I John 2:28-29

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:27. It is a HUGE verse. Take some time this week to review the previous post and the links within the post. Here is the summary:

John is bringing this Feedback Loop to a conclusion by first going through the old commandment (that which the believer heard from the beginning) and (as we saw in this post) the new commandment.

This new commandment is GRACE...we ought to allow the Holy Spirit living inside us to direct ALL our actions.

If a person is against this Biblical grace, they are proving their are spiritually deceived and antichrist.

Today, we will conclude I John 2...


I JOHN 2:28-29
"28 And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."


Joel Swokowski writes:
"When is the best time to start this process of Fellowship with God, Christ, Holy Spirit, and each other? NOW!! So that we are ALWAYS ready for when Christ returns. (Luke 12:40 - "Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.")"

Notice, John's conclusion involves an IF/THEN statement!

The foundation of the IF/THEN is that he is speaking to "little children" (new believers) about abiding in God. So, before the IF/THEN is stated, John is establishing that what was written previously ought to be understood by everyone (because even new believers ought to understand it) and it presupposes that he has PROVED that our objective is to ABIDE in Him.

Once, John has established that we OUGHT to abide in Him, he can present the IF/THEN statement...

IF: He shall be manifested

THEN: we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming

John's introducing a new scenario: How are we to be before Jesus when Jesus returns?

John is stating that everything previously written would result in us being bold and not ashamed in front of Jesus when He returns.

John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

John is adding to his model AND it is a thought that he will continue to use in the next chapter to add even more to his model.

However, John has one more IF/THEN statement before the end of this chapter...

"29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him."


IF: we know that He is Righteous

THEN: we know that EVERYONE that does Righteousness is begotten of Him

We have covered this previously on the blog in the post: Doctrine of Righteousness.

Here is an excerpt:

"Notice, Jesus says that Righteousness is what allows you to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Righteousness is not the same as lack of sin. Everyone sins, yet not everyone makes it to Heaven. However, everyone who is Righteous makes it to Heaven!"

"Righteousness is based on “achieve gain”. Righteousness is profitability. Again, this is God’s metric! There are two types of righteousness. There is righteousness that comes from us and leads to reward. I represent this with a little “r”. There is Righteousness that comes from God through grace and leads to salvation. I represent this with a capital “R”."

"Remember, reward and salvation are completely separate. That’s why our righteousness is like dirty rags when compared to the Righteousness that leads to salvation."

"Grace results in profitability. Grace is God’s Righteousness and it exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. God wants us to take direction from Him even if we make a mistake! God would have us be HOT or COLD. God’s Will for our lives is to be profitable. You cannot get to Heaven by focusing on not sinning…you need Righteousness!"


John is concluding this chapter by stating that the ONLY way for a person to have Righteousness that leads to Salvation is for it to come from God (because God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL)...therefore, EVERYONE who does Righteousness HAS TO BE begotten of God...or as we have seen Jesus say in John 3:3 "born from above".


SUMMARY
I John 2 ends with two conclusions that will be built upon in the next chapter:

1. John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

2. John can state FOR SURE that someone who does Righteousness that leads to Salvation is abiding in God...and is begotten of God...which is "born from above"...or as our tradition states, "born again".

Tomorrow, we will summarize I John 2 before we look at how John uses today's two conclusions to build on his model.

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