… whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked. 1 John 2:6, TLV
Walk as He Walked. The three small letters from John indicated more wrestling with false teachers trying to infiltrate and confuse the believers. Even though these letters a brief, knowing they came from one who had indeed walked with the Messiah gave them great validity.
Loved ones, I am not writing a new commandment for you, but an old commandment—one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. (vs. 7, TLV)
John redirects the readers back to the word of GOD. As we’ve discussed, these are not just the “red lettered” words in the Gospels, but what is known as “the Old Testament.” How can we abide in Jesus if we don’t know Him?
My children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Intercessor with the Father—the righteous Messiah Yeshua. He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world. (vss. 1-2, TLV)
Chapter 2 begins with the Good News that the Messiah Yeshua is not only the atonement for our sins, but our Intercessor with the Father. Then John goes into the important of who the Messiah was — True Man and True God with the Father.
It all goes back to this: the Father is holy, so holy unredeemed humanity would disintegrate in His presence because of our sin. So we needed a covering of blood. First it was the blood of pure animals — over and over again — then the eternal atonement of Yeshua’s blood. Why all this? So we could have a relationship with the Father. That was Yeshua’s mission, to provide a means for us to be adopted by the Creator of the Universe.
Really, it’s a simple message. If we were given such a gift why would we stray from the gratitude that keeps us in relationship with the Father by emulating His Son? But, then, as today, souls had no difficulty finding ways to make it complicated and confusing. Thank the LORD, for bearers of truth who remind us where to go when we’re confused: to the Word, to the Holy Spirit given to us, and to our Father. Then, walk it out like Yeshua did.
