1 JOHN 2
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1 JOHN 2
OPENS WITH...HINDRANCES TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
Verse 1a The purpose of John in writing this letter: that you may not sin.
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.”
These things I write to you, that you may not sin…
1 John 1:8 makes it clear that sin is a fact (at least an occasional fact) in the life of the Christian.
1 John 1:9 makes it clear that there is always forgiveness for confessed sin TO JESUS.
Yet, John wants it also to be clear that the Christian should be concerned about sin.
One reason in writing this letter was that you may not sin.
1 John 1:8 John previously rebuked the idea that we can become sinlessly perfect.
God does NOT make the believer sin.
That you may not sin…
This is God's desire for the believer. If sin is inevitable for us, it is not because God has decreed that we must sin. All the resources for spiritual victory are ours in Jesus Christ and that resource is NEVER withdrawn.
John addresses this because of the issue of relationship with God (1 John 1:3), and the fact that sin can break our fellowship with God (1 John 1:6). He wants to make it clear that God has NOT made a system where we must break fellowship with Him through sin. God promises that one day the flesh WILL be perfected through resurrection.
Verses 1b-2 Tells us HELP for the sinner and the restoration of fellowship.
“And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
We have an Advocate…
God's desire is that you may not sin. Yet if we do, there IS provision made- an Advocate, a defense lawyer on our side. Our Advocate is Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus is our defender, even when we sin now. God is not shocked by human behavior. He has seen it all in advance. God did NOT forgive US at one time to later say, "Look what they did now! If I would have known they would go and do that, I would have never forgiven them."
God’s forgiveness is available to us now.
SATAN, THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN, WE KNOW RUNS TO HEAVEN EACH AND EVERY TIME WE SIN TO ACCUSE US AND SEEK OUR CONDEMNATION AND DEMAND THAT WE ARE TURNED OVER TO HIM.
It is as if we stand as the accused in the heavenly court, before our righteous Judge, God the Father. Our Advocate stands up to answer the charges: "He is completely guilty your honor. In fact, he has even done worse than what he is accused of, and now makes full and complete confession before You."
The gavel slams, and the Judge asks, "what should his sentence be?"
Our Advocate answers, "His sentence shall be death; he deserves the full wrath of this righteous court."
All along, our accuser Satan, is having great fun at all this. We are guilty! We admit our guilt! We see our punishment!
But then, our Advocate asks to approach the bench. As he draws close to the Judge, he simply says: "Dad, this one belongs to Me. I paid his price. I took the wrath and punishment from this court that he deserves."
The gavel sounds again, and the Judge cries out, "Guilty as charged! Penalty satisfied!"
SATAN, Our accuser starts going crazy. "Aren't you even going to put him on probation?" "No!" the Judge shouts. "The penalty has been completely paid by My Son. There is nothing to put him on probation for."
Then the Judge turns to our Advocate, and says, "Son, you said this one belongs to You. I release him into Your care. Case closed!"
REVELATION 12:10 TELLS US SATAN HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, EVERY TIME A CHRISTIAN SINS AND EVERY SINGLE TIME, FOR THOSE OF US WHO LOVE JESUS CHRIST, THIS IS THE SAME OUTCOME.
SATAN LOSES. YET SATAN IN HIS INSANITY, IN HIS FURY, AND IN HIS ABSOLUTE BELIEF THAT HE CAN CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME THING BEFORE HIS GOD AND JESUS CHRIST AND RECEIVE A DIFFERENT VERDICT...AND EVERY TIME HE LOSES.
DOWN THROUGH HISTORY AND TO THE PRESENT DAY, WE HAVE SEEN PEOPLE, GREAT AND SMALL, WHO DO THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH, AND REFUSE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND THEY HOWL AND RAGE BECAUSE THEY RECEIVE THE SAME OUTCOME.
NOW WE KNOW WHERE THAT MINDSET ORIGINATED...
We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins…
This means that Jesus is the one who atones for and takes away our sins, and not only our sins, but also the sins of the whole world.
And not for ours only but also for the whole world…
Though Jesus made His propitiation for the whole world, yet the whole world is NOT saved and in fellowship with God. This is because atonement does NOT equal forgiveness.
