1 John — Chapter 2

The New Commandment and the Antichrist

"Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come."

— 1 John 2:18

1 John 2 presents Christ as our Advocate, the new commandment of love, and the warning about the antichrists.

💙 Christ Our Advocate (2:1-2)

1 John 2:1-2

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

Parakletos — Advocate: the same title given to the Holy Spirit in John 14–16. Christ is our heavenly Advocate who intercedes based on his propitiation (hilasmos). Propitiation satisfies God's justice — it not only covers sin but removes divine wrath.

⚠️ The Antichrists (2:18-27)

1 John 2:22-23

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also."

The antichrist (antichristos) is defined christologically: the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Denial of the Son implies denial of the Father — one cannot have God without Christ. Christology is the dividing line of true faith.