1 John 2:12-17

THE THINGS THEY MUST NOT LOVE IF THEY WALKED IN THE LIGHT (1 John 2:12). — The solemnity of the thoughts of 1 John 2:9; 1 John 2:11 is too much for the warm heart of the Apostle. He cannot bear even to seem to suggest that his “dear little children” are shrouded in the gloomy horrors of moral darkness, haunted by the faithful memories of their sins, and enticed hither and thither by the malevolent spirits of evil. He will warn them with the most tender and pitiful affection against the wicked one, the world, the flesh, the follies and vanities of the human heart; but first he will show them frankly what he thinks of them, what he hopes of them, the trust he places in them, the grounds which he takes for granted in writing to them.

(12) I write unto you, little children. — The arrangement of these triplets should be prefaced by saying that the last “I write,” in 1 John 2:13, is, according to the best reading, “I wrote,” or “I have written;” and that the “little children” of 1 John 2:12 is the same word as that which he used in 1 John 2:1 for the whole class of his readers, and is therefore quite general, but that the “little children” of 1 John 2:13 is a different, word, meaning children in age. So we get: —

I write.

I wrote.

1.

All readers.

1.

Children in age. [Suggested, according to the perfect simplicity of St. John’s style, by the term used in the first set for his readers generally.]

2.

Fathers.

2.

Fathers.

3.

Youths.

3.

Youths.

Reasons.

1.

Forgiveness.

1.

Knowledge of the Father.

2.

Knowledge of Christ.

2.

Knowledge of Christ.

3.

Victory.

3.

Strength, perseverance, victory.

Some have thought the second triplet an explanatory note that has crept into the text; others that “I write refers to what he is doing at the moment, “I wrote” the view they would take when they read what he had written. It seems better, however, if we allow the Gospel to have been written first, to refer “I am writing” to the Epistle; “I did write” to the Gospel.

Because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. — Rather, have been forgiven. When Christ expired on the cross, the sins of all were forgiven who should in after-time believe and carry on their repentance towards perfection. The process is realised in the soul when it wakes up to a sense of love of the Saviour through faith.

(13) Fathers. — The heads of families.

Him that is from the beginning. — There can be little doubt that this means the same Person as the subject of “His name’s sake.” (Comp. John 1:1; John 8:58; John 17:5; Knowledge of Christ is assigned in both cases as the reason for addressing the elder members of his audience, because fully to understand the work, the doctrine, the example of Christ, is a work fitted for mature thought. (Comp. 1 Corinthians 3:1.)

Young men. — They might be regarded more as still engaged in the work of settling their character, forming their habits, disciplining their inclinations, confirming the choice which all must make for themselves between good and evil. (Comp. 2 Timothy 2:22.) St. John is not here addressing those who have failed in the struggle and not repented, but those who have got the better of such temptations, or are in process of getting it.

The wicked one. — Comp. 1 John 3:12; 1 John 5:18; Matthew 13:19; Ephesians 6:16.)

(14) Because ye have known. — To those who have once begun to understand Christ, the topic must always be delightful and interesting.

Because ye are strong. — For the reasons mentioned before, young men have more special need of strength. (Comp. Psalms 119:9.) This power can only come through the presence of the message and teaching of God in their hearts, which will be brought by faith in Christ, acceptance of His redemption, and reverential study of His example. When Christ has thus dwelt in their minds, then the victory is won, and the spirits of evil can no longer entice them.

(15) Love not the world. — Having thus affectionately expressed his hopes about each class of them, the last of the Apostles is freer to express that warning which was suggested to his mind by the mournful picture of 1 John 2:11. If they would not walk in darkness — if they would be where the true Light shineth — then they must not love the world. What does “the world” mean? In Acts 17:24 it meant the universe; in John 1:9, perhaps more distinctly, the earth; in 1 John 2:2 the sum total of mankind; in John 8:23 that moral order, to be found in this spot of creation, which is antagonistic to God. Thus it became a phrase for all such inventions, plans, customs, thoughts, and estimates of mankind as are not in harmony with the will and purpose of God. It is ridiculous to suppose that St. John intended to condemn the love either of natural philosophy; or of the scenery of that creation which God saw to be very good, and which sin has been unable to injure; or of all mankind, who are His children. No created thing is evil in itself; the evil lies in the use which man makes of it. We must remember that our Lord said, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12), so that none of the phases of the meaning of the word can be essentially evil, except where it implies man’s own ungodly creations. The world which is not to be loved is the sphere of rebellion, caprice, ambition, vanity, pride, avarice, forgetfulness of God, self-pleasing, sensuous desires and interests, connivance with standards of thought and action antagonistic to the will of God. To take one example: Christ declared all Christians brothers; any respect for rank and wealth beyond a conscientious “bowing in the house of Rimmon” is a sign of the forbidden affection.

The love of the Father is the true posture of the soul towards God. If the soul is evenly balanced between love of God and of the world it is negative and colourless. If the balance incline towards the things that distract from the pure and simple walk with God, then the emotion for Him has died away; if the balance be for Him, “the expulsive power of the new affection” makes the contrary attractions insignificant and increasingly powerless.

(16) All that is in the world. — The essence, the kernel of this sphere showing itself in countless ways.

The lust of the flesh — i.e., that proceeds from the earthly nature; all desire taking possession of the soul as a motive for thought and action which does not arise from principles in harmony with the will of God.

The lust of the eyes — i.e., of which the eyes are the seat; all delight in objects living or inanimate apart from their moral and religious importance; personal beauty, for instance, considered otherwise than as an index of a Christ-like soul. (Comp. John 7:24; John 8:15; 2 Corinthians 5:16; James 2:1.) Our Lord’s, introspection was of moral qualities in Mark 10:21.

The pride of life. — The Greek word is only used besides in the New Testament in James 4:16. The phrase means a boastful, ostentatious attitude in regard to the good things of this life allotted by God to be spent in His service. All living up to a supposed social position instead of as the responsible steward of undeserved bounties, is hereby condemned. Of this any social organism existing for pleasure instead of for moral or religious ends might be considered illustrative.

(17) The world passeth away. — No reasonable man can set his affections on what is in its very essence perishable; for the perishable must be ever disappointing, and can in no sense satisfy. It is only passion, and the madness of folly, and the contagion of accumulated examples, that influence the soul towards what can only create the agonising ache of a growing void.

And the lust thereof. — Of all the long succession of impulses excited by the world, nothing remains but the injury which they have inflicted.

But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. — There is no permanence but that of defeat and failure in what is in rebellion to the Supreme Author and Ruler of all things. But that which has continuously derived all its sustenance from Him, must have absorbed from Him the “bright shoots” of that “everlastingness” which is His. Everything that is good is a part of Him, and can no more fade than He can. It is by being in harmony with this undeviating tendency of righteousness to victory that real happiness discovers its own secret. (Comp. John 10:28; 1 Corinthians 7:31; James 1:10; 1 Peter 1:24.)