1 John 2:29–3:6
Chapter 2
29
If you consider that he is righteous, you know that anyone who lives justly has been born of him.
Chapter 3
1
Children of God
See the incredible love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we truly are. That is why the world does not recognize us; it did not know him.
2
Beloved, we are God’s children, and what we will become has not yet been revealed. But when he appears in his glory, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
3
Everyone with this hope aims to be pure, just as he is pure.
4
Anyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness because sin is lawlessness.
5
You know that he came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6
Anyone who remains in him does not sin; anyone who sins has not seen or known him.
Commentaries
Christ and the Antichrists.
The ‘last hour’ of history, as the New Testament mentions (18; cf. 2 Thes 2:5, 2 Pt 3:1-3), has emerged with the first ‘manifestation’ of Christ (1:2; 3:5, 8) and will conclude with the second ‘manifestation’ at the parousia (28). It is marked by the ‘manifestation’ of the antichrists (18f; 4:1,3; cf. 2 Jn 7). During this hour of decisive battle, Christ remains the central figure. On Christ’s side are the ‘faithful’ (cf. Rev 17:14), who openly declare with their hearts and mouths that Jesus is the Son of God (20-23). Their symbol of identity is the chrism or anointing—namely, the word of God embraced through faith.
Children of God.
The apostle speaks with admiration about the great significance of Christians: from now on, we are children of God (2), and we are conformed to the image of the Son (cf. Rom 8:29). All of this is a gift and grace of his love.
The Father has ‘given’ us—as a grace and sign of his goodness—to become participants in the divine nature, thereby revealing to us the immeasurable extent of his infinite love (1; 2 Pt 1:4). Those who hold this hope are purified and freed from anxiety and existential pessimism. They live in gratuitousness.