2:28 John introduced the new idea of the believer's meeting Jesus Christ at death or the Rapture to motivate his readers to continue to cultivate intimate fellowship with God. The prospect of this meeting remained the basis for John's instruction through 4:19.
"If"might better be "whenever."The fact of the Lord's appearing is certain even though its time is indefinite.100John meant that Christ's return for His own might be while his readers were still alive.101"Confidence"(Gr. parresia) is freedom or boldness of speech that comes as a result of a clear conscience. John's idea was that if we walk in fellowship with God now we will not feel embarrassed to meet Him whenever we see Him (cf. Mark 8:38). The prospect of our seeing Jesus Christ one day soon should motivate us to abide in Him now (cf. James 5:8).
"This verse makes the transition from concern about false teachers to concern for the children of God."102
2:29 Because God is righteous every abiding child of God will demonstrate righteous behavior. Righteous action is a mark of the Father that God reproduces in every abiding Christian just as surely as every child does some things like the physical parent he or she seeks to imitate. We intellectually know that God is righteous from Scripture. However we experientially come to know that certain people are abiding Christians by the righteous works they do. The facts that some unrighteous people behave righteously and some righteous people behave wickedly do not vitiate this point.
