1 John 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
1 My dear children,
I am writing this to you
so that you may avoid committing sin.
However, if anyone does sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 He is himself the sacrifice for our sins—
and not only for our sins
but also for the sins of the whole world.
The Commandment of Love[a]
3 Now we may be certain that we know him
if we obey his commandments.
4 Whoever says, “I know him,”
but does not keep his commandments,
is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.[b]
5 However, the love of God is truly perfected
in the one who obeys his word.
This is how we can be certain
that we are in union with him:
6 whoever claims to abide in him
must live just as he himself lived.
7 Beloved,
I am not writing a new commandment[c] for you,
but an old commandment
that you have had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word
that you have heard.
8 And yet I am writing you a new commandment,
whose truth is in him and in you,
because the darkness is passing away
and the true light is already shining.
9 Whoever says, “I am in the light,”
yet hates his brother,
is still in the darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light,
and there is nothing in him
to make him stumble.
11 Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness,
and he walks about in darkness.
He does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded him.
The Concupiscences of the World[d]
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known him
who has existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you have conquered the evil one.
14 I am writing to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known him
who has existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world
or what is in the world.
If anyone does love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything that is in the world—
the concupiscence of the flesh,
the concupiscence of the eyes,
and the pride of life—
comes not from the Father
but from the world.[e]
17 And the world with all its enticements
is passing away,
but whoever does the will of God
abides forever.
Behold the Antichrist[f]
18 Dear children,
this is the last hour.
You have heard that the Antichrist was coming,
and now many antichrists have already come.[g]
Thus, we know
that it is the final hour.
19 They went out from us,
but they never really belonged to us.
If they had belonged to us,
they would have remained with us.
By departing from us,
they made it clear
that none of them belonged to us.
20 However, you have been anointed
by the Holy One,[h]
and you all have knowledge.
21 I write to you
not because you do not know the truth
but because you do know it,
and because no lie can come from the truth.
22 Who is the liar
but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
The antichrist is
anyone who denies both the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son
does not have the Father,
but whoever acknowledges the Son
has the Father also.
24 Let what you heard from the beginning
remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning
remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son
and in the Father
25 And this is the promise he made to us:
eternal life.
26 I write these things to you
in reference to those
who seek to lead you astray.
27 But as for you,
the anointing you received from him
remains in you,
and therefore you do not need anyone
to teach you.
This same anointing
teaches you everything
and is true and not false,
so abide in him just as he taught you.
28 And now, dear children,
abide in him,
so that when he appears
we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him
at his coming.
Children of God
Everyone Whose Life Is Righteous Has Been Born of God[i]
29 If you know that he is righteous,
you also know that everyone whose life is righteous
is born of him.
Footnotes
- 1 John 2:3 Gnostics claimed to possess a special revealed “knowledge.” But John stresses that there is a real and living knowledge of God, a true light, an authentic truth, and it is expressed in a life that is lived in accord with the commandments of God. Its great characteristic is love. New doctrines are being put forth. Christian teaching is a commandment of Jesus, which in this sense is old. Yet it is also new because it is revealed in Jesus as a fact as well as in the life of believers. In the face of everything that is without purpose or sense, faith is a ray of light, a victory over darkness, a bright dawn for the world.
- 1 John 2:4 John reiterates the testimony of Paul and James about faith and works. James said that faith without works is dead (see note on Jas 2:14-26). Paul indicated that rewards would be based on good and bad deeds (see 2 Cor 5:10; see also note on Rom 4:3). John says that Christians who do not keep the commandments of Jesus are liars and the truth is not in them. For faith in Christ without good deeds, i.e., keeping the commandments, is not authentic.
- 1 John 2:7 New commandment: see Jn 13:34f. The Biblical commandment to love was old (see Lev 19:18; also Mt 22:39-40). However, its newness is seen in (1) the new illustration of love on the Cross; (2) Christ’s exposition of the Old Testament law (see Mt 5), which appeared to be new to those who heard it; and (3) the everyday experience on the part of believers as they grow in mutual love.
