1 John 2.2

Christopher Cone has a new article about this controversial verse. I’ll list the PDF here:

http://www.drcone.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Does-Grace-Extend-to-E…

Cone has written about this verse before and, in my mind, I have disagreed with him. Here I indicate what, I believe, he misses. If Cone is correct then it is hard to reconcile the whole of personal, loving redemption that the bible indicates elsewhere (as he says).

If, however, another factor exists why John uses the words that he does, the passage falls into harmony with the other references. The fulcrum in this verse is “we.” Cone takes this as meaning “Christians” as opposed to unbelievers. This is not the case, I believe. John was never a ‘Hellenistic’ Jew as Paul was who God prepared to go to the Gentiles. Consider the times: This is now after The 2nd Temple has been destroyed and John with other non-Hellenistic Jews who formed an apostolic group remained separate from Gentiles. John was in a unique transitional group of Jews is why he uses the language of 1John 2.2. What he means is: ” not only Jews, but Gentiles” were in God’s mind to redeem.

The inclusion of the Gentiles was what the Disciples could not bear during Christ’s public ministry. As Jesus promised, The Spirit was given in an “New” way at Shavuot and the disciples recognized the Spirit’s ministry and teaching. The inclusion of the Samaritans and then Gentiles were the result of the disciples following the Spirit. What John says in 1Jn. 2.2 is that Gentiles are now included from a staunchly Jewish perspective. The ‘inclusion of the Gentiles’ was the big ‘sticking point’ for many traditional Jews scattered and separated in the Roman Empire and John, the Apostle includes the chosen of the Gentiles for whom Christ died.

This is just one reason why exegesis is so difficult: all the relative factors in background are easy to miss. It is easy to assume one thing while the setting may be very different.