Lesson sequence
1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate
1 John 2:1–6; 1 John 2:7–14; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 John 2:18–23; 1 John 2:24–29
John writes with both warning and comfort. He wants his readers not to sin, yet he also points them to Jesus Christ when sin does occur. He then shows that real knowledge of him is seen in obedient living. This lesson also brings together A New Commandment, Do Not Love the World, Beware of Antichrists, Remain in Christ.
Before you teach
In these verses, John explains why he is writing, names Jesus Christ as righteous and the atoning sacrifice for sins, and gives clear tests for claims about knowing him or remaining in him. His focus is on commandments, God’s word, and walking as Jesus walked.
Describe the central teaching of 1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate, using two details from the reading. Jesus Christ helps sinners before the Father, and this passage says that truly knowing him is shown by obedient living. This passage teaches that remaining in the light is shown by loving a brother, while John also strengthens his readers by reminding them of forgiveness, knowledge and victory already named in the letter. This passage teaches that love for the world and its desires does not belong to the Father, and that doing God’s will is the lasting path. This passage teaches that denying Jesus as the Christ means denying the Son and so not having the Father. This passage teaches that remaining in what was heard from the beginning is bound up with remaining in the Son and the Father, awaiting his coming with boldness, and practising righteousness.
Your lesson sequence
Use the teaching outline below for each session, with these reading and activity choices.
Jesus Our Advocate
1 John 2:1–6
Jesus Christ helps sinners before the Father, and this passage says that truly knowing him is shown by obedient living.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for 1 John 2:1–6. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
A New Commandment
1 John 2:7–14
This passage teaches that remaining in the light is shown by loving a brother, while John also strengthens his readers by reminding them of forgiveness, knowledge and victory already named in the letter.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for 1 John 2:7–14. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Do Not Love the World
1 John 2:15–17
This passage teaches that love for the world and its desires does not belong to the Father, and that doing God’s will is the lasting path.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for 1 John 2:15–17. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Beware of Antichrists
1 John 2:18–23
This passage teaches that denying Jesus as the Christ means denying the Son and so not having the Father.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for 1 John 2:18–23. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Remain in Christ
1 John 2:24–29
This passage teaches that remaining in what was heard from the beginning is bound up with remaining in the Son and the Father, awaiting his coming with boldness, and practising righteousness.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for 1 John 2:24–29. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Welcome: 1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate
4 minIntroduce “Jesus Our Advocate”, “A New Commandment”, “Do Not Love the World”, “Beware of Antichrists”, “Remain in Christ” and locate 1 John 2:1–6; 1 John 2:7–14; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 John 2:18–23; 1 John 2:24–29. Jesus Christ helps sinners before the Father, and this passage says that truly knowing him is shown by obedient living. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for. Choose the reading for today’s session from the sequence above.
1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 2:6
Read and explain the passage
8 minJesus Our Advocate (1 John 2:1–6): John warmly calls his readers “my little children” and says he writes so that they may not sin. That is his clear aim. Yet he also gives hope: if anyone sins, “we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous”. Jesus’ help is tied to his righteous character.
A New Commandment (1 John 2:7–14): John first says he is not writing a new commandment, but an old one his readers had heard from the beginning. Then he says he is writing a new commandment, true in him and in you. He explains this with the picture that darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
Do Not Love the World (1 John 2:15–17): The passage begins with a command: “Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world.” It then gives a serious contrast. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him. The verse presses readers to think carefully about where their love is directed.
Beware of Antichrists (1 John 2:18–23): The writer says, “these are the end times” and “the final hour”. The reason given is not only something the readers had heard about Antichrist coming, but what is happening now: “many antichrists have arisen”. In this passage, their presence is presented as a sign of the final hour.
Remain in Christ (1 John 2:24–29): The passage opens with a command to let what they heard from the beginning remain in them. The writer repeats the word remain to stress steadiness. If what they heard from the beginning remains in them, they will remain in the Son and in the Father. The verse ties abiding with God to what they first heard.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Jesus Our Advocate”, “A New Commandment”, “Do Not Love the World”, “Beware of Antichrists”, “Remain in Christ”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:7, 1 John 2:8, 1 John 2:15, 1 John 2:18, 1 John 2:24
Discuss the details and their meaning
6 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What are the two parts of John’s message in verse 1?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that remaining in what was heard from the beginning is bound up with remaining in the Son and the Father, awaiting his coming with boldness, and practising righteousness. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:17, 1 John 2:25, 1 John 2:26
Make and respond: Message and response chart
9 minWork on “1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate: Message and response chart”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Jesus Our Advocate”, “A New Commandment”, “Do Not Love the World”, “Beware of Antichrists”, “Remain in Christ” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:15, 1 John 2:29
Closing: return to Remain in Christ
3 minRevisit 1 John 2:24–29. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Remain in Christ and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
1 John 2:24, 1 John 2:27, 1 John 2:29
Questions to explore
What are the two parts of John’s message in verse 1?
Look for both the purpose of writing, “so that you may not sin”, and the comfort given if anyone sins.
1 John 2:1
What different futures are given for the world and for the person who does God’s will?
Compare the words “passing away” and “remains forever” in the final verse.
1 John 2:17
Why does the writer say these things have been written?
Look at the warning about people who would lead them astray, and read it beside the promise of eternal life.
1 John 2:25, 1 John 2:26
Make, think or respond
1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate: Message and response chart
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- coloured pencils or crayons
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Instruction or encouragement”, “Reason given”, “Verse reference”.
- Read 1 John 2:1–6; 1 John 2:7–14; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 John 2:18–23. Use “Jesus Our Advocate”, “A New Commandment”, “Do Not Love the World”, “Beware of Antichrists” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Talk through your notes with an adult. Add a word, drawing or short quotation that helps you remember each part.
- Choose one instruction or encouragement and write a practical response, explaining its connection with the reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of 1 John 2: Jesus Our Advocate connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, read the selected verses aloud, prepare the three panels and let them respond with drawings or a few words. Use Jesus Our Advocate as the retelling prompt.
- For older children, add verse references to the response sheet and explain a connection between Jesus Our Advocate and the final part of the reading.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read 1 John 2:1–6; 1 John 2:7–14; 1 John 2:15–17; 1 John 2:18–23; 1 John 2:24–29. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
1 John 2
1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
2 And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
4 One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
5 But God’s love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him:
6 he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.
7 Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
8 Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.
10 He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
17 The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
18 Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.
25 This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
28 Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.