jesus' sacrifice for everyone's sins, so that it was a demonstration of God's love for everyone?)
No, Jesus Christ's sacrifice was not a demonstration of God's love for everyone but only for elect individuals, His sheep for whom He died (John 10:14-15). Nonelect individuals are not His sheep (John 10:26-27) and God hates nonelect individuals (Romans 9:11-13).
~
(Re: So then why bother to say that He died for all people, if all people cannot become Christians?)
Saying that Jesus Christ's sacrifice was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2) is important in itself, for it points to the infinite value of His sacrifice.
~
(Re: Does 1 John 2:2 include future sins?)
See the "past" sentence under Hebrews 10:26 above.
~
(Re: Does 1 John 2:2 even refer to the forgiveness of sins?)
Yes, for in 1 John 2:2, Jesus Christ being the propitiation for sins means that His sacrifice is sufficient for sins to be forgiven (1 John 1:9,7b, Romans 3:25-26).
~
(Re: Does the "whole world" mean only elect individuals?)
No, in 1 John 2:2 the "whole world" is the same as in 1 John 5:19. In both verses, it includes nonelect individuals and not only as-yet-unsaved elect individuals (Romans 11:28).
~
(Re: Was John addressing only Jews?)
No. Just as in the book of Revelation, so in the letter of 1 John, the apostle John is addressing both elect Jews and elect Gentiles.
--
*1 John 2:3-4 / *1 Jn. 2:3 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
--
*1 John 2:12 / *1 Jn. 2:12 -
(Re: Future sins?)
See the "past" sentence under Hebrews 10:26 above.
--
*1 John 2:13-14 / *1 Jn. 2:13 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
--
*1 John 2:17b / *1 Jn. 2:17b -
This means that only those Christians who do the will of God will obtain ultimate salvation (Matthew 7:21, Romans 2:6-8, Hebrews 5:9).
(See Ephesians 2:8 above)
--
*1 John 2:18 / *1 Jn. 2:18 -
(*antichrists)
(See the "Not Christ" section of Revelation 13:4 below, and the "Beast" section of Revelation 13:5 below)
Any person is an antichrist who denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (1 John 2:22) or denies that Jesus is the human/divine Son of God (1 John 2:22b) or denies that Christ is in the flesh (2 John 1:7). The spirit of antichrist which will animate the future Antichrist has been working since the first century AD (1 John 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:7a) animating many antichrists since that time (2 John 1:7).
While 1 John 2:18 says, in the singular, "antichrist shall come", the idea of the individual-man Antichrist, which is correct, is not based on this verse. For this verse refers to the singular antichrist spirit (see the original Greek of 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7). Regarding the "ye have heard" part of 1 John 2:18, those originally addressed in 1 John 2:18 could have already heard through non-written, oral apostolic teaching (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:5) that the antichrist spirit would come.
Not all Jews are antichrists (as is sometimes claimed), for some Jews are Christians (Acts 22:3, Romans 11:1). And not all antichrists are Jews, for Muslims are antichrists because they deny that Jesus is the divine Son of God (1 John 2:22b, Koran 9:30, Koran 4:171, Koran 5:72). And Gnostics and JWs are antichrists because they deny that Christ is in the flesh (2 John 1:7, Luke 24:39).
Also, the existence of many antichrists (1 John 2:18) does not contradict that there will be an individual man (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4,9, Revelation 13:4-18) who is commonly called the Antichrist; just as on the side of good the existence of many sons of God (John 1:12) does not contradict that there is an individual man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the Son of God (John 20:31).
Also, the idea of the individual-man Antichrist does not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "the Antichrist" for it to be true and supported by the Bible, just as, for example, the idea of the Trinity does not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "the Trinity" for it to be true and supported by the Bible (e.g. Matthew 28:19, John 1:1,14, Acts 5:3-4).
The man commonly called the Antichrist will be the fulfillment of the individual "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) who will sit (at least one time) in a future, third Jewish temple building in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). He will fulfill the individual "man" aspect of the "beast" who will come (Revelation 13:18) and bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4,8, Revelation 12:9). He will rule the earth for 3.5 literal years (Revelation 13:5-10, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7) and will have a miracle-working False Prophet (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 16:13) who by amazing, Satanic miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9b), such as calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), will deceive the people of the world into worshipping a speaking (possibly an android) image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15) and receiving a mark of the Antichrist's name or gematrial name-number (666) on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). The Antichrist and his False Prophet will be ultimately cast into the lake of fire at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:20), while at that time Satan will be bound in the Bottomless Pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). None of these things has happened yet.
