1 JOHN 2: 18-23
CHRISTIANS AND ANTICHRISTS
Have you heard the statement, “It makes no difference what you believe, just as long as you are sincere!” That statement expresses the personal philosophy of many people today, but it’s doubtful whether most of those who make it have really thought it through. Is sincerity the magic ingredient that makes something true? If so, then you ought to be able to apply it to any area of life, and not only to religion.
Suppose a nurse in a hospital gave some medicine to a patient that makes them violently ill. She was sincere about wanting to help but the medicine is wrong and the patient almost dies.
Suppose a father was sleeping one night and heard a noise and decided a burglar was in the home. He shoots the burglar who turns out to be his daughter who had gotten up to get a bite to eat. The father sincerely thought he was shooting a burglar.
It takes more than sincerity to make something true. Faith in a lie will always cause serious consequences. Faith in the truth is never misplaced. It does make a difference what you believe! If a man wants to drive from Chicago to New York, no amount of sincerity will get him there if the highway is taking him to Las Angeles. The Christian who is real builds his life on truth, not superstition or lies. It is impossible to live a life that is truly spiritual by believing lies. That’s why it is essential to get our thinking right about Jesus Christ (CIT). [Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol 2. Victor Books. Wheaton, IL. 1989. P 497.]
I. LAST HOUR ANTICHRISTS, 18.
II. ANOINTING’S KNOWLEDGE, 19-21.
III. DENY OR CONFESS THE SON, 22-23.
When FBI agents train bank tellers to identify counterfeit bills, they show them both fake money and real money, and they study both. To detect a counterfeit problem, they must look for the differences in the genuine bill compared to the counterfeit-and not the similarities.
In 1 John 2, the apostle John helps to protect believers from heresy by showing them examples of counterfeit Christians and teachers. Verse 18 teaches that a sign of the last days is the coming of many antichrists. “Children, it is a last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is a last hour.”
Again John addresses all his readers as children (paidaia). He informs them that “it is the last hour.” [The word eschaton is here translated “last.” In Greek eschaton means last or final. The word is used extensively in Revelation (1:17; ).] The emphasis is not that a definite time is here but that a time with certain characteristics is here. John is talking about the time between Christ’s first and second comings. This is a time when anti-Christs, false teachers who are false Christians attempt to lure away weak Christians from Christ, arise or begin propagating their teaching.
The last days began in John’s day [about a.d. 70] and has been growing in intensity ever since. All history since that time is a preparation for the end, when Christ will come and establish His kingdom.
A sign that the last days have arrived is that many antichrists, or those that oppose Christ, or claim to be Christ, are present. The word anti in Greek is “against,” or “opposite.” As a preposition it means “instead of,” “in the place of” (e.g. Mt 2:22; Lk. 11:11). Literally translated it would mean, “against Christ” or “in place of Christ.” John may intend by this word antichristos not only those false teachers who are adversaries of Jesus Christ but also the those who are counterfeit christs (Mt. 24:24).
He openly labeled them "antichrists," meaning “those who are against Christ.”
A sign that the very last hour or the final days before Christ returns are here is that the Anti-christ, the Satanic Superman, the ultimate enemy will arise (see 2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 13:1-10; 19:20; 20:10). He is a world leader so cunning, so clever, and so charismatic that he will actually take the place of Christ in the minds of many people.
The Bible calls him Antichrist with a capital A. He claims for himself the honor that rightly belongs to Christ (Rev. 13). His appearance means we are running on the brink, the knife’s edge, of Christ’s second coming.
These anti-Christs not only attack from without but mislead from within by usurping the place or authority of Christ. We do not need to fear these evil people for the Holy Spirit shows us their errors, so we will not be deceived. However, we must teach God’s Word clearly and carefully to the peripheral, weak members among us so that they won’t fall prey to these teachers who "come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Matthew 7:15).
II. THE ANOINTING’S KNOWLEDGE, 19-21.
Certainly, it’s a loss to be given counterfeit money, but it’s a terrible tragedy to be given a counterfeit gospel by counterfeit teachers! An it is happening more and more in America.
