Jesus was the greatest sacrifice

JESUS WAS THE GREATEST SACRIFICE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 John 2:2 2He is the atoningsacrificefor our sins,
and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Our Advocate And Propitiation
1 John 2:1, 2
W. Jones
My little children, these things write I unto you, etc. Very tender and
eminently Johanneanis the opening of this paragraph. "My little children."
The appellation suggests:
1. The spiritual paternity of the apostle. St. Paul addressedthe same words to
those GalatianChristians whom he had spiritually begotten(Galatians 4:19).
He referred with great tenderness and force to the same relationship in
writing to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:14, 15). Probably many of those to
whom St. John was writing were his spiritual children.
2. The spiritual affectionof the apostle. The use of the diminutive indicates
this.

3. The spiritual authority of the apostle. His fatherly relation to them, his
tender affectionfor them, and his venerable age combine to invest his words
with authority. Our text teaches -
I. THAT THE GOSPELOF JESUS CHRIST DISCOURAGES SIN. "These
things write I unto you, that ye sin not." The "these things" are the statements
made in chapter 1 John 1:6-10. The fact that sin exists even in the Christian is
there affirmed, and gracious provisionfor the forgiveness ofsin and for the
sanctificationof the believer is set forth. And now, in order that no one by
reasonof these things should look upon sin as inevitable, or regard it with
tolerance, orfail to battle againstit, St. John writes, "These things write I
unto you, that ye sin not." St. Paul guards againstthe same misuse of the
provisions of the rich grace of God thus: "Shallwe continue in sin, that grace
may abound? God forbid" (Romans 6:1, 2). That the provisions of Divine
grace for the pardon of sin afford no encouragementto its commissionis
proved by:
1. The object of Christ's mediatorial work. To "save his people from their
sins." "He appearedto, put awaysin by the sacrifice ofhimself" (cf.
Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 5:25-27;Titus 2:14).
2. The costof Christ's mediatorial work. The greatprice at which pardon and
salvationwere rendered possible should powerfully deter from the practice of
sin. "Godspared not his own Son," etc.;"Ye were not redeemedwith
corruptible things, as silver and gold,... but with the precious blood of Christ,"
etc. Since redemption from sin is so expensive a process, sinmust be not a
trifling, but a terrible evil.
3. The influence of Christ's mediatorial work. The love of God manifestedin
our Lord and Saviour is fitted to awakenour love to him. Love to God springs
up in the heart of every one who truly believes in Jesus Christ; and love to
God is the mightiest and most resolute antagonistof sin.
II. THAT THE GOSPELOF JESUS CHRIST RECOGNIZESTHE
LIABILITY OF EVEN GOOD MEN TO SIN. "And if any man sin." This
liability arises from:

1. Our exposure to temptation. Sometimes we are confronted by our
"adversarythe devil, as a roaring lion." But more frequently are we in danger
by reasonof "the wiles of the devil." "Satanfashioneth himself into an angel
of light," that he may deceive souls and lead them into sin. We are also
assailedby temptations in human society - temptations which are plausible
and appearharmless, but which are full of peril to us.
2. The infirmity of our moral nature. There is that in us which is ready to
respond to temptation. Thus temptations which appeal to our sensual
appetites sometimes prove too strong for our spiritual principles, the sensual
in us not being in complete subjection to the spiritual. Temptations which
promise present pleasure or profit, but involve the risk of some of our most
precious interests in the future, are sometimes successfulbecause ofdefective
spiritual perception or of moral weakness. This liability to sin is confirmed
(1) by the history of goodmen, e.g., Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, David,
Peter;
(2) by our ownexperience.
III. THE GOSPELOF JESUS CHRIST ANNOUNCES GRACIOUS
PROVISION TO MEET THE LIABILITY OF GOOD MEN TO SIN. "And if
any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father," etc.
1. Jesus Christis our Representative with the Father. "We have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." The word translated"advocate"
means one who is called to our side; then a Comforter, Helper, Advocate.
"Representative"is a word which, perhaps, expressesthe meaning here. Jesus
Christ "appears before the face of God for us." He stands by us with his face
directed towards the face of God the Father, obtaining for us the forgiveness
and favour, the stimulus and strength which we need. As ProfessorLias puts
it, "We have One who stands by us παρά, yet looks towardπρὸς the Father,
and who, one with us and with him, can enable us to do all things through his
all-powerful aid." And he is "righteous." In this he is unlike us. We are
unrighteous, and therefore unfit to appear before the face of God. But he,
being perfectly righteous, is fitted to appear before God on our behalf.

2. Jesus Christis also the Propitiation for our sins. "And he is the Propitiation
for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." The
primary meaning of "propitiation" was that which appeases orturns away
the wrath of the gods from men. But we must take heed that we do not rashly
apply the ideas of heathenism as to its gods, to the only living and true, the
holy and gracious God. So much has been said and written concerning the
propitiation, which seems to us to have no warrant in the sacredScriptures,
and much that has not been honourable to the holy and ever-blessedGodand
Father, that it is with diffidence that we venture upon any remarks
concerning it. The New Testamentdoes not give us any explanation of the
propitiation; it presents us with no theory or scheme concerning it; it simply
states it as a great fact in the Divine way of salvation. And it would have been
well if the example of the sacredwriters in this respecthad been more
generallyfollowed. Here is the declarationof St. Paul: "Being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:whom God set
forth to be a Propitiation, through faith, by his blood, to show his
righteousness,"etc. (Romans 3:24-26). JesusChristhimself is said to be the
Propitiation for our sins. No particular portion of his life or work, his
sufferings or death, is specifiedin our text as constituting the propitiation.
Christ, in the whole of his mediatorial ministry - life and work, sufferings and
death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession - is our Propitiation. We
venture to make two observations.
(1) The propitiation was not anything offered to God to render him willing to
bless and save us. If proof of this were required, we have it in chapter 1 John
4:10: "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the Propitiation for our sins." God did not provide the propitiation
to propitiate himself. Our Saviour is the Gift of the Father's love to us, not the
Procurerof that love for us. It is nowhere said in the Scriptures that Christ
reconciledGod to man. Such reconciliationwas never needed. The great
Father was always disposedto bless and save man.
(2) The propitiation was designedto remove obstructions to the free flowing
forth of the mercy of Godto man. Here was an obstruction: man had broken
the holy Law of God, had setit at naught, and was still doing so. But man
cannot be pardoned while he stands in such an attitude and relation to Law.

Love itself demands that Law shall be obeyedand honoured. True mercy can
only be exercisedin harmony with righteousness. The well-being of man is an
impossibility except he be wonto loyalty to the Law of God. Jesus Christ
vindicated the solemn authority of God's holy Law by his obedience unto
death, even the death of the cross. Again, there was an obstruction in the heart
of man to the free flowing forth of the mercy of God to him. Man regarded
God with distrust and suspicion, if not with enmity. "Alienatedand enemies in
your mind in your evil works" is the apostolic descriptionof unrenewed man.
The propitiation was designedto reconcile man to God, and dispose him to
acceptthe offered salvation. "Godwas in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself." The sacrifice ofChrist is the supreme manifestation of the infinite
love of God towards man (cf. John 3:16; Romans 5:8). When that love is
heartily believed in, man is reconciledto God; he no longerregards him as an
enemy, but as his gracious and adorable God and Father. This accords with
the statementof St. Paul that Christ Jesus is "a Propitiation through faith by
his blood." "The true Christian idea of propitiation," says Bushnell, "is not
that God is placatedor satisfiedby the expiatory pains offered him. It
supposes, first, a subjective atoning, or reconciliationin us; and then, as a
further result, that Godis objectivelypropitiated, or set in a new relation of
welcome and peace. Before he could not embrace us, even in his love. His love
was the love of compassion;now it is the love of complacencyand permitted
friendship." And this propitiation is for all men. "The Propitiation for our
sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." If any are not saved,
it is neither because ofany deficiencyin the Divine purposes or provisions,
nor because the propitiation of Christ is limited to certain persons or to a
certain number only. The salvationof Jesus Christis adequate to all men, and
is offered freely to all men. If any are not saved, it is because theyrefuse the
redemptive mercy of Godin Christ Jesus. - W.J.

Biblical Illustrator
Little children, it is the lasttime: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall
come, even now are there many antichrists
1 John 2:18-23
St. John's "lasthour
George G. Findlay, B. A.
The Apostle John is an old man; he has lived through a long day. The way of
the Lord that he teaches is by this time a well-markedpath, trodden by the
feet already of two generations. Time has vindicated the bold inference that
the agedapostle drew from his experience. The disciples of Jesus "have
known the truth, which abideth in us and shall be with us forever." St. John
has but one thing to say to his successors:"Abide in Him." As for the recent
secedersfrom the apostolic communion, their departure is a gain and not a
loss;for that is manifest in them which was before concealed(vers. 18, 19).
They bore the name of Christ falsely:antichrist is their proper title; and that
there are "many" such, who stand threateningly arrayed againstHis servants,
only proves that His word is doing its sifting and judicial work, that the Divine
life within the body of Christ is casting off dead limbs and foreign elements,
that the truth is accomplishing its destined result, that the age has come to its
ripeness and its crisis: "whence we perceive that it is the lasthour." We may
best expound the paragraphunder review by considering in order the crisis to

which the apostle refers, the danger which he denounces, and the safeguards
on which he relies — in other words, the lasthour, the many antichrists, and
the chrism from the Holy One.
I. "My children, it is THE LAST HOUR — We perceive that it is the last
hour." Bishop Westcott, in his rich and learned Commentary on this Epistle,
calls our attention to the absence ofthe Greek article: "A last hour it is
(ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν)" — so the apostle literally puts it; and the anarthrous
combination is peculiar here. (St. Paul's, "A day of the Lord is coming," in 1
Thessalonians 5:2, resembles the expression.) The phrase "seems to mark the
generalcharacterofthe period, and not its specific relation to 'the end.' It was
a period of criticalchange." "The hour" is a term repeatedly used in the
Gospelof St. John for the crisis of the earthly course ofJesus, the supreme
epochof His death and return to the Father. This guides us to St. John's
meaning here. He is looking backward, not forward. The venerable apostle
stands upon the border of the first Christian age. He is nearing the horizon,
the rim and outmost verge of that great"day of the Lord" which began with
the birth of the first John, the forerunner, and would terminate with his own
departure: himself the solitary survivor of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
The shadows were closing upon John; everything was alteredabout him. The
world he knew had passedor was passing quite away. Jerusalemhad fallen:
he had seenin vision the overthrow of mighty Rome, and the empire was
shakenwith rumours and fears of change. The work of revelation, he felt, was
all but complete. The finished truth of the revelationof the Father in the Son
was now confrontedby the consummate lie of heresy which denied them both
(ver. 22). He presided over the completion of the grand creative age, and he
saw that its end was come. Clearlyit was his last hour; and for aught he knew
it might be the world's last, the sun of time setting to rise no more, the crashof
doom breaking upon his dying ears. The world passes through greatcycles,
eachof which has its lasthour anticipating the absolute conclusion. The year,
with its course from spring to winter, from winter to autumn, the day from
dawn to dark, image the total course of time. The greatepochs and "days" of
human history have a finality. Eachof these periods in turn sensibly
anticipates the end of all things. Many greatand notable days of the Lord
there have been, and perhaps will be, many lasthours before the lastof all.