The Old Testament Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:34) demonstrates this, when the sin of all Israel was atoned for, COVERED every year at the day of Atonement, yet NOT all people of Israel was saved.
The words "but also for the whole world" announce to the world that God has taken care of the sin problem by the propitiation of Jesus Christ. Sin need not be a barrier between God and man, if man WILL EACH RECEIVE the propitiation God has provided in Jesus.
Verses 3-6 tells us The FRUIT of fellowship.
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
Now by this we know that we know Him…
The evidence of someone knowing God, and fellowship with Him is that they keep His commandments. A simple, loving obedience is a natural result of fellowship with God.
God changes the heart at conversion and writes His law upon our heart.
JOHN TELLS US...Mark it, when one becomes a Christian, there IS a change in their relationship with sin. Sin is NOT eliminated in the believer until he WALKS THROUGH THE GATES OF HEAVEN, IN OTHER WORDS, comes to glory, but their relationship to sin is changed when they truly become a Christian.
1. A Christian no longer loves sin as he once did.
2. A Christian no longer brags about their sin as he once did.
3. A Christian no longer plans to sin as he once did.
4. A Christian no longer fondly remembers his sin as he once did.
5. A Christian never fully enjoys his sin as he once did.
6. A Christian no longer is comfortable in habitual sin as he once was.
To walk just as He walked…
SOME WRONGLY THINK THIS MEANS LITERALLY...BUT IT MEANS WE ARE NOT CALLED to imitate the way Jesus walked on water, but His every-day walk with God the Father.
BOICE says it well, "The point here is that the one who knows God will increasingly lead a righteous life, for God is righteous. It does not mean that he will be sinless; John has already shown that anyone who claims this is lying. It simply means that he will be moving in a direction marked out by the righteousness of God. If he does not do this, if he is not increasingly dissatisfied with and distressed by sin, he is not God's child."
Verses 7-11 tells us The absolute imperative of love.
“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
Brethren, I write no new commandment to you … a new commandment I write to you…
The new commandment to love that Jesus spoke of in John 13:34 was really new for several reasons. One of the most important reasons was that Jesus displayed a kind of love never seen before, a love we were to imitate.
The cross points in FOUR directions to show that the love of Jesus is:
1. Wide enough to include every human being.
2. Long enough to last through all eternity.
3. Deep enough to reach the most guilty sinner.
4. High enough to take us to heaven.
This is a NEW love, a love the world had never really seen before the work of Jesus on the cross.
Just as our relationship to sin and obedience is a measure of our fellowship with God, so also is our love for God's people. If we say that we are in the light yet hate our brother, then our claim to fellowship with the God who is light (1 John 1:5) is hollow. But the one who does love his brother shows that he abides in the light and is not stumbling.
It seems plain that the expression here is NOT the same as 'his neighbor,' seeing that John is writing TO Christians, and treating of their fellowship with one another.
Sometimes it is easy to think, "Following Jesus would be easy if it weren't for all the Christians." And many, many Christians live as the walking wounded, crippled by the scars other Christians have inflicted on them. Yet this measure still stands.
If we can't love each other, then we have no way to claim a real love for God. Our relationship with God can be measured by our love for other Christians.
On the one hand, God is merciful in requiring this, because we are measured by how we love other Christians, not those who are not Christians.
The point is plain. If we lose love then we lose everything. There is nothing left. You can do all the right things, believe all the right truths, but if you do not love other Christians then all is lost. The three tests- moral, doctrinal, and love- all stand together, like the legs on a three-legged stool.
Remember that hatred can also be expressed by indifference; true love will demonstrate itself for one another.
We can be sure that John himself lived this life of love, but he was NOT always this way. John himself learned love at this point, for early in his life he was known as one of the "sons of thunder."
LUKE 9:54, John once wanted to call down fire from heaven upon those who rejected Jesus.
JOHN SPEAKS OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY.
Verse 12 tells us Little children, who have their sins forgiven.
“I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.”
I write to you, little children…
We each begin the Christian life as little children. When we are in this state spiritually, it is enough for us to know and be amazed at the forgiveness of our sins and all it took for God to forgive us righteously in Jesus Christ.
