1 John 2:1-3 is one of the most used passages to fight against a limited atonement – the idea that God chose to die for some and pass over the rest. It is a passage that seems to lend a hand to the idea that God did in fact die for the whole world, making it possible for all people to come to faith in Jesus Christ, the propitiation for sin. As can be imagined, it’s a crucial passage for understanding the nature and extent of the death of Jesus Christ. What it finished for some or for all? Does 1 John 2:1-3 really even lend a hand to this? Have people been misusing the passage? An exegetical look at the passage must be had in order to answer these questions.
Immediate Context
1 John is a letter written to believers (1 John 2:12-14; 5:13). Knowing the audience is key to understanding the letter.
John starts the letter by speaking about the object at which the rest of his letter will focus on – “the Word of Life” (1:1). John also begins by giving his own credentials and credence behind his ability to speak on such a subject. He uses sensory words seven times in three verses describing his interactions with the Word of Life (1:1-3). John is describing himself as a primary source in regard to Jesus Christ – the Word of Life (1:1-2). To conclude the first section (1:1-4), John gives the purpose statement for 1 John, “so that our joy may be made complete.” So, John writes the first section stating his credentials for speaking on the topics found within 1 John, the object at which the letter will focus on (Word of Life), and purpose for writing the letter.
After this, John goes into a section (1:5-10) about a key aspect of God and results of that aspect as it pertains to His children. He then gives five conditional statements which can be broken into two section. The first two statements go together led by the negative statement. The last three statements also go together with the positive statement sandwiched between two negative statements. All five of these conditional statements deal with the fellowship, or lack thereof, between men, each in a different situation, and God.
The first man (M1) walks in darkness but states that he is walking in fellowship with God. The result of this reality is that the man lies. There is an implied break in fellowship with God. The second man (M2) walks in the light resulting in fellowship with believers (author of the letter), There is an implied fellowship with God (based on 1 John 1:3). Another result for this man is that the blood of Christ cleanses him of all sin. It is important to note this does not necessarily only apply to this man but does certainly apply to him. The third man (M3) says that he doesn’t have sin and results in the reality of him deceiving himself and being made a liar. The fourth man (M4) confesses sins and results in God’s forgiveness and cleansing. The fifth and final man (M5) says that he has not sinned and results in making God a liar. All of this is based on the fact that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
Put another way, M1, M3, and M5 have a negative result for their sins while M2 and M4 have a positive result from their absence of sin or their acknowledgment of sin and confession of those sins. John lays out the benefits and consequences of the different scenarios between man and sin.
Chapter 2, or the passage this paper is dealing with, begins by stating the purpose for the second half of chapter 1. Specifically, John states that he is writing the previous section “so that you may not sin” (2:1). He then contrasts this idea with what the reality is if a believer does sin. John desires that believers don’t sin, and has given five good reasons not to, but if a believer does sin, John gives some good news. The believer has an advocate, or intercessor, which is identified as Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is also the propitiation, or instrument for appeasing which is necessitated by humanities sin, of the believer. John then makes a clarifying remark, “and not for ours [believers] only, but also for the whole world” (2:2, emphasis added).
After 2:2 is where the chapter division should take place. For John transitions from speaking about M1-5 found in 1:6-10. This is greatly expounded upon in verses 3-6 giving credence to following God and waling in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:1-2 acts as a interjection providing the purpose of the previous statement, as well as hope for those who find themselves as one who has not fulfilled John’s hope for them. 1 John 2:3 picks back up continuing the explanation found in 1:5-10.
Exegetical Notes
1 John 2:1-2 is really quite simple and straightforward in the original Greek. There are a couple of textual variants but nothing significant or worth noting. However, there are a couple of exegetical notes worth mentioning.