A telephone DIRECTORY INFORMATION SERVICE released figures [2011] stating that out of 20 million recent callers, those wanting information about churches and religious organizations fell by 24 percent, whereas calls for mediums, palm readers and other "spiritual services" jumped 161 percent. In the midst of the current economic crisis and long-term uncertainty, people are seeking reassurance that things will be all right. Everything people have put their trust in is being shaken, but they are not necessarily turning to the Church for answers. [Have we put too much focus on maintaining the Church as an institution, instead of investing in a quality of shared life that provokes a desire to be part of it?]
Fascination with the paranormal continues to grow, and there are plenty who are willing to act as "spiritual guides." This isn’t new.
In verse 19 John confronts those who had once belonged to the early Church but had tragically chosen to go their own way. “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.”
To the tests of real Christians already laid down - the test or evidence of obedience and the test of love - the test of perseverance is added. Those that are in Christ persevere. Continuance with Christ is a test of the reality of being “in Christ” (Phil. 1:6) The word us refers to members of the local church. Those that went out from them are those that follow antichrist teachings. They were merely members of a local organized church on earth and not members of the universal church, the mystical body of Christ composed of all true believers down through the ages.
An apostate is an unsaved person who for a while mentally agreed with the doctrines of the Christian faith then later rejects those doctrines. Usually this falling away is because of persecution or hostility toward the faith. These counterfeit Christians did not remain in the church fellowship. John is concerned that his readers would not be shaken in their faith by the falling away of former acquaintances and associates.
Thus John tells us we can recognize those who have been seduced by the spirit of antichrist as those who say, “Forget the church. I’m not interested in the body of Christ. I can experience Christ on my own.” Linked to no one, accountable to no one, they not only depart from the fellowship, but, as seen in verses 20–25, they deny the faith [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson’s Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 1621]
This spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:3) will leave a fellowship if the Word of God is continually taught or if persecution comes because of Christ. Any group which separates out from a local church that believes the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God must automatically be suspect. Now just because a person remains in a Bible believing church doesn’t mean that person is saved but it is an evidence of salvation. In His Parable of the Soils Jesus makes it clear only those who produce good fruit are born again.
What about you? Are you a Christ-centered believer who bears the fruit of a loyal and trustworthy follower of Jesus?
Verse 20 informs us that we are well fortified against the antichrists since we have an anointing from the Holy One. “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.”
Anointing is chrisma from chrio, from which christos, the anointed one or Christ also comes. The anointing significance is not so much the act, which is once in time with continuing results, but what is used for the anointing, the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy One, Christ anoints with the Holy Spirit. When you came to true belief in the Holy One, you were born again by the Holy Spirit who remains in your life so that you know (oida) absolutely and finally that Jesus is the Christ.
A key word is all. Every single believer has a spiritual perception that enables them to know that the Holy One who saved them is Jesus. When you possess the Spirit of Truth, He will diligently attempt to lead the yielded believer into all truth and confirms in the believer that he or she is a child of God.
Verse 21 teaches us that Spirit anointed faithful believers know or perceive the truth. “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.”
What a reassuring thought it is that we as believers, because of the anointing, know the truth. When a person becomes a Christian, he or she receives the Holy Spirit. One way the Holy Spirit helps the believer and the church is communicating truth. Jesus is the absolute truth of God. People who are opposed to Christ are opposed to His truth. They tend to fabricate their own "truth." The literal thought here is that truth must be unmixed with any error for it to be considered truth.
A lie is a lie. Truth is truth. The most vicious of all lies is one which contains an element of truth. Many lies seek to gain entrance on the coattails of a bit of truth.
People who are opposed to Christ are also opposed to His truth, and the Holy Spirit is not working in their lives. When we are led by the Spirit, we can stand against false teachers and the Antichrist.
Ask the Spirit to guide you each day (see 2:27) and follow the truth He reveals to you.
III. DENY OR CONFESS THE SON, 22-23.
Verse 22 proclaims that the antichrists are liars for they deny that Jesus is God’s Son the appointed Savior of the World. “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.”
The one that denies that Jesus is the Messiah is the representative liar. No matter what else they may know if they err in this most essential of all truth, they will be living a lie and misleading people about the absolute truth of life.
