The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament | NICNT)

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“Jesus is both the preacher of God’s message and the message itself.” (Page 102)

“A more profitable approach is to observe that in the Old Testament and Judaism there was a well-recognized difference between two kinds of sin, the unconscious or unwitting sins, for which forgiveness was provided by the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, and deliberate or witting sins, for which the sacrificial ritual provided no forgiveness.²³ The latter could be atoned for only by the death of the sinner. This distinction between sins which could be forgiven and those which led to the death of the sinner may well be part of the key to the problem.” (Page 247)

“It follows that here John is thinking of the attractions of a life lived in opposition to the commandments of God, one in which God’s laws for the use of the world and the things in it are disobeyed. ‘Worldliness’ means ‘disobedience to God’s rule of life,’ and its presence is to be discerned by asking, ‘What is God’s will?’ and not by making a human list of taboos.” (Page 143)

“The result—which is important—is that the opening emphasis falls on the nature of the object which is proclaimed rather than on the activity of proclaiming it. The writer’s purpose is to remind his readers of the character of the Christian message rather than to draw attention to the actual act of preaching it.” (Page 100)

“‘The false teachers whose opinions he is quoting and refuting in these verses boasted of their fellowship and communion with God, but they neglected the fellowship with men. John wants to remind them that they cannot have fellowship with God unless they have fellowship with other Christians.’⁶ Persons who cut themselves off from fellowship with other Christians cannot have fellowship with God. But if they are prepared to live by God’s light, they will come into fellowship with them and with God himself.” (Pages 111–112)