The earth is a mausoleum of dead worlds; in its grave mounds, tier above tier,
extinct civilisations lie orderly interred. Each "day" of history, with its last
hour, is a moment in that "age ofthe ages"whichincludes the measureless
circumference of time.
II. The Apostle John saw the proof of the end of the age in the appearance of
MANY ANTICHRISTS. The word "antichrist" has, by etymology, a double
meaning. The antichrist of whose coming St. John's readers had "heard," if
identical, as one presumes, with the awful figure of 2 Thessalonians2, is a
rival or mock-Christ, a Satanic caricature of the Lord Jesus;the "many
antichrists" were not that, but deniers, indeed destroyers of Christ; and this
the epithet may equally well signify. So there is no real disagreementin the
matter betweenSt. Paul and St. John. The heretic oppugners of Christ,
starting up before John's eyes in the Asian Churches, were forerunners,
whether at a greateror less distance, of the supreme antagonist, messengers
who prepared his way. They were of the same breed and likeness, and set
forth principles that find in him their full impersonation. These antichrists of
St. John's lasthour, the opponents then most to be dreaded by the Church,
were teachers offalse doctrine. They "deny that Jesus is the Christ" (ver. 22).
This denial is other than that which the same words had denoted fifty years
before. It is not the denial of Jewishunbelief, a refusalto acceptJesus of
Nazarethas the Messiah;it is the denial of Gnostic error, the refusal to admit
the Divine Sonship of Jesus and the revelationof the Godhead in manhood
through His person. Such a refusal makes the knowledge ofboth impossible;
neither is God understood as Father, nor Jesus Christ as Son, by these
misbelievers. The nature of the person of Christ, in St. John's view, is not a
question of transcendentaldogma or theologicalspeculation;in it lies the vital
point of an experimental and working Christian belief. "Who is he," the
apostle cries, "that overcomeththe world, except he that believes that Jesus is
the Sonof God?" (1 John 5:5); and again, "Everyone that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, is begottenof God" (1 John 5:1). In passing from St. Paul's chief
Epistles to this of St. John, the doctrinal conflictis carriedback from the
atonement to the incarnation, from the work to the nature of Christ, from
Calvary to Bethlehem. There it culminates. Truth could reachno higher than
the affirmation, error could proceedno further than the contradiction, of the

completed doctrine of the Personof Christ as it was taught by St. John. The
final teaching of Divine revelationis daringly denied. "What think ye of the
Christ? — what do you make of Me?" is His crucial question to every age.
The two answers — that of the world with its false prophets and seducers (1
John 2:19; 1 John 4:5), and that of the Christian brotherhood, one with its
Divine Head — are now delivered in categoricalassertionand negation. Faith
and unfaith have eachsaidtheir last word.
III. While the Apostle John insists on the radical nature of the assaults made
in his lastdays upon the Church's Christological belief, HE POINTS WITH
ENTIRE CONFIDENCE TO THE SAFEGUARDS BY WHICH THAT
BELIEF IS GUARANTEED.
1. In the first place, "you, — in contrastwith the antichrists, none of whom
were really 'of us' (ver. 19) — you have a chrism from the Holy One (i.e.,
Christ); all of you know." the truth and can discern its "verity' (vers. 20, 21).
Again, in ver. 27, "The chrism that you receivedfrom Him abides in you, and
you have no need that anyone be teaching you. But as His chrism teaches you
about all things, and is true, and is no lie, and as it did teach you, abide in
Him." Chrism is Greek for anointing, as Christ for anointed; St. John's
argument lies in this verbal connection. The chrism makes Christians, and is
wanting to antichrists. It is the constitutive vital element common to Christ
and His people, pervading members and Head alike. We soonperceive
wherein this chrism consists. Whatthe apostle says of the chrism here he says
of the Spirit afterwards in 1 John 5:7: "It is the Spirit that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is the truth." And in 1 John 4:6 he contrasts the influences
working in apostolic and hereticalcircles respectivelyas "the spirit of truth"
and "oferror." The bestowalof the Spirit on Jesus of Nazarethis described
under the figure of unction by St. Peterin Acts 10:38, who tells "How God
anointed (christened) Him — made Him officially the Christ — with the Holy
Spirit and power." It was the possession, withoutlimit, of "the Spirit of truth"
which gave to the words of Christ their unlimited authority (John 3:34, 35).
Now out of that Holy Spirit which He possessedinfinitely in His Divine
fashion, and which His presence and teaching continually breathed, the Holy
One gave to His disciples;and all members of His body receive, according to
their capacity, "the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive," but

"whom" He "sends" unto His own "from the Father" (John 14:17;John
15:26, etc.). The Spirit of the Head is the vital principle of the Church,
resident in every limb, and by its universal inhabitation and operation
constituting the Body of Christ. "The communion of the Holy Ghost" is the
inner side of all that is outwardly visible in Church activity and fellowship. It
is the life of God in the societyof men. This Divine principle of life in Christ
has at the same time an antiseptic power. It affords the real security for the
Church's preservation from corruption and decay. For this gift St. Paul had
prayed long ago on behalf of these same Asian Christians (Ephesians 1:17-23).
This prayer had been answered. Paul's and John's children in the faith were
endowedwith a Christian discernment that enabled them to detectthe
sophistries and resistthe blandishments of subtle Gnostic error. This Spirit of
wisdom and revelationhas never desertedthe Church. "You know, all of you"
(ver. 20) — this is what the apostle really says. It is the most remarkable thing
in the passage. "Ihave not written unto you," he continues, "because you
know not the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the
truth." He appeals to the judgment of the enlightened lay commonalty of the
Church, just as St. Paul when he writes, "I speak as to men of sense;judge ye
what I say." St. John's "chrism" certainly did not guarantee a precise
agreementin all points of doctrine and of practice;but it covers essential
truth, such as that of the Godheadof the Redeemerhere in question. Much
less does the witness of the Spirit warrant individual men, whose hearts are
touched with His grace, in setting up to be oracles ofGod and mouthpieces of
the Holy Ghost. In that case the Holy Spirit must contradictHimself endlessly,
and God becomes the author of confusion and not of peace. But there is in
matters of collective faith a spiritual common sense, a Christian public
opinion in the communion of saints, behind the extravagancesofindividuals
and the party cries of the hour, which acts informally by a silent and
impalpable pressure, but all the more effectually, after the manner of the
Spirit.
2. To this inward and cumulative witness there corresponds an outward
witness, defined once for all. "You know the truth...that no lie is of the truth
That which you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you" (vers. 21, 24).
Here is an objective criterion, given in the truth about Christ and the Father

as John's readers heard it from the apostles atthe first, and as we find it
written in their books. Believing that to be true, the Church rejectedpromptly
what did not square with it. In the most downright and peremptory fashion
St. John asserts the apostolic witness to be a testof religious truth: "We are of
God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears us not. By this
we recognise the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6), Here is
the exteriortest of the inner light. The witness of the Spirit in the living
Church, and in the abiding apostolic word, authenticate and guard each
other. This must be so, if one and the self-same Spirit testifies in both.
Experience and Scripture coincide. Neither will suffice us separatedfrom the
other. Without experience, Scripture becomes a dead letter; without the norm
of Scripture, experience becomes a speculation, a fanaticism, or a conceit.
3. The third guarantee citedby St. John lies outside ourselves and the Church:
it is neither the chrism that rests upon all Christians, nor the apostolic
messagedepositedwith the Church in the beginning; it is the faithfulness of
our promise giving Lord. His fidelity is our ultimate dependence;and it is
involved in the two safeguards previouslydescribed. Accordingly, when the
apostle has said, in verse 24, "If that abide in you which ye heard from the
beginning, ye too shall abide in the Son and the Father," he adds, to make all
sure, in the next verse: "And this is the promise which He promised us — the
eternal life!" It is our Lord's own assurance overagain(John 8:51; John
15:4). The life of fellowship with the Father in the Son, which the antichrist
would destroy at its root by denying the Son, the Sonof God pledges Himself
to maintain amongst those who are loyal to His word, and the word of His
apostles, whichis virtually His own. He has promised us this (αὐτὸς
ἐπηγγείλατο) — He who says, "I am the resurrectionand the life." No brief or
transient existence is that securedto His people, but "the eternal life." Now
eternal life means with St. John, not as with St. Paul a prize to be won, but a
foundation on which to rest, a fountain from which to draw; not a future
attainment so much as a presentdivine, and therefore abiding, possession. It is
the life which came into the world from God with Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1, 2),
and in which every soulhas its part that is grafted into Him. Understanding
this, we see that the promise of life eternal, in verse 25, is not brought in as an
incitement to hope, but as a reassuranceto our troubled faith. "These things

have I written unto you," the apostle says, "concerning those that mislead
you" (ver. 26). Christ's word is set againsttheirs. Error cannotprevail against
the truth as it is in Jesus. "Our little systems have their day"; but the
fellowship of souls which rests upon the foundation of the apostles has within
it the powerof an indissoluble life. Such are the three guarantees of the
permanence of Christian doctrine and the Christian life, as they were
conceivedby St. John and are assertedby him here at his last hour, when the
tempests of persecutionand scepticalerrorwere on all sides let loose against
the Church.
(George G. Findlay, B. A.)
The dispensations
DeanGoulburn.
How could those days of primitive Christianity be called the last days,
inasmuch as since those days eighteenhundred years have elapsed, and still
the world's history has not reachedits close?The answeris obvious. The
whole period lying betweenthe first advent and the present year of grace is
but one oeconomy;and it is destined to be the last oeconomy, under which
man is to be tried. What is a dispensation — Οἰκονομία?Οἰκονομοςis the
administrator of a household, the lord of a family, he who dispenses to the
household their portion of meat in due season. It is a certain measure, more or
less, of moral light and help meted out by God, the greatHouseholder, to His
human family for the purpose of their probation. Any and every light and
help which man has from heaven constitutes, strictly speaking, a dispensation.
It seems, moreover, to be a principle of God's dealings that the light and
knowledge having been once supernaturally communicated, shall thenceforth
be left to radiate from its centre, to diffuse itself among mankind, by the
ordinary means of human testimony. Let us now proceedto review the leading
dispensations under which mankind has been placed.
1. A single arbitrary restriction, issuedmerely as a test of obedience, was the
first of them. The threat of death, in ease ofdisobedience, was a moral help to