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake…
This is something to rejoice in. If we do not rejoice in this, something is wrong.
We probably fail to see the badness of our sin and the greatness of His forgiveness. When we see how great our sin is, and how great the cost was to gain us forgiveness, we are obsessed with gratitude at having been forgiven.
Little children…
This forgiveness is the special joy of God's little children, because God's forgiveness does NOT come by degrees. Even the youngest Christian is completely forgiven. They will never be "more forgiven." Forgiveness is God's gift, NOT man's achievement.
Note it well: forgiven you for His name's sake. The reasons for forgiveness are NOT found in us, but in God.
Verse 13a tells Fathers, who have an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
“I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.”
I write to you, fathers…
Just as surely as there are little children, there are also fathers. These are men and women of deep, long spiritual standing. They have the kind of walk with God that does NOT come overnight. These are like great oak trees in the Lord, that have grown big and strong DAY BY DAY, through the years.
You have known Him…
This is what spiritual maturity has its roots in; NOT so much in an intellectual knowledge (though that is a part of it), but more so in the depth of fellowship and relationship we have with Jesus. There is NO substitute for years and years of an experiential relationship with Jesus.
Verse 13b tells us Young men, who have known spiritual victory.
“I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.”
I write to you, young men…
As much as there are little children and fathers, so also there are young men. These are men and women who are no longer little children, but still not yet fathers. They are the "front-line" of God's work among His people.
Because you have overcome the wicked one…
They are engaged in battle with the wicked one. We do NOT send our little children out to war, and we do NOT send our old men to the front lines. The greatest effort, the greatest cost, and the greatest strength are expected of the young men.
For this reason, many have sought to stay in spiritual childhood as long as possible. This is wrong. It is like being a draft-dodger or a vagrant. We expect children to not fight in wars and to be supported by others, but we do NOT expect it of adults.
Overcome the wicked one…
These young men have overcome the spiritual foes that would seek to destroy their spiritual life. They know what it is to battle against Satan and his emissaries as a partner with God.
Verse 13c tells us Little children, who know the Father.
“I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.”
Because you have known the Father…
In this first stage of spiritual growth, we sink our roots deep in the Fatherly love and care of God. We know Him as our caring Father, and see ourselves as His dependent children.
Little children…
John uses different words for little children in verses 12 and 13 (teknia and paidia, respectively).
Teknia has more of an emphasis on a child's relationship of dependence on a parent.
Paidia has more of an emphasis on a child's immaturity and need for instruction.
Verse 14a tells us Fathers, who have an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
“I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.”
I have written to you…
Sometimes we might think, "Well, isn't there more? It's fine for these fathers to know Jesus, but shouldn't they go beyond?" There is NO beyond Jesus...nothing more.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians 3:10, could say that he counted all his previous spiritual achievements as rubbish, compared to the surpassing greatness of just knowing Jesus. That I may know Him is the powerful way Paul phrased it.
Verse 14b tells us Young men, who are strong and know spiritual victory.
“I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.”
I have written to you, young men…
Again, the repetition of the idea indicates emphasis. Not only have the young men … overcome the wicked one, but they have done it through the strength that comes to them through the word of God. God's word is our source of spiritual strength.
Do you consider yourself one of the young men spiritually?
Then are you strong?
Are you putting your strength to some spiritual use?
Do you resent that your strength is tested and developed by God?
The word of God abides in you…
These young men, who had gained some measure of spiritual maturity, were known by the fact that God's word lived in them. The word of God had made itself at home in their hearts.
Verse 15 tells us The problem and attacks of worldliness.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Do not love the world…
Now John points out a specific area of sin that especially threatens our fellowship with God: worldliness, to love the world.
The world, in the sense John means it here, is not the global earth. Nor is it the mass of humanity, which God Himself loves (John 3:16). Instead it is the community of sinful humanity that is united in rebellion against God.
One of the first examples of this idea of the world in the Bible helps us to understand this point.
