"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2
Some men want to try and tell us that this verse means that Jesus is the propitiation, or reconciliation, for the sins of the whole world, meaning each and every single person that has or ever will live. But that is not what this verse is saying. This false conclusion, derived from the practice of eisegesis, a reading into the Scripture what one wants to find there, is the result of using and relying heavily upon a Reference Bible and having the false assumption that each verse is the Word of God in and of itself.
Imagine you wrote several therapeutic letters throughout your life to various groups and individuals. After you had died, people could only find thirteen of your letters; nine to groups and four to individuals. Because none of your letters were dated, they organized them by groups and individuals according to length. Years later, someone decided to add verses to your letters for easy reference. From that point on, people would use the same verses to try and prove different things.
This is what has happened with the Bible.
Individual verses in and of themselves are not the Word of God. It is the Word of God as a whole, in its appropriate context. A verse does not, and cannot, stand alone. With the exception of Proverbs. You cannot rip individual randomly isolated verses of Scripture out of their context and try to tie them together with other individual randomly isolated verses of Scripture (like the two verses we looked at yesterday) to try and create your own man made doctrine.
The authors of the Bible did not write their books and letters with chapters and verses. In order to appreciate the Bible better, it is important that you read from a Reader's Bible. This way you can see the original structures each author implemented within their books and letters, as well as the various themes. Once you see what each book and letter actually has to say, you will be unable to pervert the Scriptures the way you have been ever again. Unless you do so willfully, which will heap condemnation upon condemnation upon your own head.
Who was John writing to? He was writing to believers, but more specifically he was writing to those who were the recipient of his letter. When he says "not for ours only," he is speaking of himself and those who he has written to. When he writes, "but also for those of the whole world," he is speaking of those who have embraced the Gospel by faith in all places and in all ages.
The definitions for the word kosmos (κοσμος), translated as "world" in our Bibles, are as follows:
- an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.
- ornament, decoration, adornment, i.e. the arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts', as the ornament of the heavens.
- the world, the universe.
- the circle of the earth, the earth.
- the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family.
- the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ.
- world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly.
- the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.
- any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.
- the Gentiles as contrasted to the Jews (Rom. 11:12 etc).
- of believers only, John 1:29; 3:16; 3:17; 6:33; 12:47; 1 Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19.
Here are some passages of Scripture that demonstrate how the word
"world" is used throughout Scripture. It is definitively conclusive that
"world" cannot be argued to mean "all men without exception." Such is a
false, unbiblical teaching.
Nahum 1:5 (Septuagint) - all of creation
Matthew 13:38 - all men; some who are children of God, and some who are children of Satan
Matthew 24:14 - all nations
John 7:7 - unbelievers
John 12:19 - many men...though not all men...of a certain region
John 14:15 - hardened unbelievers
John 15:19 - everyone besides believers
Acts 17:6 - the civilized world
Romans 10:18 - all parts of the earth, but not every single individual
1 Corinthians 4:9 - everyone who saw the disciples
Galatians 6:14 - the earthly, sensual pleasures of life
James 3:6 - a variety of all kinds
1 Peter 5:9 - the general population
2 Peter 2:5 - the ungodly
1 John 3:1 - unbelievers
Revelation 13:3 - some from every nation (but not any believers)
To try and argue that 1 John 2:2 means "each and every single person on the face of the planet" is to believe in and teach Universalism. Again, try following your beliefs to their ultimate conclusion. Whether you think it is "fair" or not for God to not offer salvation to all people is not for you to decide. You should be thankful that God allowed you to even receive it. The truth of the matter is that none of us deserve it. If God decided to send each and every single one of us to Hell, and allow Jesus to retain His sacrifice unto Himself, God would be just in so doing. God is not obligated to save any one of us. He does so for His good pleasure and for His glory. He will receive glory, likewise, for every person in Hell because justice has been met. If you do not like that, then perhaps you should seriously question whether you are a genuine Christian or not. God is sovereign over His creation and can do whatever He chooses with it, and He answers to no one for what He does, nor does He commit sin by so doing. He is the potter, we are the clay. He can do with each one of us whatever He so desires. If this is not your God, the God of the Bible, then you worship a different god, one of your making after your image. Beware!