our first parents, tending to keepthem in the narrow path of obedience and
happiness. But it did not enable them to stand. They broke the commandment,
and they fell.
2. The fall had in some mysterious manner put our first parents in possession
of a moral sense, orfaculty of discerning betweengoodand evil,
independently of Divine precept. To secondand aid the remonstrances ofthis
faculty, the heads of the human family had such bitter experience of the fruits
of transgressionas wouldabide with them to their dying day. Into this
experience of the results of transgressionwas infused, lest man should despair,
an element of faith and hope. Who shall say whether man, with these powers
brought to bear upon him, may not retrieve his ground and return in true
penitence to the bosom of his Father? So the dispensation of experienced
punishment on the part of the parent, of ancestralprecepton the part of the
children beganand run its course. But it proved an utter failure. The
principle of sin, engenderedin its primeval act, ate into the moral nature of
man like a gangrene, until at length blasphemy and immorality stalked
rampant upon the earth, and the vices of human kind, like the stature of the
men of those days, toweredto a gigantic height.
3. While the shades ofguilt were thus deepening towards a night of utter
depravity, and the few faithful ones in the line of Seth shone but with the
feeble ray of glowworms amid the surrounding darkness — an additional
dispensationwas instituted in the announcement of the deluge to the Patriarch
Noah, and the direction associatedwith it, to commence the building of the
ark. What a stirring voice from heavenwas this! What a Divine trumpet note
of warning in the ears of a generationsinking deeperevery moment into the
fatal torpor of moral insensibility! At length, when Divine patience had had
her perfectwork the flood OEconomycame to its close amid outpoured
torrents and gushing fountains of the deep.
4. When the stage ofthe earth had been clearedby the flood for another
probation of the human race, a new measure of light and help was meted out
by God, or, in other terms, a new dispensationwas introduced. Human law
was now instituted and sanctionedby heaven. It was now to be seenwhether
man's innate depravity would break through this barrier of restraint also.

5. It was succeededby the dispensationof Divine law, promulgated with the
most awful solemnity, and having annexed to it the most tremendous
sanctions.
6. With Samuel and the successionofprophets, as many as spoke orwrote
after him, commenced a new era, about three hundred and fifty years after
the giving of the law. And of this dispensationthe distinguishing characteristic
is, that it was constantlyexpanding itself, that fresh accessionswere
continually being made under it to man's moral and spiritual resources,that it
was a light continually increasing in brightness, shining more and more unto
the perfectday when the Sun of Righteousnessshouldrise with healing in His
wings.
7. And now at length men's yearnings and anticipations were to be realised.
The lasthour of the world's day — or, in other words, the final dispensation
under which man was to be tried — was at hand. The greatDeliverer
appearedand revealeda wholly new arrangement, or series of arrangements,
under and in virtue of which God would henceforth dealwith man.(1) Perfect
absolution from the guilt of pastsin — an absolutionobtained in such a
manner as should effectuallystrike the chord of love and gratitude in every
heart of man.(2) A communication of Divine strength through outward
means.(3)A perfect and explicit law embodying the purest morality which it is
possible to conceive. But as man was still, under this final dispensation, in a
state of probation, and a state of probation is not and cannotbe a final or
fixed state, the mind was still thrown forward by predictions of the Second
Advent, to a period when He, in whom the heart and hope of God's people is
bound up, shall come againto receive them to Himself, and to visit them with
eternal comfort, while vengeance, terrific vengeance, is takenupon all who,
though the new dispensationhas been proclaimed to them, shall not have
takenshelter under the refuge which it provides. We have now passedin
review the various dispensations under which man has been placed; and, thus
furnished for the fuller understanding of our text, we revert to the solemn
asseverationofthe apostle, that this under which we live is the final
oeconomy, and that with its close will terminate forever the probation of
mankind.

(DeanGoulburn.)
Last things
T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.
I. My hearers are coming nearer their LAST BUSINESS DAY. Men will ask
about you, and say, "Where is so-and-so?"And your friend wilt say, "Have
you not heard the news?" and will take a paper from his pocketand point to
your name on the death list. If things are wrong they will always staywrong.
No chance of correcting a false entry, or repairing the loss done to a customer
by a dishonest sample, or apologising for the imposition inflicted upon one of
your clerks.
II. Men are coming nearer to their LAST SINFUL AMUSEMENT. A
dissipated life soonstops. The machinery of life is so delicate that it will not
endure much trifling.
III. Men are coming nearer to their LAST SABBATH.
IV. We come near THE LAST YEAR OF OUR LIFE. The world is at leastsix
thousand years old. Sixty thousand years may yet come, and the procession
may seeminterminable; but our own closing earthly year is not far off.
V. We are coming nearerTHE LAST MOMENT OF OUR LIFE. That is
often the most cheerful moment. John Howard talkedof it with exhilaration,
and selectedhis own burial place, saying to his friend, "A spot near the village
of Dauphiney would suit me nicely." It is a poor time to start to getyour house
insured when the flames are bursting out of all the windows;and it is a poor
time to attempt to prepare for death when the realities of eternity are taking
hold of us.
(T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Antichrist

Antichrist
Bp. Wm. Alexander.
This word is absolutely peculiar to St. John. The generaluse of ἀντί (contra)
and the meaning of the similarly formed word ἀντίθεος, lead to the conclusion
that the term means "adversaryof Messiah."The Jews derived their
conceptionfrom Daniel7:25; Daniel8:25; Daniel 11:36;Ezekiel38-39. The
name was probably formed by St. John. It was believed by the Jews that
Antichrist would appear immediately before the advent of Christ (cf. chap. 1
John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7). Our Lord mentioned "pseudo-Christs" as a sign
(Matthew 24:24). St. Paul gave a solemn warning to the very Churches which
St. John now speciallyaddressed(Acts 20:29). St. John saw these principles
and the men who embodied them in full action, and it was an indication for
him of "the last period." So far Christians had only learnt in generalto expect
the personalappearance ofone greatenemy of Christ, the Antichrist. In his
Epistle St. John gives solemn warning that those heretics who denied the God-
Man were not merely precursors of Antichrist, but impersonations of the anti-
Christian principle — eachof them in a true sense an antichrist. The term is
used by no other sacredwriter, by St. John him selfonly five times (1 John
2:18, twice, 1 John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7), and that specificallyto characterise
heresy denying the incarnation, person, and dignity of Christ as God-Man.
Antichrist is "the liar"; his spirit and teaching is a lie pure and simple. The
one Antichrist, whose coming was stamped into the living tradition of the
early Church, and of whom believers had necessarily"heard," is clearly
distinguished from many who were already in existence, and were closely
connectedwith him in spirit. Probably St. John expectedthe chief Antichrist,
the "theologicalantagonistofChrist," before the PersonalAdvent. In 2
Thessalonians 2 we find the same idea of a singular individual of preeminent
wickedness, while St. Paul does not call the "Manof Sin" Antichrist. In the
Apocalypse (13-17)a delineation of an anti-Christian power; in St. Paul and in
St. John's Epistles of the "eximious anti-Christian person.
(Bp. Wm. Alexander.)

Antichrist and antichrists
James Morgan, D. D.
It is a dangerous voyage which every Christian sails upon the sea of life.
Sunken rocks, deceitfulcurrents, and boisterous winds endanger his brittle
bark. He needs constantlyto beware that he makes not shipwreck of his faith.
Here we are calledto considerthe danger arising from the seduction of false
teachers. In the early Church these were the source of constantdisquietude.
Nor is it otherwise yet. It is melancholy to observe how little they are feared.
Many trifle with them.
1. The apostle addresses himselfto believers under the title of "little
children." There is a peculiar propriety in using such language to those who
are warned. Little children need to be warned. They are ignorant and
unsuspecting, because they are inexperienced. When they are tempted they
possesslittle powerof resistance. And once betrayed they have neither the
skill nor the power to deliver themselves out of the evils into which they have
been betrayed. It is to be lamented that in all these respects many Christians
bear a strong resemblance to little children.
2. To these the apostle says, "It is the last time," and this is an appropriate
introduction to the warning he was about to give them. The meaning of the
phrase will be seenby citing the parallel passagein Hebrews 1:1. The last time
is therefore the day of Christ. It is the age of Christianity. And there are two
views in which it may be appropriately so denominated. It is the last economy
viewed in its historical relation to those which have preceded it. And it may be
calledso also in relation to the future. There will be no other economy. "Then
cometh the end, when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God the
Father." It is a high privilege that we live under an economywhich is the
completion, the perfection of all that went before it. But we must not forget we
shall have no higher privileges than those which we now enjoy. If we are not
savedby means of those we have we must perish.
3. Thus introduced, the apostle begins to announce his warning, "Ye have
heard that antichrist shall come." The very name is sufficient to awakendeep
concern. We are at once given to understand that we must see a grand

