1 John 2:6

 1 John 2:6 says, He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.  John tells us that people who profess to put their faith in Jesus Christ should walk as He walked.  It is not enough to just say we believe in Jesus Christ if we continue to walk, or live, by the standards of the world.  

Verse seven adds, Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.  John said he wasn't writing a new commandment but a commandment that they had heard from the beginning.  Jesus Christ was not an afterthought as a way to salvation but has been the only way from the beginning.  Even when people were under the law looking ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ, they weren't saved by the law but by faith in God.  

Verse eight continues, Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.  John then said he was writing a new commandment to those who had put their faith in Jesus Christ.  This was not a commandment for all people, but only for those redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ.  

Verse nine states, He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  This new commandment was one that Jesus Christ had given, and that is that we are to love our brother as ourselves.  John said that if we profess to live in the light of God and don't love our fellow man, then we are still in darkness.  We are to love others as Jesus did, being willing to lay down our lives for them to be saved, and this applies to all people.  Jesus died even for those who were crucifying Him, and this is the love that we as Christians need to have for others.   

Verse ten adds, He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.  John said that if we love our brothers that we live in the light and there is no reason for stumbling in our faith if we do.  

Verse eleven continues, But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.  John then said that the opposite was true.  If we hate our brothers, then we live in darkness and we don't know where we are going spiritually.  We cannot profess to love God while hating other people at the same time.  If we hate others, God's light no longer guides us.

 

1 John 2:1

1 John 2:1 says, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:  John referred to those he was writing to here as little children, and I believe he may have been referring to those who were newborn Christians as well as who were actual children.  He said that they shouldn't sin, which should be the goal of all Christians, but that if they did, they had an Advocate in Jesus Christ the Righteous.  We will always fall short of not sinning, but when we do, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will wash away our sins.  

Verse two adds, And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  John said that Jesus was the propitiation for our sins as Christians, but not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world.  Many people will go to hell having Jesus Christ die for their sins but never accepting His gift of salvation.  There is no one that Jesus Christ didn't die to bring redemption to, but everyone must accept His redemption for it to benefit them.  

Verse three continues, And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  John then said we can know that we know God by keeping His commandments.  We cannot be saved by the Law of God, but if we are saved, we should keep His commandments because of our faith in Jesus Christ.  

Verse four states, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  John went further here, saying that if we claimed to be saved by knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord but didn't keep His commandments that we are liars.  Salvation does not free us from obeying God's law, but it simply removes the death sentence when we do sin as long as we have truly put our faith in Him.  

Verse five adds, But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.  John said that anyone who kept God's law after being saved had the word of God perfected through what that person does.  He added that by keeping God's word that we can know that we are a part of God's kingdom.  Keeping the Law does not save us, but once we are saved, we should obey God's law. 

 

1 John 1:5

1 John 1:5 says, This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  John said that the message that he received from God and proclaimed to them is that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness.  If we are going to proclaim God's word, it must come from Him, and we can never accuse God of doing anything evil.    

Verse six adds, If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  John then said if we profess to follow God and walk in the darkness of the world, that we lie and God's truth is not in us.  If we are a true follower of Christ, we cannot continue to willfully sin at all times, though we might occasionally be guilty of some temporary sin, and if we are, we need to confess it to God and ask His forgiveness and turn away from the sin.  

Verse seven continues, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  John then tells us that if we walk in the Light, and Jesus Christ is the Light, then we have fellowship with other believers.  We all do this by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, Who's shed blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness or sin.  We are cleansed from all sin for all time if we put our faith in Him.   

Verse eight states, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  John tells us that if we say we have no sin in our lives to be forgiven, then we lie to ourselves and the truth of God is not in us.  Not only did Jesus say He was the Light, He also said He was the truth, so if we do not ask Him for forgiveness from our sins, the Truth cannot be in us.  

Verse nine adds, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  John tells us that if we confess our sins and accept God's redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, that God is faithful to forgive us.  We cannot be a part of God's kingdom if we say we have never sinned and have no need of forgiveness.  

Verse ten continues, If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  John then added that if we say that we have not sinned, then we make God a liar, since He said all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, except for one Man, Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:1

1 John 1:1 says. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;  This verse states more than one truth.  That which was from the beginning refers to the fact that Jesus Christ existed before anything else, because He is the eternal God.  James then added that they, the people who lived at that time, had heard of him, especially the disciples, of which Johne was one.  John said that they had heard and touched Jesus, since He was also a man like us, except without sin.  John concluded by saying that Jesus Christ is the Word of Life.  His word brings life.  These things are still true, except for the fact that we see, hear, and touch Jesus spiritually instead of physically, but we do acknowledge that He was a man and God.  

Verse two adds, (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.   John then spoke about the eternal nature of Jesus Christ, Who was with the Father, but was then made manifest to John and others.  Jesus Christ existed before the world was created, and He still exists today, but no longer physically.  He came so that we might have everlasting life by putting our faith in Him.   

Verse three continues, That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.  John said that he and those who had seen Jesus Christ and heard what He taught and how He died and rose again they now declared to the lost people of world around them.  They did this so that lost people might accept God’s gift of salvation and become a part of the fellowship of believers.  This is still our purpose in sharing the gospel today, to all people and not just to certain people.  

Verse four concludes, And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.  John said that they wrote these things to others so that the joy of others might be complete by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, which is the only way to find real joy.  We can either see John saying we as the royal or third-person use of we, or we can see it as his speaking of the writings of other men inspired by God as well as himself.  I am inclined to believe the latter.