ἁμάρτητε mentioned in 2:1a, is the second person plural subjunctive form of ἁμαρτάνω which means to sin. It is found in the aorist tense, which if it were in the indicative mood (instead of subjunctive) would reference a past action with an undefined aspect. However, since it is a subjunctive, there isn’t any time, leaving it undefined. Due to the term being aorist, the aspect is also undefined. This leaves a wide range of possibilities for the verb. However, ἵνα μὴ is an idiomatic phrase which, according to Mounce[1], should be translated using lest, or something equivalent. The subjunctive also provides the “may not”, as it isn’t asserting anything in particular, but giving a possible result of the writing mentioned in 1:5-10. A proper translation of the phrase would be “lest you all sin.” To make it clearer in today’s English, it could be translated as “to prevent you all from sinning.”
This same phrase is also a purpose clause. It provides the purpose for the previous content. For example, the things written in 1 John 1:5-10 are written “with the purpose of preventing you all from sinning” or “to prevent you all from sinning (2:1b).” Context tells the reader that the purpose clause is not referring to the entire letter, but instead to a select amount of previous content. John states the content in the previous verses so that the audience may not sin. 2:1 gives purpose to 1:5-10.
Another interesting note is found at the beginning of verse two. If read closely, it can be seen that emphasis is added to “He” whenever speaking of Jesus being the propitiation or atoning sacrifice for sin. This emphasis is seen whenever the person pronoun “he” can be found in the form of ἐστιν. It is emphasized whenever αὐτὸς is added because it creates a redundancy. The αὐτὸς is not needed for the translation to read “and He is the propitiation…” Instead, the more literal translation would read, “and He Himself is the propitiation…” It emphasizes that Jesus is the propitiation or atoning sacrifice, no one else. It focuses the reader on the object which is defined as the propitiation. It swings the focus onto Jesus as the propitiation.
The καὶ found in verse 1b is often translated as “and”. However, it seems to be better translated as the rarer “but”. It appears clear that the author is contrasting two thoughts. John is writing these things (1:5-10) in order that the audience may not sin (2:1a). In contrast, if anyone does sin–if the writing doesn’t prevent sin–there is an advocate with the father. It doesn’t seem to be a continuing thought which is in agreeance, yet an interjected thought which provides the result of the alternative. It is providing the alternative scenario. For example, “I don’t want you to run, but if you do, you’ve been working out so it should be fine.” It seems to add more clarity than “and” which provides a continued thought and doesn’t emphasize the change in direction of thought.
Phrasing
Phrasing verses is always significant because it takes a section of thought and provides accurate structure for that thought. Below is the phrasing for 1 John 2:1-2. The left aligned text is the main clauses and the indented lines are the dependent clauses. The double underlined words are the main verbs and the single underlined words are the secondary verbs. Red words are adverbial markers, blue words are conjunctions and green words are prepositions.
Τεκνία μου, ταῦτα γράφω ὑμῖν
My children, these things I write to you
ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε. (Purpose Clause – Why?)
in order that you do not sin
καὶ ἐάν τις ἁμάρτῃ,
but if anyone sins,
παράκλητον ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν δίκαιον·
advocate we have with the father namely Jesus Christ the righteous
καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστιν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου.
and He Himself is the propitiation for the sins of ours, but not for ours alone but also for the whole world.
Exegetical Problem
Oddly enough, the problem brought up throughout commentaries with this passage isn’t syntax or grammar, but simply the definition of a single word. With that, words are defined by the context by which they are used, grammatically, syntactically, and historically. It’s important to understand the context surrounding the word as well as the understood use in the time of its writing. In 1 John 2:1-2, the word to be discussed is κόσμου, which comes from the word κόσμος. According to BDAG, there is a massive range of meaning for the word. I can mean:
- That which serves to beautify through decoration
- Condition of orderliness
- The sum total of everything here and now
- The sum total of all the beings above the animals
- Planet earth as a place of inhabitation
- Humanity in general
- The system of human existence in its many aspects
- Collective aspect of an entity
With the range of meaning, context must be employed in order to conclude a single meaning which John is trying to communicate with this particular word. This is key to understanding the implications behind 1 John 2:1-2, because Jesus is the propitiation, or atoning sacrifice for one of these definitions (understanding of course that BDAG could be wrong/missing a definition).[2] If Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for planet earth, the earth itself will be saved from the grip of sin, but not humanity. If the condition of orderliness, He died because of chaos and for the purpose of bringing order. But to who or what? So, what does the context of 1 John 2:2 tell us?