opponent to Him whom we delight to honour, and in whom is all our
confidence. ForHis sake andour own, such an announcement should awaken
our timely fear. As for Him, we cannotdoubt his ability to overcome every
enemy. But we may well fear for ourselves.
4. The apostle, however, comes closerto the case ofthose little children whom
he addressed, and says, "Evennow are there many antichrists." Observe the
distinction betweenthis statement and the former one. The former is a
prophecy, the latter is a fact. Antichrist shall come, but he has not yet been
revealed. Time will be required for his development. But there are other
forms of evil and other seducers who exist now. You are not to imagine that
you are safe because the greatantichrist has not yet appeared. The leavenwas
working which would in time corrupt the mass of professors,so insidious and
dangerous is error; and so necessaryit is to watchits first rise and destroy it
at the bud. In our own day we may well cry with the apostles, "There are
many antichrists." And who or what are they? They are all persons and
things that are opposedto Christ and His people and His cause. And how can
they be enumerated? Infidelity is antichrist, and pours contempt upon the
truth. The scofferis antichrist, and scorns the truth. All ungodly men are
antichrists, and while they resistthe truth themselves they tempt others to
deny it. All errorists are antichrists, and obscure and oppose the truth.
5. The apostle applies this announcement of many antichrists to a practical
use, saying in the next clause, "Wherebywe know that it is the lasttime." The
words amount to a declarationthat this mighty host with all their enmity to
the truth should be a marked and prominent feature in the Christian era.
Christianity is the best economy, and therefore it is the most hated and
opposedby the wickedone.
6. We should beware that we are not found among these antichrists. And for
our warning and guidance a description of them is given in the 19th verse —
"they went out from us." Once they belonged to the Church of Christ. They
apostatisedfrom the faith and practice of the gospel. "But they were not of
us," adds the apostle. Theynever were. "Theyare not all Israelthat are of
Israel." Theymay have professedthe faith, but in reality they had never
embracedit. "For," says he, "had they been of us, they would no doubt have

continued with us." This is certain. The nature of the Divine life makes it so.
"The just shall live by faith." The apostle concludes, "Butthey went out, that
they might be made manifest they were not all of us." On the whole, it was
better they departed. It was better for themselves, that they may not be
deceivedby a name, but be led to penitence. It was better for others, that they
might not be a burthen and hindrance to those with whom they were
associated. And it was better for the cause of religion, that it might not be
scandalisedby their inconsistencies.
(James Morgan, D. D.)
They went out from us, but they were not of us
Anti-Christian
S. E. Pierce.
I. WHERE COULD THESE APOSTATES GO OUT FROM BUT THE
CHURCH? If they had not been in it they could not have gone out from it.
The Church they went out of was the true Church of Christ, in which the true
and everlasting gospelwas preached. And these persons had professedtheir
faith in all the essentialtruths of the gospel. Yettheir ambitious spirits were
such they could not be content but they must bring in another gospel,
contrary to what the apostles preached, pretending to have greaterlight into
truth, and what they calledthe PersonofChrist, and grace, than the very
apostles themselves. Theyturned their back on Christ, His gospel, His
ordinances, His apostles, His Churches, and everything belonging unto Him,
and framed out of their own errors, heresies, whims, and fancies, a Christ and
gospelfor themselves. The apostle assigns the reasonwhy they went out from
the Churches in the way and manner they did — it was because they were not
of one heart and soul with the Churches in the truth. As it was then, so it has
been ever since. All the heresies whichhave tormented the Churches of
Christ, down even to our present times, have originated from persons who
have been in the Churches, who have departed from the Churches. From such
as have made schisms and divisions in the Churches; and when any old error

is newly revived, it in generalsprings from such persons as are disaffectedto
the true Churches of Jesus Christ.
II. HOW THE APOSTLE CONFIRMS HIS ASSERTION — "Forif they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." How solemn! how
awful! These antichrists came out of the apostolicalChurch of Jesus. They
had been in it. It answeredtheir end for a seasonto remain in the Churches to
whom they had given in their names. It suited them to leave these Churches at
such seasons;when they could, to distil their pernicious influences, as they
thought and hoped, it would gain converts to them. These heretics left the
Churches because they were not of them, only nominally. They might, and
undoubtedly did, boastof superior light to all others in the doctrines of grace.
They were slaves to their own lusts. They were covetous. Theywere greedyof
reward. They were full of gainsaying.
III. WHY THESE ANTICHRISTS WENT OUT OF THE CHURCH. It was
that they might be made manifest, that they did not belong to the Church of
Christ, let them make their boastof the same as they might. This was their
end for their going out, but it was the Lord's end in thrusting them out, and it
might be some of these might have been thrust out by apostolic and also by
Church authority. In the holy and secretmystery of the Lord's providence it
was evidencedthey were not the Lord's beloved ones.
(S. E. Pierce.)
COMMENTARIES
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:1,2 When have an Advocate with the Father; one who has undertaken, and
is fully able, to plead in behalf of every one who applies for pardon and
salvationin his name, depending on his pleading for them. He is Jesus, the
Saviour, and Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed. He alone is the Righteous

One, who receivedhis nature pure from sin, and as our Surety perfectly
obeyed the law of God, and so fulfilled all righteousness. All men, in every
land, and through successive generations, are invited to come to God through
this all-sufficient atonement, and by this new and living way. The gospel, when
rightly understood and received, sets the heart againstall sin, and stops the
allowedpractice of it; at the same time it gives blessedrelief to the wounded
consciencesofthose who have sinned.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
And he is the propitiation for our sins - The word rendered "propitiation"
(ἱλασμός hilasmos) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, exceptin 1
John 4:10 of this Epistle; though words of the same derivation, and having the
same essentialmeaning, frequently occur. The corresponding word
ἱλαστήριονhilastērion occurs in Romans 3:25, rendered "propitiation" -
"whom God hath setforth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood;"
and in Hebrews 9:5, rendered mercy-seat- "shadowing the mercy-seat." The
verb ἱλάσκομαι hilaskomaioccurs also in Luke 18:3 - God be merciful to me a
sinner;" and Hebrews 2:17 - "to make reconciliationfor the sins of the
people." Forthe idea expressedby these words, see the notes at Romans 3:25.
The proper meaning of the word is that of reconciling, appeasing, turning
awayanger, rendering propitious or favorable. The idea is, that there is anger
or wrath, or that something has been done to offend, and that it is needful to
turn awaythat wrath, or to appease.This may be done by a sacrifice, by
songs, by services rendered, or by bloody offerings. So the word is often used
in Homer - Passow. We have similar words in common use, as when we sayof
one that he has been offended, and that something must be done to appease
him, or to turn awayhis wrath. This is commonly done with us by making
restitution; or by an acknowledgment;or by yielding the point in controversy;
or by an expressionof regret; or by different conduct in time to come. But this
idea must not be applied too literally to God; nor should it be explained away.
The essentialthoughts in regard to him, as implied in this word, are:
(1) that his will has been disregarded, and his law violated, and that he has
reasonto be offended with us;

(2) that in that condition he cannot, consistentlywith his perfections, and the
goodof the universe, treat us as if we had not done it;
(3) that it is proper that, in some way, he should show his displeasure at our
conduct, either by punishing us, or by something that shall answerthe same
purpose; and,
(4) that the means of propitiation come in here, and accomplishthis end, and
make it proper that he should treat us as if we had not sinned; that is, he is
reconciled, or appeased, andhis angeris turned away.
This is done, it is supposed, by the death of the Lord Jesus, accomplishing, in
most important respects, whatwould be accomplishedby the punishment of
the offender himself. In regard to this, in order to a proper understanding of
what is accomplished, it is necessaryto observe two things - what is not done,
and what is.
I. There are certainthings which do not enter into the idea of propitiation.
They are such as these:
(a) That it does not change the fact that the wrong was done. That is a fact
which cannot be denied, and he who undertakes to make a propitiation for sin
does not deny it.
(b) It does not change God; it does not make Him a different being from what
He was before; it does not buy Him over to a willingness to show mercy; it
does not change an inexorable being to one who is compassionate andkind.
(c) The offering that is made to secure reconciliationdoes notnecessarily
produce reconciliationin fact. It prepares the way for it on the part of God,
but whether they for whom it is made will be disposedto acceptit is another
question.
When two men are alienatedfrom eachother, you may go to B and say to him
that all obstacles to reconciliationon the part of A are removed, and that he is
disposedto be at peace, but whether B will be willing to be at peace is quite
another matter. The mere fact that his adversary is disposedto be at peace,
determines nothing in regard to his disposition in the matter. So in regardto

the controversybetweenman and God. It may be true that all obstacles to
reconciliationon the part of God are takenaway, and still it may be quite a
separate questionwhether man will be willing to lay aside his opposition, and
embrace the terms of mercy. In itself considered, one does not necessarily
determine the other, or throw any light on it.
II. The amount, then, in regard to the propitiation made for sin is, that it
removes all obstacles to reconciliationon the part of God: it does whateveris
necessaryto be done to maintain the honor of His law, His justice, and His
truth; it makes it consistentfor Him to offer pardon - that is, it removes
whateverthere was that made it necessaryto inflict punishment, and thus, so
far as the word canbe applied to God, it appeases Him, or turns awayHis
anger, or renders Him propitious. This it does, not in respectto producing any
change in God, but in respectto the fact that it removes whateverthere was in
the nature of the case that prevented the free and full offer of pardon. The
idea of the apostle in the passagebefore us is, that when we sin we may be
assuredthat this has been done, and that pardon may now be freely extended
to us.
And not for our's only - Not only for the sins of us who are Christians, for the
apostle was writing to such. The idea which he intends to convey seems to be,
that when we come before God we should take the most liberal and large
views of the atonement; we should feel that the most ample provision has been
made for our pardon, and that in no respectis there any limit as to the
sufficiency of that work to remove all sin. It is sufficient for us; sufficient for
all the world.
But also for the sins of the whole world - The phrase "the sins of" is not in the
original, but is not improperly supplied, for the connectiondemands it. This is
one of the expressions occurring in the New Testamentwhich demonstrate
that the atonement was made for all people, and which cannot be reconciled
with any other opinion. If he had died only for a part of the race, this
language could not have been used. The phrase, "the whole world," is one
which naturally embraces all people;is such as would be used if it be
supposedthat the apostle meant to teachthat Christ died for all people;and is
such as cannot be explained on any other supposition. If he died only for the

elect, it is not true that he is the "propitiation for the sins of the whole world"
in any proper sense, norwould it be possible then to assigna sense in which it
could be true. This passage, interpreted in its plain and obvious meaning,
teaches the following things:
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
2. And he—Greek,"And Himself." He is our all-prevailing Advocate, because
He is Himself "the propitiation"; abstract, as in 1Co 1:30: He is to us all that
is needed for propitiation "in behalf of our sins"; the propitiatory sacrifice,
provided by the Father's love, removing the estrangement, and appeasing the
righteous wrath, on God's part, againstthe sinner. "There is no incongruity
that a father should be offended with that son whom he loveth, and at that
time offended with him when he loveth him" [Bishop Pearson]. The only other
place in the New Testamentwhere Greek "propitiation" occurs, is 1Jo 4:10;it
answers in the Septuagint to Hebrew, "caphar," to effectan atonement or
reconciliationwith God; and in Eze 44:29, to the sin offering. In Ro 3:25,
Greek, it is "propitiatory," that is, the mercy seat, orlid of the ark whereon
God, representedby the Shekinahglory above it, met His people, represented
by the high priest who sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on it.
and—Greek, "yet."
ours—believers:not Jews, in contrastto Gentiles;for he is not writing to Jews
(1Jo 5:21).
also for the sins of the whole world—Christ's "advocacy" is limited to
believers (1Jo 2:1; 1Jo 1:7): His propitiation extends as widely as sin extends:
see on [2640]2Pe 2:1, "denying the Lord that bought them." "The whole
world" cannotbe restrictedto the believing portion of the world (compare
1Jo 4:14; and "the whole world," 1Jo 5:19). "Thou, too, art part of the world,
so that thine heart cannot deceive itself and think, The Lord died for Peter
and Paul, but not for me" [Luther].
Matthew Poole's Commentary

