1 John 2:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

My little children So the apostle frequently addresses the whole body of Christians, and so our Lord himself addressed his disciples, John 13:33. It is a tender and affectionate appellation, denoting paternal authority, love, and concern, which, in the character of an apostle, St. John might have used in any period of his life; but as used in this epistle, it seems to imply, together with apostolical authority, the apostle's advanced age. It is a different word from that which is translated little children, in several parts of the epistle, to distinguish it from which, it may here be rendered beloved children. These things write I unto you, that ye sin not Thus he guards them beforehand against abusing the doctrine of reconciliation. All the words, institutions, and judgments of God, are levelled against sin, either that it may not be committed, or that it may be abolished. And if any man sin Let him not lie in sin, despairing of help; for we have an Advocate We have for our Advocate not a mean person, but Him of whom it was said, This is my beloved Son; not a guilty person, who stands in need of pardon for himself; but Jesus Christ the righteous Not a mere petitioner, who relies purely upon liberality, but one that has merited, fully merited, whatever he asks. And he is the propitiation The atoning sacrifice, through the merit of which our sins are pardoned when we repent and believe in him. The word ιλασμος, here rendered propitiation, is nowhere found in the New Testament, but in this passage, and 1 John 4:10. But it occurs often in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, where it signifies a sacrifice of atonement. Thus, Leviticus 6:6-7; Numbers 5:8, κριος ιλασμου, is a ram for a sin- offering. And Ezekiel 44:27, προδφερειν ιλαδμον, is, to offer a sin- offering. “In considering the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, St. John, like the other apostles, followed his Master, who, in the institution of his supper, directed his disciples to consider it as designed to bring to their remembrance his blood shed for many for the remission of sins.” For our sins Who believe; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world Just as wide as sin extends, the propitiation extends also.