Any mistaken teaching which claims that the Antichrist has already come and gone could be employed in our future by the real Antichrist to fool some Christians into thinking that he is not the Antichrist.
The idea of a future, individual-man Antichrist was correctly recognized in the Bible by the Church from early on. Irenaeus (born c. 140 AD) used the term: "speaking of Antichrist, [Paul] says, 'who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped'" (Against Heresies 3:6:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4); "...by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God" (Against Heresies 5:25:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36, Revelation 13:8); "...when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem" (Against Heresies 5:30:4b; Revelation 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7); "...the number of the name of the beast ... the name of Antichrist" (Against Heresies 5:30:1; Revelation 13:17c-18).
The gematrial numerical values of the letters in the Antichrist's personal name will add up to six hundred and sixty-six (Revelation 13:17c-18).
(See Revelation 13:18 below)
~
(The last time)
1 John 2:18's last time, or "hour" (based on the original Greek word "hora", G5610), has been going on for the last 2,000 years, just as the "hour" of everyone's still-future, physical resurrection (John 5:28-29) will span over a 1,000-year period (Revelation 20:5).
--
*1 John 2:19 / *1 Jn. 2:19 -
This does not require that apostate Christians were never real Christians but can mean that apostate Christians were never of the overcomers to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26). Real Christians, who have their names written in the Book of Life, can have their names blotted out if they fail to overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26). People can really believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel only for awhile, before at some point wrongly employing their free will to depart from the faith, to no longer believe, to commit apostasy (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See Hebrews 6:4 above)
1 John 2:18-19 can refer to Christians who eventually became Gnostic Christians (cf. 2 John 1:7; 1 John 4:3) and so left the Church because of its continued (and correct) insistence that Christ is in the flesh (Luke 24:39).
(See also Luke 24:39 above, and the "perseverance" section of Philippians 2:13 above)
--
*1 John 2:21,27 / *1 Jn. 2:21 -
This is not contradicting that those who have an anointing from God's Holy Spirit can still wrongly employ their free will to believe lies (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 1 Timothy 4:1). For they can wrongly employ their free will to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The Spirit does not take away the free will of Christians. He does not turn them into robots. That is why even Christians, who have been made partakers of the Spirit, can wrongly employ their free will to commit apostasy to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See also Matthew 24:24 and Hebrews 6:4 above)
--
*1 John 2:22 / *1 Jn. 2:22 -
When 1 John 2:22 and 2 John 1:7 say in the original Greek that if someone denies these things he is "the" antichrist, this does not mean that he is the only antichrist, for many people deny these things, so that there are "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18).
(See also paragraph 4 of 1 John 2:18 above)
--
*1 John 2:27 / *1 Jn. 2:27 -
By means of the Bible, God's Holy Spirit can teach Christians directly (1 John 2:27, John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). But He also works through human teachers and prophets in the Church (1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11-16, Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:2,24, Hebrews 5:12).
~
(Re: So the Holy Spirit is necessary here, not sola scriptura?)
Sola scriptura does not negate the Holy Spirit's teaching of Christians (1 John 2:27) through His scriptures (Ephesians 6:17; 2 Timothy 3:15 to 4:4). It simply means that no human teaching is necessarily true unless it is taught by the Bible itself (Acts 17:11b).
(See also Acts 17:11 above)
--
*1 John 2:28 / *1 Jn. 2:28 -
(Re: *Appearing)
The future appearing/coming of Jesus Christ in 1 John 2:28, 2 Timothy 4:8 and Titus 2:13 will not occur until immediately after the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Dec 25, 2018
No, the original Greek word (ouranos: G3772) translated as "heavens" or "heaven" does not have to mean the universe. Instead, it can mean only the first heavens/heaven, the skies/the earth's atmosphere, the "air" in which the birds fly (Matthew 6:26, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 13:32), the "sky" which can turn red at sunset or sunrise (Matthew 16:2-3), or which can become filled with rain clouds and wind (Luke 12:54,56). Regarding "a new heavens", 2 Peter 3:13, Hebrews 1:10-12 and Revelation 21:1 can refer to God destroying only the earth's present atmosphere and creating a new one.