REMEMBER FROM OUR STUDY OF GENESIS...Genesis 11 speaks of human society's UNITED rebellion against God at the tower of Babel. At the tower of Babel, there was an anti-God leader of humanity (whose name was Nimrod). There was organized rebellion against God (in disobeying the command to disperse over the whole earth). There was direct distrust of God's word and promise (in building what was probably a water-safe tower to protect against a future flood from heaven).
The whole story of the tower of Babel also shows us another fundamental fact about the world system. The world's progress, technology, government, and organization can make man better off, but NOT better. Because we like being better off, it is easy to fall in love with the world.
Finally, the story of the tower of Babel shows us that the world system- as impressive and winning as it appears to be- will NEVER win out over God. The Lord defeated the rebellion at the tower of Babel easily. The world system will never win out over God.
Do not love the world…
That is, we are not to love either the world's system or its way of doing things. There is a secular, anti-God or ignoring-God way of doing things that characterizes human society, and it is easy to love the world in this sense.
Notice what the world wants from us: love.
This love is expressed in time, attention, and expense. We are encouraged and persuaded to give our time, attention, and money to the things of this world instead of the things of God.
If you love the world, there are rewards to be gained. You may find a place of prestige, of status, of honor, of comfort. The world system knows how to reward its lovers.
At the same time, even at their best the rewards that come from this world last only as long as we live. The problem is that though we gain prestige, status, honor, and comfort of this world, we lose the prestige, status, honor, and comfort of heaven. THINK ABOUT THIS...80 YEARS OF THE WORLD’S VERY BEST, IS ONLY A BLINK IN TIME, COMPARED TO AN ETERNITY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER SEPARATED FROM JESUS CHRIST.
Or the things in the world…
This isn't so much a warning against a love for the beauty of the world God created (though we must always love the Creator instead of the creation). Instead, it is more of a warning against loving the material things which characterize the world system.
The world buys our love with the great things it has to give us. Cars, homes, gadgets, and the status that goes with all of them, can really make our hearts at home in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him…
Through the centuries, Christians have dealt with the magnetic pull of the world in different ways. At one time it was thought that if you were a really committed Christian and really wanted to love God instead of the world, you would leave human society and live as a monk or a nun out in a desolate monastery.
This approach, and other approaches that seek to take us out of the world, have TWO problems.
FIRST, The problem is that we bring the world with us into our monastery.
SECOND, The other problem is that Jesus intended us to be in the world but not of the world. We see this in His prayer for us in John 17:14-18.
Verse 16 tells us The character of the world.
“For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.”
The character of the world expresses itself through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These lusts seek to draw our own flesh away into sin and worldliness.
The idea behind the pride of life is someone who lives for superiority over others, mostly by impressing others through outward appearances- even if by deception.
To get an idea of how the world works, think of the advertising commercials you most commonly remember. They probably make a powerful appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or to the pride of life. Many successful ads appeal to all three.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…
In listing these aspects of the world, John may have in mind the first pursuit of worldliness, that of Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6).
Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the tree was good for food. She thought about how good the fruit would taste, how it would satisfy her flesh. She went after the lust of the flesh.
Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes. She saw how pretty and desirable it was, and it pleased her artistic sense. She went after the lust of the eyes.
Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she believed that it was desirable to make one wise. How smart the fruit would make her! How her husband would admire her! She went after the pride of life.
Is not of the Father but is of the world…
This explains why the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are sin even though they feel good and satisfy something in us. God knows we have a fleshly, bodily nature, and physical needs that feel good when satisfied. Yet it is not in God's nature to influence us through the lust of the flesh.
God knows we have eyes, and that appearance means a lot to us. He made a beautiful world to please us! But God always looks beyond the outward appearance, and it is not in God's nature to influence us through the lust of the eyes.
God knows we have emotional and psychological needs to be wanted and to accomplish things. He made us this way! But it is not in God's nature to influence us through the pride of life.
Not of the Father but is of the world…
We often rarely appreciate how much the world dominates our thinking and how often our thoughts are more of the world than of the Father.
1. Think of your standard for success: is it worldly or godly? Would you consider the apostle Paul a failure or a success?
2. Think of your standard for what makes a person of the opposite sex appealing. Is it a worldly standard or a godly standard?
3. Think of your standard for spirituality: is it worldly or godly? There is a worldly spirituality out there, and many people buy into it.
