Friends, as Christians, we chose to be set apart by the defining mark of our salvation in Christ Jesus on each one of our hearts. So, how we live our lives should reflect His righteousness.
In John’s letter, he wants believers to understand, very simply, that there is a right way and a wrong way to live. His use of contrasting parallelism throughout his letter is an attempt to make it very easy for believers to see that we either choose Christ or Satan, Truth or falsehood, light or darkness, righteousness or sin, love of the Father or love of this world, and his list goes on.
John’s intended purpose, within today’s passage, is so that you and I, as believers, will not sin. Even though we walk in the likeness of Christ Jesus, you and I stumble at times. So, “when” we sin, not “if” we sin, because none of us are perfect, we need to very quickly turn from our sin, ask Jesus for forgiveness, and align our hearts back with the Holy Spirit (our Advocate) for guidance away from further sin and once again into oneness with Christ Jesus. We must praise and thank Jesus for being perfect, when we fall short, as He stands in our defense against Satan, darkness, sin, etc.
Friends, John is reminding us that through Jesus’s life and sacrifice, atonement has been made for our sins. This Truth should stir the deepest love within our hearts for Almighty God; and that love should help us to live a life that is walked out in the greatest relationship with Jesus and with a desire to get further and further away from sinful living.
1 John 2:1-6 (NLT)
1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for setting the example for us of how we are called to live our lives without sin. Holy Spirit, we need Your daily help, and sometimes minute to minute help, to be able to walk righteously and in the likeness of Christ Jesus. Please keep stirring our hearts towards You, Who is the Truth, and further away from the lies of this world and Satan. We love You, Jesus, and lift all of this up to You. Amen.