The First Letter of John
Chapter 2
Read 2:1-6.
1. John frequently uses the phrase “little children” to address his people. What might this say about their relation to him? (Identify a possible double meaning here. I mean, by “double meaning” that some of John’s thoughts and the thoughts of scripture in general have two meanings: “a plain and a spiritual” sense, or “at temporal and an eternal” sense.)
2. What is the motivation or the actual power that Christians have to leave sin behind? (Use these six verses. Possibly refer back to the first chapter.)
3. (Terminology Note: 1. Advocate: a defender or mediator in court; Atonement: a sacrifice made that brings mercy and a new life and a reconciled relationship) Discuss this basic role of Jesus on our behalf. (Possibly refer to Isaiah 53)
4. What evidence do you find in these verses to counter the claim that, if you belong to Christ, it doesn’t matter what you do?
Read 2:7-14.
5. “From the beginning” may have a double meaning. Consider what that might be. Relate Leviticus 19:18 to this double meaning.
6. So, in John’s thinking, why is this commandment old, and why is it new? (Not so much to do with time, you see.)
7. Look at the condemnations in 2:4 and 2:9. What is the connection between being a liar and being in darkness?
8. Look at verses 2:10-11 and see what light and darkness are also equivalent to.
9. In verses 12 through 14, what if the three ages described three levels of Christian experience? What if each Christian is somehow all three? (The tripling and doubling are for poetic emphasis.)
Read 2:15-17.
10. A lesson on the word “world”: consider how the following passages relate to the various meanings of the word “world”: John 1:3-4; Matthew 6:25-30; John 1:10-11; John 3:16-19. How does John define the world in 2:15-17 and how does his warning against loving the world fit among these various ways of seeing the world?
Read 2:18-25.
11. What do verses 18-19 teach about the antichrists?
12. What do verses 22-23 tell us about what those antichrists taught?
13. What does “abiding” or “remaining” mean in verse 24?
14. Verse 25 indicates that “abiding” and “remaining” may have a double meaning. What would that be? Perhaps “eternal life” also has a double meaning?
Read 2:26-29.
15. Compare 2:27 with John 14:26 and John 16:13. From whom do Christians get there understanding of the truth? So what does 1 John 2:27 say about the anointing of the Holy Spirit?
16. Very importantly, how does this anointing with the Holy Spirit’s witness to the truth relate to what Paul is doing in 1 John 1:4; 2:1; 2:7; 2:12-14; 2:21?
17. What kind of abiding or remain does John want us to do in 2:27? What will be the consequences of this abiding or remaining (see 2:28-29)?
18. What is the equivalent of John’s waiting/abiding in Matthew 24:42-44?
19. Why would abiding/remaining in Jesus give us confidence at the prospect of his appearing or our appearing before him?
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