NOTES for Jo1 1:5-2:2
Even before Christian times, the path of righteousness was the chief goal of all who sought God and communion with Him. In every age, those who followed this path understood that righteousness is not a human achievement. God alone is righteous. A human being can be righteous, but righteousness is not inherent in human beings. It is neither a human property nor a human quality.
It is not something inherent in us. It is a state in which a person may abide. Or may not. But a person can abide in it only in spite of their own sins. Their own nature, corrupted by sin. In spite of that corruption, which can be overcome only through God's direct intervention in one's own life. Yet before Christ came into the world, human possibilities were limited. After all, we are speaking of fallen human beings living in a fallen world. God, of course, helps everyone who seeks the path of righteousness. But the whole of nature, both human nature itself and the natural world surrounding us, opposes anyone who wishes to follow that path. Hence the objective limitations.
A person cannot, by their own efforts, even with God's help, fully overcome the consequences of the Fall. This requires a special effort on God's part, a particular act of His. It is precisely this act that is carried out by the Messiah whom He has sent. Christ. The Saviour. The Saviour because He opens the way into the Kingdom to everyone who seeks it and makes the fullness of a righteous life possible. A fullness inconceivable without the transformation of human nature and its liberation from the power of sin. For now, however, during this transitional period, sin has not yet entirely left our lives.
For we live in the age of the coming Kingdom. An age when it is already here, close to us, but has not yet been revealed in all its fullness. If we deceive ourselves by assuring ourselves and others that sin is no longer part of us, we risk losing the possibilities that have opened up. To fail to notice our sins is a serious spiritual error. But to fail to notice the possibilities that come with the nearness of the Kingdom is an even greater error. The apostle advises us to avoid both errors, so that we may reach the end of the journey and find the life of the Kingdom in all its fullness.