(See also 2 Corinthians 12:2(space) above)
~
(Re: *Full preterism?)
Just as the heaven and earth which "were of old" (2 Peter 3:5-6) were the literal first "heaven" (the sky/atmosphere, in which the birds fly: Genesis 1:20) and the literal "earth" (the dry land) which God created in Genesis 1:7-10 and which "perished" in Noah's Flood (2 Peter 3:5-6, Genesis 6:13-21), so the heaven and earth "which are now" (2 Peter 3:7) and which will perish in our future by fire instead of flood (2 Peter 3:7-12) are the earth's present atmosphere and surface. And so the New Heaven and New Earth which the Church is still waiting for (2 Peter 3:13) -- because the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1) will not be created until after the still-future events of Revelation chapters 6 to 20 -- will be a new atmosphere and surface for the earth.
(See also the "Full preterism?" section of Matthew 5:18 above)
So the "elements" in 2 Peter 3:10,12 are physical, just as the heaven and earth in 2 Peter 3:10,12 are physical. 2 Peter 3:10,12 can be, and in fact is, the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word "stoicheion" (G4747) is used to refer to physical elements, just as, for example, Revelation 6:6 is the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word "choinix" (G5518) is used at all.
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*2 Peter 3:15-16 / *2 Pet. 3:15 -
This means that all of the apostle Paul's epistles are scriptures, which means that they are inspired by God and so are infallible (2 Timothy 3:16).
(See also 1 Corinthians 9:1 above, and the "inerrancy" section of 2 Timothy 3:16 above)
~
(The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation)
2 Peter 3:15a does not mean that God waits patiently for people to choose on their own to become Christians, but that He is patient with the sinfulness of non-Christian elect individuals before He initially saves them. He does not just go out and kill all non-Christian elect individuals immediately for their sins. Also, He is patient with any sinfulness of Christian elect individuals before He ultimately saves them, for if they commit a sin sometime subsequent to their initial salvation, that is, subsequent to their becoming Christians, then He will give them time to repent from it (Revelation 3:19, Revelation 2:21).
(See also Romans 9:11 above, and Revelation 3:19 below)
--
*2 Peter 3:16 / *2 Pet. 3:16 -
Not all of the apostle Paul's epistles survived to make it into the New Testament.
(See 1 Corinthians 5:9 above)
--
*1 John 1:5 / *1 Jn. 1:5 -
God being all good (1 John 1:5, Deuteronomy 32:4) does not require that He loves everyone, for He hates nonelect individuals (Romans 9:11-13). His hatred for them and His future, eternal punishment of them will eternally show that aspect of His goodness called His righteous judgment and wrath against evil (Romans 2:5, Romans 9:22, Revelation 14:10-11).
~
(Re: Is love the greatest virtue?)
Love is the greatest virtue for humans (1 Corinthians 13). But for God, His greatest virtue is not only His love but also His divine holiness, which can be expressed by His eternally consuming fire and hatred/wrath against evil individuals (Hebrews 12:29, Romans 9:13b,22, Revelation 14:10-11).
(See also the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
--
*1 John 1:7b / *1 Jn. 1:7b -
This has a condition attached to it in 1 John 1:7a, which condition would include Christians doing 1 John 1:9 and not doing Hebrews 10:26.
(See also section 4 of James 2:14 above, and see Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*1 John 1:8,10 / *1 Jn. 1:8 -
This means that Christians cannot claim to be without sin before they repent from their sins, confess them to God and then are cleansed from them by God (1 John 1:9,7b, Romans 3:25-26).
--
*1 John 1:9 / *1 Jn. 1:9 -
(Re: Does it say: "If we are confessing our sins"?)
The original Greek simply uses the present tense: "If we confess our sins". But in practice, this does become the same as: "if we are confessing our sins". For 1 John 1:9 applies not only to the one-time, initial confession of prior and present sins when people first become Christians, but also to Christians subsequently confessing and asking for forgiveness every day (Matthew 6:11-12, Luke 11:3-4) for any as-yet-unconfessed sins which they committed subsequent to their becoming Christians. For faith in Jesus Christ's sacrificial blood only remits sins that are...
