READING: 1 John 2
Christ is the believer’s Advocate with the Father, and those who know Him must do what He commands—love one another (2:1–11). John wants his readers to grow into maturity in the Word and to overcome the evil one (2:12–14). He cautions them against the lures of the world system (2:15–17) and against the false teachings of the antichrists who deny that Jesus is the Christ (2:18–27).
First John is not easy to outline because of the way it subtly interweaves and develops various themes such as light, love, life, truth, and righteousness. John makes use of several antithetical ideas in this epistle: light and darkness, love and hatred, truth and error, love of God’s will and love of the world, righteousness and sin, the children of God and the children of the devil, the Spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist, life and death. While this is a profound and multilayered epistle, John achieved this with a disarmingly simple vocabulary and style.
Prayer
Lord, I know that when I sin, I 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 those of the whole world.
Meditation passage: verses 1–2, 15–17, 27–29