And he is the propitiation for our sins: the adding of these words, shows that
our Lord grounds his intercessionfor pardon of sin unto penitent believers,
upon his having made atonementfor them before; and therefore that he doth
not herein merely supplicate for favour, but (which is the proper business of
an advocate)plead law and right; agreeablyto what is said above, 1Jo 1:9.
And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world; nor is his
undertaking herein limited to any selectpersons among believers, but he must
be understood to be an Advocate for all, for whom he is effectuallya
Propitiation, i.e. for all that truly believe in him, {Romans 3:25} all the world
over.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he is the propitiation for our sins,.... Forthe sins of us who now believe,
and are Jews:
and not for ours only; but for the sins of Old Testamentsaints, and of those
who shall hereafterbelieve in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signifiedin the
next clause:
but also for the sins of the whole world; the Syriac version renders it, "not for
us only, but also for the whole world"; that is, not for the Jews only, for John
was a Jew, and so were those he wrote unto, but for the Gentiles also. Nothing
is more common in Jewishwritings than to callthe Gentiles "the world"; and
, "the whole world"; and , "the nations of the world" (l); See Gill on ; and the
word "world" is so used in Scripture; see John3:16; and stands opposedto a
notion the Jews have of the Gentiles, that , "there is no propitiation for them"
(m): and it is easyto observe, that when this phrase is not used of the Gentiles,
it is to be understood in a limited and restrained sense;as when they say(n),
"it happened to a certain high priest, that when he went out of the sanctuary, ,
"the whole world" went after him;''
which could only designthe people in the temple. And elsewhere (o)it is said,

"amle ylwk, "the "whole world" has left the Misna, and gone after the
"Gemara";''
which at most canonly intend the Jews;and indeed only a majority of their
doctors, who were conversantwith these writings: and in anotherplace (p),
"amle ylwk, "the whole world" fell on their faces, but Rafdid not fall on his
face;''
where it means no more than the congregation. Once more, it is said (q), when
"R. Simeon ben Gamalielentered (the synagogue), , "the whole world" stood
up before him;''
that is, the people in the synagogue:to which may be added (r),
"when a greatman makes a mourning, , "the whole world" come to honour
him;''
i.e. a great number of persons attend the funeral pomp: and so these phrases, ,
"the whole world" is not divided, or does not dissent (s); , "the whole world"
are of opinion (t), are frequently met with in the Talmud, by which, an
agreementamong the Rabbins, in certain points, is designed;yea, sometimes
the phrase, "all the men of the world" (u), only intend the inhabitants of a city
where a synagogue was, and, at most, only the Jews:and so this phrase, "all
the world", or "the whole world", in Scripture, unless when it signifies the
whole universe, or the habitable earth, is always used in a limited sense, either
for the Roman empire, or the churches of Christ in the world, or believers, or
the presentinhabitants of the world, or a part of them only, Luke 2:1; and so
it is in this epistle, 1 John 5:19; where the whole world lying in wickednessis
manifestly distinguished from the saints, who are of God, and belong not to
the world; and therefore cannot be understood of all the individuals in the
world; and the like distinction is in this text itself, for "the sins of the whole
world" are opposedto "our sins", the sins of the apostle and others to whom
he joins himself; who therefore belongednot to, nor were a part of the whole
world, for whose sins Christ is a propitiation as for theirs: so that this passage
cannot furnish out any argument for universal redemption; for besides these
things, it may be further observed, that for whose sins Christ is a propitiation,

their sins are atoned for and pardoned, and their persons justified from all
sin, and so shall certainly be glorified, which is not true of the whole world,
and every man and womanin it; moreover, Christ is a propitiation through
faith in his blood, the benefit of his propitiatory sacrifice is only receivedand
enjoyed through faith; so that in the event it appears that Christ is a
propitiation only for believers, a characterwhich does not agree with all
mankind; add to this, that for whom Christ is a propitiation he is also an
advocate, 1 John 2:1; but he is not an advocate for every individual person in
the world; yea, there is a world he will not pray for John 17:9, and
consequentlyis not a propitiation for them. Once more, the design of the
apostle in these words is to comfort his "little children" with the advocacyand
propitiatory sacrifice ofChrist, who might fall into sin through weaknessand
inadvertency; but what comfort would it yield to a distressedmind, to be told
that Christ was a propitiation not only for the sins of the apostles and other
saints, but for the sins of every individual in the world, even of these that are
in hell? Would it not be natural for persons in such circumstances to argue
rather against, than for themselves, and conclude that seeing persons might be
damned notwithstanding the propitiatory sacrifice ofChrist, that this might,
and would be their case.In what sense Christis a propitiation; see Gill on
Romans 3:25. The Jews have no notion of the Messiahas a propitiation or
atonement; sometimes they say (w) repentance atones for all sin; sometimes
the death of the righteous (x); sometimes incense (y); sometimes the priests'
garments (z); sometimes it is the day of atonement (a); and indeed they are in
the utmost puzzle about atonement; and they even confess in their prayers (b),
that they have now neither altar nor priest to atone for them; See Gill on 1
John 4:10.
(l) Jarchi in Isaiah53.5. (m) T. Hieros. Nazir, fol. 57. 3. Vid. T. Bab. Succa, fol.
55. 2.((n) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 71. 2.((o) T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 33. 2.((p) T.
Bab. Megilla, fol. 22. 2.((q) T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 13. 2.((r) Piske Toseph.
Megilla, art. 104. (s)T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 90. 2. & Kiddushin, fol. 47. 2. & 49.
1. & 65. 2. & Gittin, fol. 8. 1. & 60. 2.((t) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 48. 1.((u)
Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 11. sect. 16. (w) Zohar in Lev. fol. 29. 1.((x) Ib. fol.
24. 1. T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 38. 2.((y) T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 88. 2. & Erachin,
fol. 16. 1.((z) T. Bab. Zebachim, ib. T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 44. 2.((a) T. Bab.

Yoma, fol. 87. 1. & T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 45. 2, 3.((b) SederTephillot, fol. 41. 1.
Ed. Amsterd.
Geneva Study Bible
And he is the {b} propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the {c} whole world.
(b) Reconciliationand intercessiongo together, to give us to understand that
he is both advocate and high priest.
(c) For men of all sorts, of all ages, andall places, so that this benefit being not
to the Jews only, of whom he speaks as appears in 1Jo 2:7 but also to other
nations.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 John 2:2. καὶ αὐτός = et ipse, idemque ille; καί is here also the simple
copula, and is not to be resolvedeither into quia (a Lapide) or nam.
αὐτός refers back to Ἰησ. Χριστὸν δίκαιον, and the epithet δίκαιονis not to be
lost sight of here; Paulus, contrary to the context, refers αὐτός to God.
ἱλασμός ἐστι] The word ἱλασμός, which is used besides in the N. T. only in
chap. 1 John 4:10, and here also indeed in combination with περὶ τῶν ἁμ.
ἡμῶν, may, according to Ezekiel44:27 (= ‫ַח‬ ‫ָּט‬ ‫,)תא‬ mean the sin-offering (Lücke,
3d ed.), but is here to be takenin the sense of ‫ִּכ‬ ‫כ‬ֻּ‫ר‬ִ‫,ִכ‬ Leviticus 25:9, Numbers
5:8, and no doubt in this way, that Christ is calledthe ἱλασμός, inasmuch as
He has expiated by His αἷμα the guilt of sin. This reference to the sacrificial
blood of Christ, it is true, is not demanded by the idea ἱλασμός in itself,[84]
but certainly is demanded by the context, as the apostle canonly ascribe to the
blood of Christ, in chap. 1 John 1:7, the cleansing powerof which he is there
speaking, becausehe knows that reconciliationis based in it.

[84] In the Septuagintnot only does ἱλασμός appear as the translationof the
Hebrew ‫ס‬ ‫ִּתט‬ ‫חכ‬ ָ‫ה‬ (Psalm 129:4; Daniel9:9), but ἱλάσκεσθαι is also used = to be
merciful, to forgive (Psalm65:4; Psalm 78:38;Psalm 79:9),—quite without
reference to an offering.—The explanationof Paulus, however:“He (i.e. God)
is the pure exercise ofcompassiononaccountof sinful faults,” is not
justifiable, because, in the first place, God is not the subject, and secondly, the
ἱλασμός of Christ is not the forgiveness itself, but is that which procures
forgiveness.
REMARK.
In classicalGreek ἱλάσκεσθαι (as middle) is = ἱλεων ποιεῖν; but in scripture it
never appears in this active signification, in which God would not be the
object; but in all the passageswhere the Septuagintmakes use of this word,
whether it is as the translation of ִֻּּ‫פ‬ ‫ִכ‬ (Psalm 65:4; Psalm 78:38;Psalm79:9),
or of ‫כ‬‫חא‬‫הט‬ (Psalm25:11; 2 Kings 5:18), or of ‫כ‬ ‫תא‬‫םכ‬ (Exodus 32:14), God is the
subject, and sin, or sinful man, is the object; in Hebrews 2:17, Christ is the
subject, and the objectalso is τὰς ἁμαρτίας.The case is almostexactly similar
with ἐξιλάσκεσθαι, which does not appearin the N. T. at all, but in the O. T.,
on the other hand, is used as the translation of ִֻּּ‫פ‬ ‫ִכ‬ much more frequently than
the simple form; it is only where this verb is used of the relationbetweenmen,
namely Genesis 32:21 and Proverbs 16:14, that the classicalusus loquendi is
preserved; but elsewhere with ἐξιλάσκεσθαι, whetherthe subject be God (as
in Ezekiel16:63)or man, especiallythe priest, the objectis either man
(Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 4:26; Leviticus 6:7; Leviticus 16:6; Leviticus 16:11;
Leviticus 16:16-17;Leviticus 16:24;Leviticus 16:30;Leviticus 16:33; Ezekiel
45:17)or sin (Exodus 32:30; both together, Leviticus 5:18, Numbers 6:11), or
even of holiness defiled by sin (the most holy place, Leviticus 16:16;the altar,
Leviticus 16:18; Leviticus 27:33, Ezekiel43:22);only in Zechariah7:2 is
found ἐξιλάσκασθαι τὸν κύριον, where, however, the Hebrew text has ‫ַחח‬‫תא‬ ָ‫ח‬
‫טס‬‫ת‬‫ס־‬ִָּ ִִּּ‫ם‬ ָ‫חֹפ‬ ַָ. Ἰλασμός, therefore, in scripture does not denote the reconciliation

