Witherington on 1 John 2.2

In his recent book Letters And Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy And 1-3 John, Ben Witherington says this about 1 John 2.2:

"In any event, we must note that the verb tense is present continual: Jesus is now, and always will be, the believer's offering for sin. But notice the stress that Jesus' atoning death was not merely for the sins of believers, but for the sins of the world. He is not the Saviour merely of the community, but of the world - a thought developed futher in 1 John 4:9-14, showing that a narrowly sectarian reading of the soteriology in 1 John is wrong."

"In the end, it is not an either/or matter, for both propitiation and expiation are necessary to take care of the sin problem and reconcile God and humankind. And the marvel is that the advocate is propitiator, expiator and propitiation all in one."