Today’s passage: 1 John 2:1-6
Helpful thoughts:
- Christians strive for holiness. But when we do sin, Christ advocates (He intercedes) on our behalf. Our sin is covered.
- Christ being our propitiation means that God’s wrath against our sin was completely satisfied. There is no wrath left for us to face! Christ has paid it all!
- “…and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” could mean a few different things:
- That the sins of everyone one in the world have been propitiated and therefore EVERYONE is saved (Universalism)
- That Christ’s death made possible the salvation of anyone and everyone if they will believe.
- That Christ’s death wasn’t just the propitiation for John and the original audience of this letter, but also for people around the world.
- The first option (Universalism) cannot be true. This same passage would disagree with that view.
- The second and third options could both fit.
- “…and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” could mean a few different things:
- When Christians do sin, we are going to characteristically be repentant. When someone is being characteristically unrepentant, they cannot confidently back up their claim if they are trying to call themselves a Christian.
Questions to consider:
- How does this passage help in the discussion of assurance of salvation? What would help a person to have assurance? What would give a person reason to lack assurance?
- How does the finished work of Christ give you motivation to pursue righteousness?
- How does the finished work of Christ give you comfort when you fail and need to repent?