of God, either with Himself or with men, and hence not placatio (or as
Myrberg interprets: propitiatio) Dei, but the justification or reconciliationof
the sinner with God, because it is never statedin the N. T. that God is
reconciled, but rather that we are reconciledto God.[85]
[85] Comp. Delitzschin his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, on
chap. 1 John 2:17, p. 94 ff. But it is to be noticed that Delitzsch, while he states
correctlythe Biblical mode of representation, bases his opening discussionon
the idea of the “self-reconciliationof the Godheadwith itself,” an idea which
is not containedin scripture.—It is observedby severalcommentators that
ἱλασμός, as distinguished from καταλλαγή = “Versöhnung” (reconciliation), is
to be translatedby “Sühnung” or “Versühnung” (both = Engl. expiation,
atonement). It is true, Versöhnung and Versühnung are properly one and the
same word, but in the usage of the language the distinction has certainly been
fixed that the latter word denotes the restorationof the disturbed relationship
by an expiation to be performed; only it is inexactto assertthat the idea
ἱλασμός in itself contains the idea of punishment, since ἱλάσκισθαι does not
include this idea either in classicalorin Biblicalusage, and ἐξιλάσκεσθαι,
though mostly indeed used in the O. T. in reference to a sacrifice by which sin
is covered, is also used without this reference (comp. Sir 3:28).
Grotius, S. G. Lange, and others take ἱλασμός = ἱλαστήρ;of course that
abstractform denotes the personal Christ, but by this change into the
concrete the expression of the apostle loses its peculiar character;“the
abstractis more comprehensive, more intensive; comp. 1 Corinthians 1:30”
(Brückner); it gives it to be understood “that Christ is not the propitiator
through anything outside Himself, but through Himself” (Lücke, 2d ed.), and
that there is no propitiation exceptthrough Him.[86]
The relation of ἰλασμός to the preceding παράκλητονmay be variously
regarded;either παράκλητος is the higher idea, in which ἱλασμός is contained,

Bede:advocatum habemus apud Patremqui interpellat pro nobis et
propitium eum ac placatum peccatis nostris reddit; or conversely:ἱλασμός is
the higher idea, to which the advocacyis subordinated, as de Wette thus says:
“ἱλασμός does not merely refer to the sacrificialdeath of Jesus, but, as the
more generalidea, includes the intercessionas the progressive reconciliation”
(so also Rickli, Frommann); or lastly, both ideas are co-ordinate with one
another, Christ being the ἱλασμίς in regardto His blood which was shed, and
the παράκλητος,onthe other hand, in regard to His presentactivity with the
Father for those who are reconciledto Godthrough His blood. Against the
first view is the sentence beginning with καὶ αὐτός, by which ἱλασμός is
marked as an idea which is not alreadycontained in the idea παράκλητος,but
is distinct from it; againstthe secondview it is decisive that the propitiation,
which Christ is describedas, has reference to all sins, but His intercession, on
the other hand, has reference only to the sins of the believers who belong to
Him. There remains, accordingly, only the third view as the only correct one
(so also Braune). The relationship is this, that the intercessionofthe glorified
Christ has as its presupposition the ἱλασμός wrought out in His death,[87]yet
the sentence καὶ αὐτός is not merely added, ut causa reddatur, cur Christus sit
advocatus noster(Hornejus, and similarly Beza, Lorinus, Sander, etc.), for its
independence is thereby takenaway;the thought containedin it not merely
serves for the explanation or confirmation of the preceding, but it is also full
of meaning in itself, as it brings out the relation of Christ to the whole world
of sinners.
περὶ πῶν ἁμαρτιῶνἡμῶν]περί expressesthe reference quite generally: “in
regard to;” it may here be observedthat ἐξιλάσκεσθαι, in the LXX. is usually
construed with περί, after the Hebrew ‫ראחִכ‬ ִֻּּ‫.פ‬ The idea of substitution is not
suggestedin περί.
Expositor's Greek Testament
1 John 2:2. Our Advocate does not plead that we are innocent or adduce
extenuating circumstances. He acknowledgesourguilt and presents His
vicarious work as the ground of our acquittal. He stands in the Court of

Heaven ἀρνίον ὡς ἐσφαγμένον(Revelation5:6) and the marks of His sore
Passionare a mute but eloquent appeal: “I suffered all this for sinners, and
shall it go for naught?” περὶ ὃλου τοῦ κόσμου, Proverbs totius mundi
(Vulgate), “for the sins of the whole world”. This is grammatically possible (cf.
Matthew 5:20), but it misses the point. There are sins, specialand occasional,
in the believer; there is sin in the world; it is sinful through and through. The
Apostle means “for our sins and that mass of sin, the world”. Cf. Rothe:“Die
‘Welt’ ist ihrem Begriff zufolge überhaupt sündig, ein Sündenmasse, und hat
nicht blos einzelne Sünden an sich”. The remedy is commensurate with the
malady. Bengel:“Quam late patet peccatum, tam late propitiatio”.
Observe how the Apostle classeshimself with his readers:“we have,” “our
sins”—a rebuke of priestcraft. Cf. Aug.: “But some one will say: ‘Do not holy
men pray for us? Do not bishops and prelates pray for the people?’ Nay,
attend to the Scriptures, and see that even the prelates commend themselves
to the people. For the Apostle says to the common folk ‘withal praying for us’.
The Apostle prays for the folk, the folk for the Apostle. We pray for you,
brethren; but pray ye also for us. Let all the members pray for one another,
let the Head intercede for all.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
2. And He is the propitiation] Or, And He Himself is a propitiation: there is no
article in the Greek. Note the present tense throughout; ‘we have an
Advocate, He is a propitiation’: this condition of things is perpetual, it is not
something which took place once for all long ago. In His glorified Body the
Son is ever acting thus. Contrast‘He laid down His life for us’ (1 John 3:16).
Beware ofthe unsatisfactoryexplanationthat ‘propitiation’ is the abstractfor
the concrete, ‘propitiation’ (ἱλασμός)for ‘propitiator’ (ἱλαστήρ). Had S. John
written ‘propitiator’ we should have lost half the truth; viz. that our Advocate
propitiates by offering Himself. He is both High Priest and Victim, both
Propitiator and Propitiation. It is quite obvious that He is the former; the
office of Advocate includes it. It is not at all obvious that He is the latter: very
rarely does an advocate offerhimself as a propitiation.

The word for ‘propitiation’ occurs nowhere in N. T. but here and in 1 John
4:10; in both places without the article and followedby ‘for our sins’. It
signifies any actionwhich has expiation as its object, whether prayer,
compensation, or sacrifice. Thus ‘the ram of the atonement’ (Numbers 5:8) is
‘the ram of the propitiation’ or ‘expiation’, where the same Greek wordas is
used here is used in the LXX. Comp. Ezekiel44:27;Numbers 29:11; Leviticus
25:9. The LXX. of ‘there is forgiveness with Thee’(Psalm 130:4)is
remarkable:literally rendered it is ‘before Thee is the propitiation’ (ὁ
ἱλασμός). So also the Vulgate, apud Te propitiatio est. And this is the idea that
we have here: Jesus Christ, as being righteous, is ever presentbefore the Lord
as the propitiation. With this we should compare the use of the cognate verb
in Hebrews 2:17 and cognate substantive Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5.
From these passagesit is clearthat in N. T. the word is closelyconnectedwith
that specialform of expiation which takes place by means of an offering or
sacrifice, althoughthis idea is not of necessityincluded in the radical
significationof the word itself. See notes in all three places.
for our sins] Literally, concerning (περἱ) our sins: our sins are the matter
respecting which the propitiation goes on. This is the common form of
expressionin LXX. Comp. Numbers 29:11; Exodus 30:15-16;Exodus 32:30;
Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 4:26; Leviticus 4:31; Leviticus 4:35, &c. &c.
Similarly, in John 8:46, ‘Which of you convictethMe of sin?’ is literally,
‘Which of you convictethMe concerning sin?’ Comp. John 16:8; John 10:33.
Notice that it is ‘our sins’, not ‘our sin’: the sins which we are daily
committing, and not merely the sinfulness of our nature, are the subject of the
propitiation.
and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world] More literally,
but also for the whole world: ‘the sins of’ is not repeatedin the Greek and is
not neededin English. Once more we have a parallel with the Gospel, and
especiallywith chap. 17. ‘Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also

that shall believe on Me through their word … that the world may believe that
Thou didst send Me … that the world may know that Thou didst send Me,
and lovedstthem, even as Thou lovedstMe’ (John 17:20-23):‘Behold, the
Lamb of God, which takethawaythe sin of the world’ (John 1:29): ‘We know
that this is indeed the Saviour of the world’ (John 4:24). Comp. 1 John 4:14. S.
John’s writings are so full of the fundamental opposition betweenChrist or
believers and the world, that there was dangerlest he should seemto give his
sanctionto a Christian exclusiveness as fatalas the Jewishexclusiveness outof
which he and other converts from Judaism had been delivered. Therefore by
this (note especially‘the whole world’) and other plain statements both in
Gospel(see John 11:51 in particular) and Epistle he insists that believers have
no exclusive right to the merits of Christ. The expiatory offering was made for
the whole world without limitation. All who will may profit by it: quam late
peccatum, tam late propitiatio (Bengel). The disabilities under which the
whole human race had laboured were removed. It remained to be seenwho
would avail themselves of the restoredprivileges. ‘The world’ (ὁ κόσμος)is
another of S. John’s characteristic expressions. In his writings it generally
means those who are alienatedfrom God, outside the pale of the Church. But
we should fall into grievous error if we assignedthis meaning to the word
indiscriminately. Thus, in ‘the world was made by Him’ (John 1:10) it means
‘the universe’; in ‘This is of a truth the Prophet that comethinto the world’
(John 6:14) it means ‘the earth’; in ‘God so loved the world’ (John 3:16) it
means, as here, ‘the inhabitants of the earth, the human race’. But still the
prevalent meaning in both Gospeland Epistle is a bad one; ‘those who have
not acceptedthe Christ, unbelievers.’In the Apocalypse it occurs only thrice,
once in the usual sense, ‘The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of
our Lord’ (John 11:15), and twice in the sense of ‘the universe’ (John 13:8,
John 17:8).
Bengel's Gnomen
1 John 2:2. Αὐτὸς, He Himself) This word forms an Epitasis [See Append. on
this figure]: a most powerful Advocate, because He Himself is the
propitiation.—ἰλασμός ἐστι, is the propitiation) The word ἰλασμός, and
ἐξιλασμὸς, is of frequent occurrence in the Septuagint: it denotes a
propitiatory sacrifice:ch. 1 John 4:10; comp. 2 Corinthians 5:21 : that is, the