How great our need to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind! (Romans 12:2)
Verse 17 tells us The folly of worldliness.
“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
The world is passing away…
This reveals the folly of worldliness. What we invest into the world we invest into what can NOT last because the world is passing away. As we saw with the example of the tower of Babel, the world never wins out against God, though by some appearances it does in the short term.
It is not a prayer, not a wish, and not a spiritual sounding desire. It is a FACT. The world is passing away, and we must live our lives and think our thoughts aware of this fact!
REMEMBER OUR STUDY OF GENESIS AGAIN…
This is powerfully illustrated by the life of Lot in Genesis chapters 13, 14, and 19.
Lot attached himself to a true spiritual man, named Abraham.
Yet he was selfish and chose for himself what seemed the most lucrative, without considering the spiritual implications of what he was doing.
He became financially prosperous, but pitched his tent toward a wicked, worldly city- Sodom.
After a while, he was sitting in the gates of the city as one of Sodom's civic leaders.
He had worldly status, influence, wealth, and comfort.
Yet, it was all taken away in a moment when the judgment of God came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot put all his eggs in the wrong basket, and was burned by the fact that the world is passing away.
AND WE KNOW TOO, The ancient pharaohs were buried in the pyramids with all sorts of riches, which were thought to be of some use to them in the world to come. They were only of use to the grave robbers! The pharaohs could take NONE of their worldly stuff with them to the world beyond. No one drives through the gates of heaven with a moving van filled with the stuff of this world.
He who does the will of God abides forever…
We are in regular contact with THREE eternal things…
The Holy Spirit of God, the people around you, and the eternal words recorded in the book you hold. Time, attention, and expense put into those things pays eternal rewards.
An attack on our relationship with God: FALSE religion.
Verses 18-19 tells us The danger of false religion: the spirit of Antichrist.
“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. 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.”
Little children, it is the last hour…
Seeing the nature of our times and what the Bible says about the end times, we should regard ourselves as being in the last few minutes.
The Antichrist is coming…
John here refers to an individual who has captured the imagination of many people, including those who do NOT even know the Bible. Many are ignorant about this person called the Antichrist, except what they have learned from movies like The Omen.
The name Antichrist is important to understand. The prefix anti can mean "the opposite of" or "instead of." The Antichrist is the "opposite Jesus"; he is the "instead of" Jesus.
Most people have focused on the idea of the "opposite Jesus."
This has made them think that the Antichrist will appear VISUALLY AND ACTION WAYS AND MEANS as a supremely evil person. They think that as much as Jesus went around doing good, he will go around doing bad.
As much as Jesus' character and personality was beautiful and attractive, the Antichrist's character and personality will be ugly and repulsive.
As much as Jesus spoke only truth, the Antichrist will speak only lies.
This emphasizes the idea of the "opposite Jesus" too much. The Antichrist will instead be more of an "INSTEAD OF JESUS." He will look wonderful, be charming and successful. He will be the ultimate winner, and appear as an angel of light.
Some have wondered if this Antichrist will be an individual or a political system.
This is really a small distinction, because it will in a sense be BOTH a person and a political system.
WHY?
To a large extent, a man does represent and personify an entire government or system; when we think of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the figures of Hitler as an individual and Nazi Germany as a state are virtually the same.
The Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come…
There is a distinction between the Antichrist and many antichrists. There is a "spirit" of antichrist, and this "spirit" of antichrist will one day find its ultimate fulfillment in the Antichrist, who will lead humanity in an end-times rebellion against God.
In other words, though the world still waits to see the ultimate revealing of the Antichrist, there are little "previews" of this man and his mission to come. These are the antichrists with a little "a."
By which we know that it is the last hour…
DID YOU KNOW...The word 'antichrist' occurs in the Bible only in the letters of John and that only five times in four verses (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; 2 John 7); but though the word is infrequent the idea of antichrist is frequent and is an important one.