(See "past" under Hebrews 10:26 above)
All Christians sin at least in some way every day. That is why they are told to pray (Matthew 6:9a) not only for their bread every day (Matthew 6:11) but also for the forgiveness of their sins every day (Luke 11:4). And this forgiveness will be granted only if they have forgiven all those who have ever wronged them (Matthew 6:14-15), and if they have done all that they can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to and peace with everyone whom they have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26). Christians should be continually striving to have a conscience void of offense toward both God and all other people (Acts 24:16).
~
(Re: Does it say all sins?)
1 John 1:9 means all sins (1 John 1:7b), for otherwise not all of our sins could be forgiven and so we could not be cleansed from "all" unrighteousness (1 John 1:9b).
(But see Mark 3:29 above)
~
(Re: Are "forgive" and "cleanse" in the future tense?)
No, in 1 John 1:9 the original Greek does not use the future tense but the aorist tense for "forgive" and "cleanse". For Christians are forgiven and cleansed from their sins whenever they repent from them and confess them to God.
~
(Re: Do we have to repent from our sins and confess them to God more than once?)
No, in the sense that the same, individual instance of the commission of a sin need not be repented from and confessed to God more than once. For after it is repented from and confessed to God, it is completely and forever forgiven by God (1 John 1:9, Hebrews 10:17). But after an individual instance of the commission of a sin has been forgiven, if there is a subsequent instance of the commission of that same sin, then that subsequent commission does need to be repented from and confessed to God as well (cf. Luke 17:4).
~
(Re: Is that crucifying Jesus again?)
No, a Christian repenting from and confessing an act of sin to God does not crucify Jesus Christ again, but allows that act of sin to be forgiven (1 John 1:9) through faith in Jesus' one-time crucifixion for our sins (Romans 3:25-26, Hebrews 10:12).
~
(Re: Do Christians need to be anxious?)
No, in the sense that Christians need not be anxious regarding sins if they do 1 John 1:9 and do not do Hebrews 10:26, that is, sin without repentance.
~
(Re: So you can reject salvation, repent, take back salvation, reject, repent, take back, repeat ad nauseam?)
No, for salvation can only be lost once, at death (1 John 5:16), or at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Luke 12:45-46), due to such things as apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8), unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29), or unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30).
(See also the "NOSAS" section of Hebrews 3:6 above)
--
*1 John 2:1-2 / *1 Jn. 2:1 -
This and 1 John 1:9 mean that if a Christian commits a sin, if he subsequently repents from it and confesses it to God then he will be completely forgiven for it and cleansed from it by God.
(But see Hebrews 10:26 above)
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*1 John 2:2 / *1 Jn. 2:2 -
Jesus Christ's suffering during His Passion was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2) because Jesus is not only a human but also God (John 1:1,14, John 10:30, John 20:28). His soul is infinite and so the suffering of His soul (Isaiah 53:11, KJV) was infinite in amount even though it was not infinite in duration. And so His suffering could satisfy God the Father's justice (Isaiah 53:11, KJV; 1 Peter 3:18) which requires an infinite amount of human suffering for sin (Matthew 25:46). Because humans who are not God have finite souls, in order for them to suffer an infinite amount for their sins they must suffer over an infinite duration of time (Matthew 25:46, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:46).
Every human has sinned (Romans 3:23) except Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15b; 2 Corinthians 5:21). But because Jesus suffered for sins (1 Peter 3:18, Isaiah 53:11, KJV) an infinite amount, when elect people repent from their sins and believe in Jesus' human/divine sacrifice they can have their past sins forgiven (Romans 3:25-26, Matthew 26:28) while God the Father's justice remains fully satisfied by Jesus' suffering for their sins (Isaiah 53:11, KJV; 1 Peter 3:18).
(See also section 2 of Isaiah 53:11 above, and section 4 of Romans 3:25 above)
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(Re: Was God *cruel to make Jesus suffer like that?)
No, for God the Father did not make Jesus Christ do anything that Jesus was not willing to do in obedience to God the Father (Luke 22:42) and in Jesus' own great love for those individuals whom He came to save from hell (John 15:13-14, John 10:11). Also, Jesus knew that being God Himself, He had the power to raise His human body physically from the dead (John 10:17-18, Romans 1:4, Luke 24:39) and that it was not possible for His human body to remain dead for very long (Acts 2:24, Luke 24:46; 1 Corinthians 15:1-7).