John further contends that the Antichrist is the one who denies the Father and the Son. They may start denying the virgin birth and end up denying the Word of God. They call Jesus a prophet, a great moral teacher or one of the many ways to heaven but deny the very heart of the gospel (John 4:29, 42; 20:31).
So here “antichrist” is a reference to those who, in denying the full deity or Jesus, make Him out to be less than He declared Himself to be when He claimed to be God Himself (John 10:30)
In the span of 7 days he won the hearts of a bus load of people. They were visiting the Holy Land, and the personable man was our TOUR GUIDE. Each day he greeted them with his winning smile, clever sense of humor, and incredible knowledge of Israel. From the story of Abraham and Isaac to the account of Jesus’ resurrection, our guide had it all down.
Yet as the week went by, people began to ask, "Is he a believer?" "Does he know Jesus?" Sadly, the answer was no. He knew the Bible better than most Christians. He daily walked where Jesus had. He had been giving tours to Christians for years. But he didn’t know his Messiah.
Could that be your situation? Could you have a knowledge of God and His Son Jesus in your head but not have Him in your heart? Tragically, it’s not all that unusual.
The words in 1 John 2:22 seem harsh: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” But the truth is that knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him. We must acknowledge Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt. 16:16). We must accept His forgiveness for our sins and enter into a personal relationship with Him.
Have you trusted Jesus? Or is your knowledge of Him in your head but not in your heart? Do you have a daily living relationship with Him?
Our Christology or what we believe about Christ is everything. Verse 23 clearly teaches that unless we confess Jesus Christ as the true God, we don’t have the Father either. “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
This denial involves also a denial of the Father. Any claim they might make to having the Father’s approval is false. One cannot have the Father without the Son. To reject One is to reject the Other .
So after branding the one who denies the deity of Jesus of Nazareth as seen in His unique sonship in relation to God the Father as the Antichrist, John proceeds to show their true relationship to the God whom they professes to worship. He says: "Everyone who denies the Son, does not even have the Father." That is, the Modernist who professes to worship the God of the Bible, and who at the same time rejects His Son as very God of very God, does not possess a saving relationship to the God he professes to worship. He is not His child, not a Christian, but an unsaved individual.
John says: "The one who confesses the Son, also has the Father." The word confess is homologeo, "to speak the same thing that another does," hence, "to agree with that person." Thus, the word refers here to the act of a person agreeing with what the Bible teaches regarding the unique sonship of Jesus of Nazareth with respect to God as His Father. He is the Messiah, the Savior of the World. The One and only way to heaven is through repentance and belief in His life, death, resurrection and return.
Apparently the antichrists in John’s day were claiming faith in God while denying and opposing Christ. To do so, John firmly states is impossible. Because Jesus is God’s Son and the Messiah, to deny Christ is to reject God’s way of revealing Himself to the world. A person who accepts Christ as God’s Son, however, accepts God the Father at the same time. The two are one and cannot be separated. Many cultists today call themselves Christians, but they deny that Jesus is divine. We must expose these heresies and oppose such teachings so that the weak believers among us do not succumb to their deceptive teachings.
In CONCLUSION
You cannot know God the Father without first coming to know God the Son. Jesus is not merely a great moral teacher orone1 of many saviors of this or other worlds. He is the One and only Eternal Savior, God’s only Christ, God’s only Messiah.
The Anti-Christ works at infusing his lies into society. As people believe his palatable tasty lies they prove that they have not the anointing of the Holy One. Christ anoints us with the Holy Spirit that we might know Him & know the truth. If you know the truth you will not fall away into the ease of acceptable falsehoods.
Do you know the truth? Or are you being swayed by more acceptable lies?
Friend if you are sincerely mistaken today, its time to do something about it. Your sincerity will not be sufficient if you have chosen to believe the lie. Come today and encounter Him who is truth & you will have the anointing that will teach you truth and make you true.
Merciful Lord, as we study Your Word each day, may we grow strong in the truth, able to resist all falsehood. I pray for Your Spirit to lead any Christians tempted to stray into "spiritualist" paths and for readiness to share Your truth with all sincere seekers.
We pray for Christians reaching out to people at New Age festivals, spiritualist churches and clairvoyants. For those seeking to reach Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims and Buddhist. Help us to share the true knowledge of God in an understandable way with “spiritual seekers.”