Context Defines the Word
John uses the word in 79 different verses throughout all of his writings. He uses it in 17 verses in 1 John alone for a total of 23 occurrences. The instance found in the verse being looked at is the first of these 23 occurrences. John uses the word in multiple ways just in this letter. In order to identify the meaning in this particular verse, the immediate context must be viewed.
The letter in which this verse is found is written to a group of Christians. John has, in the previous verses, explained that God is light and the implications of that are many. He gives five examples and follows it with the purpose of him writing this – that the audience (who are believers) may not sin. Right after this, he gives an interjection. John explains that while he desires, and writes for this purpose, for the audience not to sin, if they do sin, they have an advocate or intercessor with the father who is the atoning sacrifice for their sin. And then, John clarifies the broadness of the sacrifice, namely the recipients – the whole world. In fact, John states that it’s not just the audience, but the whole world. There is a contrast. It can’t just be the audience, but it has to be a sacrifice for them plus someone else, namely the whole world.
It’s this author’s position, and suggestion, that κόσμος found in 1 John 2:2 is speaking of humanity in general – the sixth definition given by BDAG.[3] It would seem the inclusive personal pronoun “our” which is used contrasted with “the whole world” would create an obvious distinction between the author and audience who are believers and the “whole world”. The options remaining would be that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for every human being, for a select number of human beings, or for a select people group. Some people would even say that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for every nation and tongue, but that it doesn’t include every person within that nation or tongue. However, there isn’t any reason to believe this latter definition has any credence.
If John were talking about a select people, it doesn’t make sense for him to use the term translated “whole” before κόσμος. It would certainly add a great amount of confusion if he was being selective yet inclusive. “Whole” would add a sense of entirety to “world”. The only remaining option would be every human being. A moment of clarification is necessary here – it is important to note, this does not give credence to universalism as there are places throughout Scripture which clearly point to an eternal consequence for unbelief. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the whole world but is effective for those who believe in Him.[4]
Application
John clearly tells his audience that they shouldn’t sin. He gives five reasons why sin should not be a part of the Christians life. However, he follows it up, knowing that Christians will fail God, with the hope of an intercessor. Not only do Christians have an intercessor, but that intercessor is also the atoning sacrifice for their sin. The person who has made righteousness possible is arguing for their righteousness. He is the one who has made salvation possible and He is reminding the judge of their standing because of His work. So, whenever a Christian fails, whenever a Christian sins, whenever a Christian is found disobedient, they must not get discouraged. They must repent and remember that the atoning sacrifice Himself is arguing on their behalf before the judge of the eternal court. Write this truth in a journal, write it on a piece of paper and stick it on the mirror, read it and know it, for the Christian will sin – fail God – but they must remember that they are covered by the blood of the atoning sacrifice.
Teaching Outline
- 1:5-10 is written so you may not sin A. It is right for the Christian to not sin
- The Christian has an advocate with the Father A. This advocate is Jesus Christ
B. Jesus Christ is righteous - Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice A. Christians have His righteousness
- Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for the whole world A. Jesus died for everyone
B. Belief in Jesus makes the sacrifice effective – John 3:16
[1] Mounce, Bill, “Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar” Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 293.
[2] There is an obvious conclusion that BDAG could be missing a definition. BDAG is not inerrant or inspired, however, BDAG is a very credible source which provides a great launch pad/guide for concluding a proper definition. Ultimately, the definition is concluded by context, which BDAG has used in order to conclude the above eight definitions.
[3] BDAG also places κόσμος found in 1 John 2:2 under the sixth definition.
[4] John 3:16
