18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Commentary
Vs. 18 “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
Here the last hour refers to not a literal hour, but the last hour of God’s timetable before He wraps up history, and thus this world, and sets up his Everlasting Kingdom with all of His redeemed people. Therefore, the Apostle John in addressing God’s children everywhere now warns us of the Antichrist who is coming before the Lord’s Return (see 2 Thess. 2:1-9), but who is now also at work in this world through his own false teachers (i.e., antichrists), which have come, and who will continue to come, and rise up and propagate great distortions about and lies against the Truth until the Lord returns (Matt. 24:24), and so by this we know that it is the last hour (2 Tim. 2:14-4:6).
Vs. 19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out
that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”
Sadly, though they began with us, they soon found faults with God and us, and so they went out from us, not heeding the Word of God anymore, only to return to the world from which they came, to the world where they feel most comfortable in. And so, though the passage here speaks of false teachers who thus go out to begin all kinds of sects and cults, it also reveals false brethren, for in going out from us they never were saved, they never were born-again, they never were children of God. For no true believer will deny any part of God nor His Word. Nor will they be agonistic or hostile or irreverent towards His Person, His people, and especially His Words truths. Indeed, no true believer feels complete or satisfied apart from fellowship with God, His Word, and His people. Therefore, the Apostle John says if they were of us, they would’ve continued on with us, which is not just occupying a seat in the congregation, (which any unbeliever can do), but rather it is continuing on in the beliefs and truths and especially the love and grace of God that we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ all have and share and hold fast and dear too. For God and His Word is our exceedingly great reward and treasure. For it is His Son Jesus Christ and His salvation for us all who believe in Him who is our everlasting inheritance!
Vs. 20 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.”
The anointing of the Holy Spirit speaks of the priestly anointing that
Aaron and his sons bore as ministers of the Old Covenant, (thus qualifying them
to serve as priests of it), but here it refers to each and every believer who
has been anointed by the Holy Spirit so as to be able to discern the Word of
God for themselves (1 Peter 2:9).
Vs. 21 “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
The Apostle John having affirmed each and every believer’s ability to discern the Word of God for themselves (also see 1 John 2:26-27), he now tells us to use that discernment, to reject every doctrine that anyone expounds which is contrary to the Word of God, since no lie is of the truth. This then is our responsibility to not only personally reject them, but also to speak up and refute every false doctrine, and every deceiver and false teachers lies and deceptions, and not let them introduce their lies and deceptions into the congregation, and thus sow doubts and discord amongst brethren.
Vs. 22-23 “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
Here the Apostle John clearly refutes an early apostasy, that is refuting those liars who deny that Jesus is the Christ, that is God’s Messiah. Similarly, there are those who then, and even now, who deny God the Father and God the Son, thus denying their Person and Relationship, which again the Apostle Paul rightly calls all who do so antichrist, for they bear his spirit, not God’s Spirit. Therefore, the Apostle John makes it plain and clear that anyone who denies the Son (any aspect of His Person), does not have the Father, whether an individual, or a cult group such as the Jehovah witnesses. That said John then rightly affirms that everyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. For to deny the Lord Jesus Christ God’s Messiah and Son is not to have either Him nor God the Father, for they are inseparable (consider John 8:19, 42; 14:7 etc.).
Scripture Quotations
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