1 John 2:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

After speaking about the appearance of antichrists, and about the complete corruption of all their teaching, the Apostle sufficiently persuaded the believers to hold unchangeably the teaching in which they had been instructed. Then he mentions the reward appointed for this, so that by the brightness of the reward he might strengthen them still more. He says: "Abide in Him." For what purpose? So that when He appears, we may have boldness toward Him. For what can be more glorious or more desirable than boldness? It means that when we reveal our labors in the present life, we may do so at His coming with boldness and without any shame.

When the Lord appears at the second coming, such a one will have boldness and will not be ashamed. This shame is a great punishment.

He says: having the Holy Spirit as the teacher of pious knowledge, do not heed lying spirits. Think as He has taught you, so that we may stand before Him with boldness at His glorious coming.

And he says: "Abide in Him." For what purpose? So that when He appears, we may speak boldly before Him. For what could be more glorious or more enviable than that boldness with which, when we must show Him the labors we have accomplished in life, we shall do so without the least shame before His presence?

He who remains with the Lord amid persecutions from unbelievers and mockery from those close to him according to the flesh will have boldness when He comes. He knows that the long-suffering of the poor will not perish at the end of time. But whoever is ashamed, when struck on one cheek, to turn the other also (cf. Mt 5:39), or to endure insults from his neighbor patiently, or to keep any other commandment given by the Lord, or who fears to declare himself a Christian during persecutions, certainly will not have boldness at the coming of the Lord. He did not know how to confess his faith in this life.

After saying, "What the Anointing has taught you, abide in it," that is, hold it firmly, he immediately adds: "And now, little children, abide in Him," that is, in Jesus Christ. "That when He appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

John had said earlier: "If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father" (1 Jn 2:24). Now, repeating the instruction to preserve the teaching of the Holy Spirit handed down through the Apostles, he also repeats another exhortation.

Through fulfilling the divine teaching, they are to abide in communion with Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of Christ's commandments is the path to union with Jesus Christ, according to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Himself.

Here is yet another argument disposing believers in Christ to abide in the teaching which they learned from the beginning, and received from the lips of Christ Himself or His Apostles.

What is purer than this source? What has ever been able, or can ever be able, to bless our soul and adorn it more than the words of life received with faith?

Therefore, having acquired this treasure, we must guard it carefully as a pearl of great price. We must take care and keep watch, lest the God-woven garment, like the finest linen, be darkened by the impurity of our deeds.

Nor must it be torn by the vain reasonings of our mind, or by the evil desires of our will (1 Cor 6:15-16).

Leading our life in this way, we may be assured that the mercy of the Lord will pursue us all the days of our life (Ps 22:6). And we shall not be ashamed at His coming.

The Apostle concludes his exhortation by recalling the nearness of Christ's coming and by promising boldness, that is, confidence in justification on the day of judgment. "We may not be ashamed" means that we shall not be condemned.

"When He appears," "at His coming": this means His manifestation at the second coming of Christ, at the end of this world, for the dread judgment. Compare Mt 24 and parallels, 1 Cor 15:21, 1 Thess 2:19, Col 3:3-4, and Jas 5:7-9. "To have boldness and not be ashamed" means to stand before His face without fear or confusion, but with joy and love, in the hope of mercy and of receiving eternal life. It means not suffering abasement and shame, such as all who did not believe in Christ and all unrepentant sinners will undergo at the last judgment.

This same thing, namely the confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God in the hope of eternal life (1 Jn 2:25), has also been taught and is being taught to you by the inward anointing from the Holy One. Therefore, "abide in what it has taught you" (1 Jn 2:27).

As though explaining why he speaks so insistently about the unwavering confession of Jesus Christ, St. John the Apostle adds: "that when He appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming" (1 Jn 2:28).

Can various mystical sectarians rely on these words of the Apostle John? They preach that inner illumination alone is sufficient for a Christian, and that he may be guided by it in faith and works without any outward guidance of the Church and hierarchy.

In conclusion the Apostle again urges Christians to abide in Jesus Christ. At the same time he reminds them that He will come a second time. Therefore Christians have a double need to live righteously.

First, they must meet Him fearlessly and worthily. Second, they must in general be truly like Him, His real offspring (see 2 Cor 5:17).

What the holy Apostle John wrote for the believers of his time, he also wrote for us. He wrote so that we too might have communion with the Apostles, and through them with God the Father and His Son.

He wrote so that we might keep God's commandments, hold the holy apostolic faith firmly and unchangeably, possess spiritual joy, and truly hope to inherit eternal life through the merits of our Savior.