- 1 John 2:12 The author addresses all with affection: “Dear children,” as he says. He wants to answer every one of them—the old as well as the young. He recalls that Christians are set free from sin, that they are the vanquishers of the power of evil, personified in the Bible as the devil, “the evil one.” This victory is attained by the action of God and not by adhering to the speculations that are being spread about. Adhering therein is the “world”—a term that refers to all that is opposed to God. The fourth Gospel had already accustomed us to this language that opposes God to the world and light to darkness. The author wishes to speak thereby of all the limitations of the human, e.g., unregulated desires, the need to possess, and the satisfaction of extravagance. In the face of this seduction that troubles every existence, believers can stand fast only by a life marked profoundly by the word of God.
- 1 John 2:16 The author here defines three great sins of worldliness: the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. The first has to do with inordinate desire for sensuality (see Eph 2:3; 1 Pet 2:11; 2 Pet 2:10, 18). The second has to do with covetousness, which springs from the eyes and has to do with the desire for things (see Job 31:1; Ezek 23:12-17; Mt 5:27ff). The third has to do with worldly ambition, ostentation, pride and arrogance, independence of God (see Ps 10:4; Prov 16:5; Isa 13:11; Lk 1:51-52; Jas 4:6, 10; 1 Pet 3:8; 5:5).
- 1 John 2:18 New teachers have arisen proclaiming a message different from that of the Gospel of Jesus. Is this not a sign that the end is near? The circumstances that Jesus had described in this respect (see Mk 13:22; see also 2 Thes 3:4; Rev 13:12-15) suddenly appear to be present. It is at least a time of crisis. The false teachers refuse to acknowledge either Christ or the Father, and they do away with the Gospel. The author is quick to set these teachers straight: those who do not accept the Gospel are no longer in the Church in spite of all appearances. Believers should cling to the teaching they originally received, i.e., to the great ideas of Christian initiation, for what is at issue is the Word of Jesus. They have been anointed by the Holy One, that is, they are penetrated by the word and the grace of Jesus. Let them not be concerned with new words and new teachings but be alert to await the Lord’s coming.
- 1 John 2:18 Scripture distinguishes the Antichrist from many antichrists and from the spirit of the Antichrist (1 Jn 4:3). Here John is speaking of all who follow the Antichrist and imitate his evil spirit. He assumes that his readers know that a great enemy of his people will arise before Christ’s return. This enemy is the Antichrist, “the man of lawlessness” (see notes on 2 Thes 2:3b-12 and 2:3b-4) and “the beast” (Rev 13:1-10). But before his coming there will be many antichrists characterized by (1) denial of Christ’s Incarnation (see 1 Jn 4:2; 2 Jn 7) and Divinity (see 1 Jn 2:22); (2) denial of the Father (see 1 Jn 2:22); (3) nonpossession of the Father (see 1 Jn 2:23); (4) falsehoods (see 1 Jn 2:22), deceptions (see 2 Jn 7); (5) many in number (see 1 Jn 2:18); (6) nothing in common with believers (see 1 Jn 2:19).
- 1 John 2:20 Anointed by the Holy One: reference to the Spirit who has been given to the Messiah (see Isa 11:2; 61:1), and then conferred by the Messiah on believers (see 1 Jn 3:24; 4:13; 2 Cor 1:21) so as to teach them about all things (see 1 Jn 2:27; Jn 16:13f; 1 Cor 2:10, 15). As a result, the words of Jesus are “spirit and life” (Jn 6:63).
- 1 John 2:29 The author takes ideas already expressed and develops them in new ways. In ch. 1:5-7 he used the phrase “God is light”; now he expresses the new theme that “God is righteous.” God forgives human beings, bestowing upon them a condition in which they can stand before him. Here, too, it is not a question of abstract ideas but of life practices. What a bold affirmation about the Divine Sonship; what a dizzying perspective of a faith that must one day go beyond itself in the full vision of God!