Saviour Himself. There had been therefore enmity (offence)betweenGod and
sinners.—ἡμῶν, ofus) the faithful. There is no reference here to the Jews;for
he is not writing to the Jews:ch. 1 John 5:21.—περὶ ὅλου) respecting (for) the
sins of the whole world. If he had said only, of the world, as ch. 1 John 4:14,
the whole must have been understood: now, since of the whole is expressed,
who dares to put any restrictionupon it? ch. 1 John 5:19. The propitiation is
as widely extended as sin.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 2. - And he (not quia nor enim, but idemque ille) is a Propitiation for
our sins. Ἱλασμός occurs here and chapter 1 John 4:10 only in the New
Testament. St. Paul's word is καταλλαγή (Romans 5:11;Romans 11:15; 2
Corinthians 5:18, 19). They are not equivalents; ἱλασμός has reference to the
one party to be propitiated, καταλλαγή to the two parties to be reconciled.
Ἀπολύτρωσις is a third word expressing yet another aspectof the atonement -
the redemption of the offending party by payment of his debt (Romans 3:24,
etc.). Although ἱλασμός does not necessarilyinclude the idea of sacrifice, yet
the use of the word in the LXX, and of ἱλάσκεσθαι (Hebrews 2:27) and
ἱλαστήριον(Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:5) in the New Testament, points to the
expiation wrought by the great High Priestby the sacrifice ofhimself. It is
ἱλασμός, and not ἱλαστήρ, because the prominent fact is Christ as an Offering
rather than as One who offers. With the περί, cf. John 8:46; John 10:33;John
16:8. Our sins are the subject-matter of his propitiatory work. And not for
ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Again we seemto have an
echo of the prayer of the greatHigh Priest (John 17:20, 24). The propitiation
is for all, not for the first band of believers only. The sins of the whole world
are expiated; and if the expiation does not effectthe salvationof the sinner, it
is because he rejects it, loving the darkness ratherthan the light (John 3:19).
No man - Christian, Jew, or Gentile - is outside the mercy of God, unless he
places himself there deliberately. "It seems clearthat the sacrifice of Christ,
though peculiarly and completely available only for those who were called,
does in some particulars benefit the whole world, and releaseit from the evil
in which the whole creationwas travailing" (Jelf).
Vincent's Word Studies

And He (καὶ αὐτὸς)
The He is emphatic: that same Jesus:He himself.
The propitiation (ἱλασμός)
Only here and 1 John 4:10. From ἱλάσκομαι to appease, to conciliate to one's
self, which occurs Luke 18:13; Hebrews 2:17. The noun means originally an
appeasing or propitiating, and passes, through Alexandrine usage, into the
sense ofthe means of appeasing, as here. The constructionis to be particularly
noted; for, in the matter of (περί) our sins; the genitive case ofthat for which
propitiation is made. In Hebrews 2:17, the accusative case,also ofthe sins to
be propitiated. In classicalusage, onthe other hand, the habitual construction
is the accusative (directobjective case), ofthe personpropitiated. So in
Homer, of the gods. Θεὸν ἱλάσκεσθαι is to make a God propitious to one. See
"Iliad," i., 386, 472. Ofmen whom one wishes to conciliate by divine honors
after death. So Herodotus, of Philip of Crotona. "His beauty gained him
honors at the hands of the Egestaeans whichthey never accordedto any one
else;for they raised a hero-temple over his grave, and they still propitiate him
(αὐτὸνἱλάσκονται) with sacrifices" (v., 47). Again, "The Parians, having
propitiated Themistocles (Θεμιστοκλέαἱλασάμενοι) with gifts, escapedthe
visits of the army" (viii., 112). The change from this construction shows, to
quote Canon Westcott, "thatthe scriptural conceptionof the verb is not that
of appeasing one who is angry, with a personal feeling, againstthe offender;
but of altering the characterof that which, from without, occasionsa
necessaryalienation, and interposes an inevitable obstacle to fellowship. Such
phrases as 'propitiating God,' and God 'being reconciled'are foreign to the
language ofthe New Testament. Manis reconciled(2 Corinthians 5:18 sqq.;
Romans 5:10 sq.). There is a propitiation in the matter of the sin or of the
sinner."
For the sins of the whole world (περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου)
The sins of (A. V., italicized) should be omitted; as in Revelation, for the whole
world. Compare 1 John 4:14; John 4:42; John 7:32. "The propitiation is as
wide as the sin" (Bengel). If men do not experience its benefit, the fault is not
in its efficacy. Dsterdieck(citedby Huther) says, "The propitiation has its real

efficacyfor the whole world; to believers it brings life, to unbelievers death."
Luther: "It is a patent fact that thou too art a part of the whole world; so that
thine heart cannot deceive itself, and think, the Lord died for Peterand Paul,
but not for me." On κόσμου see onJohn 1:9.
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
THE GREATEST SACRIFICEBY GLENN PEASE
One of my favorite poets is William L. Stidger, and I want to begin this
messagewith one of his poems.
I SAW GOD WASH THE WORLD
I saw God washthe world lastnight With his sweetshowers onhigh, And
then, when morning came, I saw Him hang it out to dry.
He washedeachtiny blade of grass And every trembling tree; He flung his
showers againstthe hill,
And sweptthe billowing sea.
The white rose is a cleanerwhite, The red rose is more red, Since God washed
every fragrant face And put them all to bed.
There's not a bird, there's not a bee That wings along the way But is a cleaner
bird and bee Than it was yesterday.
I saw God washthe world lastnight. Ah, would He had washedme As cleanof
all my dust and dirt As that old white birch tree.
We know it was not dust and dirt that he longed to have cleaned, for he did
not need God’s help to washthat off. He could have takena bath or a shower,
or even jumped into a lake to achieve that goal. What he is longing for is the
universal desire to be forgiven and cleansedfrom the dirt of the soul so that he
could be free from all guilt for his sins. The goodnews is that God has made
this possible. He did not do it lastnight, and He did not do it by means of rain.

He did it at Calvary by means of the sacrifice ofHis Son. We used to sing the
old hymns that went-What can washawaymy sin? Nothing but the blood of
Jesus, and Washme and I shall be whiter than snow. I have written what
Stidger could have written
I saw God washthe world that day When His Son died on the cross. His Son
Jesus had hell to pay To spare us eternalloss.
He shed His blood for all sinners, Now all can be forgiven. In Him we all can
be winners, Living foreverin heaven.
It was the greatestsacrifice Thatany had ever made. Forcleansing sin it did
suffice All our debt has now been paid.
I saw God washthe world that day When He gave His Son to die. He washed
all of our sin away, And from guilt did purify.
That is what Heb. 1:3 is saying by the phrase, “After He had provided
purification for sins….” Thatis when He ascendedand sat down at the right
hand of the Majestyin heaven. Jesus accomplishedHis goalfor coming to
earth when He died for the sins of the world, and by that sacrifice made it
possible for any who put their trust in Him to be cleansedand made fit to join
Him in the presence ofGod forever. There has never been a sacrifice that
achievedso much for so many. History is filled with sacrificesthat have saved
the earthly lives of many people, but never has their been another sacrifice
that cleansedfrom sin and saved people for all eternity. Jesus has no
competition in this area, for there are none who even claim that they have
been able to make it possible for all sin to be forgiven by their sacrifice. Jesus
is the greatestin every area where He competes, but in this area there are no
competitors, and so His is the greatest sacrificein the universe.
If you study the word sacrifice in the New Testamentyou will discoverthat
the book of Hebrews uses the word more than all the rest of the New
Testamenttogether. The Hebrew Christians it is written to have grown up all
their lives going to the temple and depending upon the sacrifice ofanimals
and the ministry of the priests and high priest. It is the only sacrifice they
knew, and they neededto be educatedin understanding the once for all

sacrifice ofJesus that did away with all that was basic to their Old Testament
faith. Once they could grasphow superior this sacrifice was they could let go
of the old without fear and anxiety that they were forsaking the plan of God.
Hebrews does recognize that the old systemwas God’s plan at the time, but
that in Christ there is a better and complete plan. In Heb. 9:23 we read, “It
was necessary, then, for the copies ofthe heavenly things to be purified with
these sacrifices,but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these.” Thenhe goes onto say in verse 26, “But now he has appeared once for
all at the end of the ages to do awaywith sin by the sacrifice ofhimself.” In
10:10 we read, “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice ofthe body
of Jesus Christ once for all.” The in 10:11-12 we read, “Dayafter day every
priest stands and performs his religious duties; againand again he offers the
same sacrifices,whichcan never take away sins. But when this priest had
offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he satdown at the right hand of
God.” Hebrews is making it clearthat the once for all sacrifice ofJesus onthe
cross was greaterthan all the billions of animals that have been sacrificedfor
atoning for sin. All of them togetherdid not cleanse from a single sin, but His
once for all sacrifice made it possible for every sin to be cleansed. It was,
without a doubt, the greatestsacrifice ever.
The author of Hebrews is trying to prevent the Hebrew Christians from
going back to their old trust in the temples sacrifices.Theyare suffering for
becoming Christians and there is a temptation to go back to what was safe
and escape the persecutionthey had to endure by becoming Christians. He is
trying to make the point that it is better to suffer in following Christ and being
loyal to Him than to go back to what will not cleanse fromsin and make them
acceptable to God. Change has been hard on them, and costly, but it is worth
any price they have to pay to gain the eternal benefits of the sacrifice ofJesus.
They have to suffer by their choice to be loyal to Jesus, but it is still better
than continuing in the old system that does not work, for that is fatal. No
number of animal sacrificeswill make them acceptable to God.
An ideal example of what their conflict was all about is the agony of defeat
video seenby millions on “The Wide World of Sports” program. The skieris
coming down the jump when all of a sudden he falls off the side and goes