(See also John 1:1,14 above)
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(Re: The elect)
Jesus Christ's divine/human sacrifice was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2), but it was performed to actually forgive the sins not of everyone (Romans 9:18-24) but only of elect individuals.
(See section 2 of John 10:11 above, and the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
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(Re: Was Jesus' sacrifice for everyone's sins, so that it was a demonstration of God's love for everyone?)
No, Jesus Christ's sacrifice was not a demonstration of God's love for everyone but only for elect individuals, His sheep for whom He died (John 10:14-15). Nonelect individuals are not His sheep (John 10:26-27) and God hates nonelect individuals (Romans 9:11-13).
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(Re: So then why bother to say that He died for all people, if all people cannot become Christians?)
Saying that Jesus Christ's sacrifice was sufficient to forgive the sins of everyone (1 John 2:2) is important in itself, for it points to the infinite value of His sacrifice.
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(Re: Does 1 John 2:2 include future sins?)
See the "past" sentence under Hebrews 10:26 above.
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(Re: Does 1 John 2:2 even refer to the forgiveness of sins?)
Yes, for in 1 John 2:2, Jesus Christ being the propitiation for sins means that His sacrifice is sufficient for sins to be forgiven (1 John 1:9,7b, Romans 3:25-26).
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(Re: Does the "whole world" mean only elect individuals?)
No, in 1 John 2:2 the "whole world" is the same as in 1 John 5:19. In both verses, it includes nonelect individuals and not only as-yet-unsaved elect individuals (Romans 11:28).
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(Re: Was John addressing only Jews?)
No. Just as in the book of Revelation, so in the letter of 1 John, the apostle John is addressing both elect Jews and elect Gentiles.
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*1 John 2:3-4 / *1 Jn. 2:3 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
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*1 John 2:12 / *1 Jn. 2:12 -
(Re: Future sins?)
See the "past" sentence under Hebrews 10:26 above.
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*1 John 2:13-14 / *1 Jn. 2:13 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
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*1 John 2:17b / *1 Jn. 2:17b -
This means that only those Christians who do the will of God will obtain ultimate salvation (Matthew 7:21, Romans 2:6-8, Hebrews 5:9).
(See Ephesians 2:8 above)
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*1 John 2:18 / *1 Jn. 2:18 -
(*antichrists)
(See the "Not Christ" section of Revelation 13:4 below, and the "Beast" section of Revelation 13:5 below)
Any person is an antichrist who denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (1 John 2:22) or denies that Jesus is the human/divine Son of God (1 John 2:22b) or denies that Christ is in the flesh (2 John 1:7). The spirit of antichrist which will animate the future Antichrist has been working since the first century AD (1 John 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:7a) animating many antichrists since that time (2 John 1:7).
While 1 John 2:18 says, in the singular, "antichrist shall come", the idea of the individual-man Antichrist, which is correct, is not based on this verse. For this verse refers to the singular antichrist spirit (see the original Greek of 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7). Regarding the "ye have heard" part of 1 John 2:18, those originally addressed in 1 John 2:18 could have already heard through non-written, oral apostolic teaching (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:5) that the antichrist spirit would come.
Not all Jews are antichrists (as is sometimes claimed), for some Jews are Christians (Acts 22:3, Romans 11:1). And not all antichrists are Jews, for Muslims are antichrists because they deny that Jesus is the divine Son of God (1 John 2:22b, Koran 9:30, Koran 4:171, Koran 5:72). And Gnostics and JWs are antichrists because they deny that Christ is in the flesh (2 John 1:7, Luke 24:39).
Also, the existence of many antichrists (1 John 2:18) does not contradict that there will be an individual man (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4,9, Revelation 13:4-18) who is commonly called the Antichrist; just as on the side of good the existence of many sons of God (John 1:12) does not contradict that there is an individual man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the Son of God (John 20:31).
Also, the idea of the individual-man Antichrist does not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "the Antichrist" for it to be true and supported by the Bible, just as, for example, the idea of the Trinity does not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "the Trinity" for it to be true and supported by the Bible (e.g. Matthew 28:19, John 1:1,14, Acts 5:3-4).
