1That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2(and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
5This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and don’t tell the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2:2 As in 1:7, God has made provision for our weakness and the reality that we will sin. Jesus accomplishes his advocacy for us by also being the provision for our forgiveness. Here, John calls Jesus the “propitiation for our sins.” To propitiate is to satisfy the wrath of God. Jesus’ sacrifice accomplished that, and He both intercedes on our behalf and presents His death to God as a fulfillment of the punishment we justly deserved, but He willingly paid.
Jesus’ advocacy and substitution are parallel to 1:7, where we are told that as we walk in the light, Jesus’ blood actively and constantly cleanses us (the present-tense verb indicates a continual process), enabling us to walk in God’s presence as morally pure as God is.
John further affirms that Jesus is not only the satisfaction of God’s wrath for the saints, for believers, but also for the rest of humanity, including all those who will not believe in Jesus. This is the same truth taught in John 3:16. God loved all of humanity, “the world,” that He gave (sacrificed) His Son Jesus, with the result that whoever believes in Jesus will experience eternal life rather than perishing. Those who don’t believe in Him perish. Those who believe receive eternal life. Even so, Jesus died for both groups there as well as here in John’s First Epistle. That is what John affirms when he says, “and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” “Ours” includes John and his readers as well as all saints. The whole world includes all the saints as well. However, it adds to the saints the rest of humanity.