smashing againstthe rail and tumbles down the hill. It looks like he will spend
the restof his life in a wheelchair if he survives this terrible accident. But the
fact is, it was his choice to make that painful fall. He realized half way down
the ramp that he was going too fastand that if he completed the jump he
would land on level ground, and this could be fatal. He had to abort the jump
and take that awful tumble. We see it as the agony of defeat, but he may have
savedhis life by doing it. He suffered only minor injuries by that fall, but may
have ended his life by continuing. Those Hebrews who continued to trust in
the sacrifice ofanimals for their sins were risking their lives, but those who
took the tumble of suffering to trust in Jesus alone, and His once for all
sacrifice, were paying a small price for such an ultimate success.It was
preventative suffering, just as it was for that skier. In essence Hebrews is
saying to take the fall for Jesus. Sticking with the old is fatal, but trusting
Jesus is only painful for a time. It may look like the agonyof defeat, but it is
the wayof the greatestwisdomand the greatestsuccess.
The reasonthat the sacrifice ofJesus was the greatesteveris because it is
the only sacrifice that ever worked. All the animal sacrifices just pointed to
the need for blood to be shed and life paid for cleansing from sin. God’s
justice demands that when His law is violated there is a penalty that has to be
paid. The wages ofsin is death, and so that is the penalty that must be paid if
the guilty are to be setfree. Deathcame upon all, for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. The only hope would be a substitute who could die
in our place so the penalty would be paid, and we could be free from it, and
not have to pay it with our own lives. Jesus became that substitute and took on
himself the guilt of the whole world. As the perfect Lamb of God he died for
the sins of the world. It is beyond our comprehensionwhy He would do so. We
know He is a God of love and compassion, but it is still hard to comprehend
why He would take our place and suffer the penalty that is rightfully ours. We
need earthly illustrations to help us grasp the wonder of this greatsacrifice.
We geta taste of what God did in this true story that I read about.
“After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's preacher
slowlystood up, walkedoverto the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for
the evening, briefly introduced a guestminister who was in the service that
evening. In the introduction, the preachertold the congregationthat the guest

minister was one of his dearestchildhood friends and that he wanted him to
have a few moments to greetthe church and share whateverhe felt would be
appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit
and beganto speak.
"A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific
coast,"he began, "Whena fast approaching storm blockedany attempt to get
back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an
experiencedsailor, he could not keepthe boat upright and the three were
sweptinto the oceanas the boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a
moment, making eye contactwith two teenagerswho were, for the first time
since the service began, looking somewhatinterestedin his story. The aged
minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to
make the most
excruciating decisionof his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of
the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that
his sonwas a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The
agonyof his decisioncould not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As the
father yelled out, 'I love you, son!' he threw out the life line to his son's friend.
By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsizedboat, his son
had disappearedbeneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body
was never recovered."
“ By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew,
anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth.
"The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus
and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity
without Jesus. Therefore,he sacrificedhis son to save the son's friend. How
greatis the love of God that he should do the same for us. Our heavenly father
sacrificedhis only begottenSon that we could be saved. I urge you to accept
his offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line he is throwing out to you
in this service." With that, the old man turned and satback down in his chair
as silence filled the room. The preacheragain walkedslowlyto the pulpit and
delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one
responded to the appeal.

“Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were atthe old
man's side. "Thatwas a nice story," politely statedone of the boys, "but I
don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in
hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you've got a point
there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn bible. A big smile
broadened his narrow face, he once againlookedup at the boys and said, "It
sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell you that
story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his
son for me. You see --- I was that father and your preacheris my son's
friend."
J. Allen Petersongives this simple illustration: “I read about a small boy
who was consistentlylate coming home from school. His parents warned him
one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he
arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing.
At dinner that night, the boy lookedat his plate. There was a slice of bread
and a glass ofwater. He lookedathis father’s full plate and then at his father,
but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed. The father waited for the
full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placedit in front of
himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy,
and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, “All my life
I’ve knownwhat Godis like by what my father did that night.”
Another illustration is in the story of a one-roomschoolhousein the
mountains of Virginia where it was nearly impossible to geta teacherto stay
because ofthe roughness of the boys. No teacherhad been able to handle
them. The teller of this story goes on, “Thenone day an inexperienced young
teacherapplied. He was told that every teacherhad receivedan awful beating,
but the teacheracceptedthe risk. The first day of schoolthe teacheraskedthe
boys to establishtheir own rules and the penalty for breaking the rules. The
class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard. Then the
teacherasked, 'Whatshall we do with one who breaks the rules?'
"'Beathim across the back ten times without his coaton,' came the response.

"A day or so later, . . . the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. 'The
thief was located-a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.'
"As Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keephis coaton.
'Take your coatoff,' the teachersaid. 'You helped make the rules!'
"The boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealeda bony little crippled
body. As the teacherhesitatedwith the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and
volunteered to take the boy's licking.
"'Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for
another. Are you all agreed?'the teacherasked.
"After five strokes across Tom's back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing.
'Little Jim had reachedup and caught Tom with both arms around his neck.
"Tom, I'm sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will
love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!'"
This is to be our response to the sacrifice ofJesus in taking our place in
paying the penalty for sin. By so doing he provided purification for sin, or as
some versions have it, “He made an expiation for the sins of men.” Others
have it, “He had effectedour cleansing from sin,” or, “He had brought about
the purgation of sins.” The bottom line is that His sacrifice made it possible
for us to escape the penalty of sin, which is our justification; the power of sin,
which is our sanctification, and the presence ofsin, which is our glorification.
Our complete salvationwas purchased by the greatestsacrificein the
universe, and how can our response be less than that of the little boy who said,
“I will love you forever?”
We may not know, we cannottell, What pains he had to bear, But we believe
it was for us He hung and suffered there.
And because we believe it, we will praise Him foreverfor this great
salvation. He paid an enormous price that we might have everlasting peace.
He was betrayed by Judas. He was denied by Peter. He was abandoned by the
disciples. He was persecutedby the scribes. He was railroadedby the
Pharisees.He was mockedby the priests. He was hated by the chief priest. He

was spat upon and condemned by the crowd. He was scourgedand betrayed
by Pilate. He was crucified by the Romans. He was forsakenby His Father.
The book of Hebrews is written to warn believers not to add to the
suffering of Jesus by trampling under foot the blood of Christ by ignoring and
forsaking sucha great salvation. What Jesus did for us demands a lifetime
commitment of love and loyalty. Nothing is to come betweenus and our
Savior. We are to be faithful unto death, for no sacrifice cancompare with the
sacrifice he made for us. He made the whole universe by merely speaking the
Word, and He sustains the universe by omnipotent power that does not
exhaust Him at all. But the work of atonementfor sin was hard beyond our
comprehension. As the Sonof God Jesus neverhad to work so hard, but as the
Son of Man He had to work harder than any man has ever had to work. He
had to resistall temptation and overcome all evil, and then lay down His
perfect life in sacrifice for all who yield to temptation and submit to all evil.
This calledfor physical, mental and spiritual labor harder than any other
being has ever had to endure. No wonder that His one actof sacrifice was
greaterthan all other sacrifices put together. All others never cleansedone
sin, but His cleansedfor all sin.
This hymn calledthe Akathist Hymn to the Divine Passionof Christ should
be a prayer from the heart of every Christian.
Lord Jesus Christ, Sonof the Living God, Creatorof Heaven and earth,
Savior of the world,
Behold I who am unworthy and of all men most sinful, humbly bow the knee
of my heart before the glory of Thy majesty and praise Thy Cross and
Passion, andoffer thanksgiving to Thee, the King and God of all, that Thou
wastpleasedto bear as man all labours and hardships, all temptations and
tortures, that Thou mightest be our Fellow-suffererand Helper, and a Saviour
to all of us in all our sorrows, needs, and sufferings.
I know, O all-powerful Lord, that all these things were not necessaryforThee,
but for us men and for our salvation Thou dist endure Thy Cross and Passion
that Thou mightest redeem us from all cruel bondage to the enemy.

What, then, shall I give in return to Thee, O Lover of mankind, for all that
Thou hast suffered for me, a sinner? I cannotsay, for soul and body and all
blessings come from Thee, and all that I have is Thine, and I am Thine. Yet I
know that love is repaid only by love. Teachme, then, to love and praise Thee.
Trusting solelyin Thine infinite compassionand mercy, O Lord, I praise
Thine unspeakable patience, I magnify Thine unutterable exhaustion, I glorify
Thy boundless mercy, I adore Thy purest Passion, andmost lovingly kissing
Thy wounds, I cry: Have mercy on me a sinner, and cause that Thy holy Cross
may not be fruitless in me,
that I may participate here with faith in Thy sufferings and be vouchsafedto
behold also the glory of Thy Kingdom in Heaven.
Amen.
The act of atoning for the sins of the world is so significant that it is put in a
list of the greatestthings that canbe listed. Jesus is the heir of all things, and
He is the Creatorof all, and He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representationof God’s being, and he sustains the whole universe, and sits at
the right hand of God. This is the most impressive list you will find anywhere
in the Bible, and in that list is added this one, that He provided purification
for sins. What Jesus did on the cross for us is right up there with the greatest
truths in the universe. It is so big and important that it makes the headlines in
the greatestnewspaperofthe universe. Call it The Trinity Tribune, The
GospelGazette, orthe Heavenly Herald. It is the paper read by all in heaven,
and in bold letters taking up a full page is the story of the angelic reporter
who was assignedto coverthe crucifixion. It is titled I WATCHED GOD
WASH THE WORLD LAST NIGHT. That is what Goddid at Calvary, for
the shed blood of Jesus made atonementfor the sins of the world. The more
we know God, the more we will recognize how important it was in His plan to
provide purification for sin.
Saphir writes with eloquence of what Jesus did by His sacrifice."Whyhas
this wonderful and glorious Being, in whom all things are summed up, and
who is before all things the Father’s delight and the Father’s glory; why has
this infinite light, this infinite power, this infinite majesty come down to our

Jesus was the greatest sacrifice

Jesus was the greatest sacrifice

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was the greatest sacrifice

Similar to Jesus was the greatest sacrifice (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was the greatest sacrifice