The man commonly called the Antichrist will be the fulfillment of the individual "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) who will sit (at least one time) in a future, third Jewish temple building in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). He will fulfill the individual "man" aspect of the "beast" who will come (Revelation 13:18) and bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4,8, Revelation 12:9). He will rule the earth for 3.5 literal years (Revelation 13:5-10, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7) and will have a miracle-working False Prophet (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 16:13) who by amazing, Satanic miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9b), such as calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), will deceive the people of the world into worshipping a speaking (possibly an android) image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15) and receiving a mark of the Antichrist's name or gematrial name-number (666) on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). The Antichrist and his False Prophet will be ultimately cast into the lake of fire at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:20), while at that time Satan will be bound in the Bottomless Pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). None of these things has happened yet.
Any mistaken teaching which claims that the Antichrist has already come and gone could be employed in our future by the real Antichrist to fool some Christians into thinking that he is not the Antichrist.
The idea of a future, individual-man Antichrist was correctly recognized in the Bible by the Church from early on. Irenaeus (born c. 140 AD) used the term: "speaking of Antichrist, [Paul] says, 'who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped'" (Against Heresies 3:6:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4); "...by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God" (Against Heresies 5:25:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36, Revelation 13:8); "...when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem" (Against Heresies 5:30:4b; Revelation 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7); "...the number of the name of the beast ... the name of Antichrist" (Against Heresies 5:30:1; Revelation 13:17c-18).
The gematrial numerical values of the letters in the Antichrist's personal name will add up to six hundred and sixty-six (Revelation 13:17c-18).
(See Revelation 13:18 below)
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(The last time)
1 John 2:18's last time, or "hour" (based on the original Greek word "hora", G5610), has been going on for the last 2,000 years, just as the "hour" of everyone's still-future, physical resurrection (John 5:28-29) will span over a 1,000-year period (Revelation 20:5).
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*1 John 2:19 / *1 Jn. 2:19 -
This does not require that apostate Christians were never real Christians but can mean that apostate Christians were never of the overcomers to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26). Real Christians, who have their names written in the Book of Life, can have their names blotted out if they fail to overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26). People can really believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel only for awhile, before at some point wrongly employing their free will to depart from the faith, to no longer believe, to commit apostasy (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See Hebrews 6:4 above)
1 John 2:18-19 can refer to Christians who eventually became Gnostic Christians (cf. 2 John 1:7; 1 John 4:3) and so left the Church because of its continued (and correct) insistence that Christ is in the flesh (Luke 24:39).
(See also Luke 24:39 above, and the "perseverance" section of Philippians 2:13 above)
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*1 John 2:21,27 / *1 Jn. 2:21 -
This is not contradicting that those who have an anointing from God's Holy Spirit can still wrongly employ their free will to believe lies (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 1 Timothy 4:1). For they can wrongly employ their free will to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The Spirit does not take away the free will of Christians. He does not turn them into robots. That is why even Christians, who have been made partakers of the Spirit, can wrongly employ their free will to commit apostasy to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b).
(See also Matthew 24:24 and Hebrews 6:4 above)
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*1 John 2:22 / *1 Jn. 2:22 -
When 1 John 2:22 and 2 John 1:7 say in the original Greek that if someone denies these things he is "the" antichrist, this does not mean that he is the only antichrist, for many people deny these things, so that there are "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18).
(See also paragraph 4 of 1 John 2:18 above)
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*1 John 2:27 / *1 Jn. 2:27 -
By means of the Bible, God's Holy Spirit can teach Christians directly (1 John 2:27, John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). But He also works through human teachers and prophets in the Church (1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11-16, Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:2,24, Hebrews 5:12).
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(Re: So the Holy Spirit is necessary here, not sola scriptura?)
Sola scriptura does not negate the Holy Spirit's teaching of Christians (1 John 2:27) through His scriptures (Ephesians 6:17; 2 Timothy 3:15 to 4:4). It simply means that no human teaching is necessarily true unless it is taught by the Bible itself (Acts 17:11b).
(See also Acts 17:11 above)
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*1 John 2:28 / *1 Jn. 2:28 -
(Re: *Appearing)
The future appearing/coming of Jesus Christ in 1 John 2:28, 2 Timothy 4:8 and Titus 2:13 will not occur until immediately after the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
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