1 John 2:28 - Meaning and Application

From the blessing of the sacred anointing, the apostle moves on to urge believers to stay firm in Christ. “And now, dear children, remain in him” (1 John 2:28). He repeats his tender name for them, “dear children,” not so much to stress their weakness as to show his affection. He wants to persuade them with love, and to win them by kindness as well as by reason.

The love of Christ, and also the apostle’s love for them, presses him to keep urging their perseverance. They must remain in Christ, in the truth about who he is, in their union with him, and in loyal obedience to him. The gifts of the gospel also bring duties with them. Those who have been anointed by the Lord Jesus are strongly bound to stay with him against every enemy.

This duty of staying faithful in hard times is backed by two strong reasons. The first is the thought of Christ’s return on the great day of judgment: “so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink back from him at his coming” (1 John 2:28). The Lord Jesus will come again. That was part of the truth they had heard from the beginning. When he comes again, he will appear openly to everyone. The first time he came, he came quietly by comparison, born from a womb and laid in a stable. But when he comes again, he will come from the opened heavens, and every eye will see him.

Then those who have stayed with him through all trials will have confidence, assurance, and joy when they see him. They will lift up their heads with great joy, knowing that their complete rescue has come with him. But those who turned away from him will be ashamed in his presence. They will be ashamed of themselves, of their unbelief, their cowardice, their ingratitude, their boldness, and their foolishness in leaving such a glorious Redeemer. They will be ashamed of their hopes, their expectations, their excuses, and of the gain from wrongdoing that helped pull them away. The apostle includes himself in this warning. “Let us not be ashamed” when he comes. Or, more literally, let us not be put to shame by him at his coming. At his public appearing, Christ will shame all who deserted him. He will deny any acquaintance with them, and they will be left in darkness, under judgment, and in endless despair, because he will say before people and angels that he is ashamed of them (Mark 8:38).

The second reason comes from the honor of those who still cling to Christ and his way: “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). The word “if” here means more than uncertainty. It has the sense of “since” or “because.” The thought is this: since you know that Christ is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him.

To do what is right is another way of saying that a person abides in Christ. Anyone who remains in Christ lives in his love and law, and therefore in loyal obedience to him. Such a person must practice righteousness, that is, the things that belong to gospel holiness. And anyone like that must be born of him. He has been made new by the Spirit of Christ, shaped after the image of Christ, and created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for him to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Since the Lord Jesus is righteous, righteous in his own person and office, the Lord our righteousness and the Lord our sanctification, you can see this clearly. The one who keeps living faithfully as a Christian, even in hard times, gives good proof that he has been born of Christ. The Lord Christ is an everlasting Father. It is a great privilege and honor to be born of him. Those who are born of him are the children of God. To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). This leads into the next chapter.