This Antichrist TO COME goes by many titles:
- The little horn in Daniel 7:8
- The king of fierce countenance in Daniel 8:23
- The Prince that shall come in Daniel 9:26
- The willful king in Daniel 11:36-45
- The one who comes in his own name in John 5:43
- The son of perdition, the man of sin, and the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and 2:8
Essentially, the Antichrist is a world dictator who leads humanity in what seems to be a golden age for 3.5 years, until he shows his true colors- and the judgment of God is poured out on him and his empire immediately for the last 3.5 years before the return of Jesus.
We should take notice, because the world stage is set for a political and economic "superman" to arise, a single political leader to organize a world-dominating confederation of nations.
National leaders speak of a new world order, but no one has been able to really define it, much less lead it. Yet this leader is coming.
This Antichrist will have surrounding him the kind of personality cult we are conditioned to accept today. Not only in America do we practice a sick worship of celebrities, but around the world, nations of hundreds of millions of people have been induced to worship a person- like Lenin, Stalin, or Mao. This shows us just how strong a personality cult can be when the government gets behind it wholeheartedly. All these developments should make us understand that the Antichrist is ready to be revealed when the moment is right. And John and Paul tell us that the antichrist can not and will not revealed until the snatching away, in the twinkling of an eye, Jesus bride, Jesus family, dead and living, to meet Him in the clouds and then the Holy Spirit (the restrainer of evil) will then be removed from the face of the earth...and then...The Antichrist will be allowed to rise...only then.
They went out from us…
This shows that MANY of these many antichrists at one time or another have identified themselves with the body of believers of Jesus Christ, Almighty God, and His Word. The fact that they left the body of Christ demonstrated that they were NOT REALLY of us to begin with.
John is NOT talking about someone who leaves one church to begin attending another good church.
We can imagine the scene.
There is some controversy among people at a church, and someone responds by saying, "I'm so sick of all this. This church and all churches, they're just a bunch of hypocrites. I don't need any of this. I can follow God my own way!" They leave; not just a church, but they leave any kind of church, leave The Bible, They leave prayer, they leave fellowship with Jesus and begin their own little ism...
We can fairly say that this person does not appear to be a Christian, and their appearance demonstrates that they never really were a Christian. Only God knows the heart for certain, but the appearance is that they trusted in the church, or trusted in themselves, but they were NOT really trusting in Jesus Christ.
One must beware of those folks who are so "spiritual" that they can NOT get along in ANY OF JESUS CHURCH, HIS FAMILY. One sees those from time to time; folks so gifted, so prophetic, so spiritual, that they are getting kicked out or leaving in a huff from every church they go to.
Finally, they are just left to themselves, and they seem happy enough with that. Fellowship with themselves is at least fellowship with someone as spiritual as they are! Of course, there is something seriously wrong with such so-called "spirituality."
The sobering truth is that many of those who offer a false or opposing Jesus came from the true body of Christians. MOST FALSE RELIGIOSITIES AND FALSE CHURCHES EVER CREATED BEGAN WITH PEOPLE WHO ONCE WITH THEIR MOUTHS AT LEAST FOLLOWED JESUS AND HIS WORD.
They went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us…
A healthy church can purge itself of poisons; the compromising and false Christian will NOT feel comfortable setting down roots in a healthy church- he will either get right with God or leave.
Verses 20-23 tells us Identifying the spirit of antichrist.
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 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. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
You have an anointing…
Here John refers to a COMMON anointing, belonging to all believers THE INSTANT THEY CALL UPON JESUS, REPENT OF THEIR SINS, AND ASK JESUS CHRIST INTO THEIR HEART AND LIVES TO BE THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR. This is an anointing that makes discernment possible for those who seek it in the Lord Jesus who know all things).
Among some Christians today, there is a rather magical or superstitious approach to this idea of anointing. In their mind, the anointing is like a virus or a germ that can be spread by casual contact or infect a whole group. Usually these folks think that when one "catches" the anointing, you can tell because they begin acting strangely. This is NOT the Bible's idea of anointing.
In verse 20, John used a different word for KNOW than he mostly used before.
Previously John used the word meaning knowledge by experience; here he used the word meaning knowledge by intuition. We know some things intuitively by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?”
The context makes it clear that to affirm that Jesus is the Christ has to do with more than just saying, "He is the Messiah." It has to do with understanding the relationship between Jesus and God the Father.
He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. In other words, someone could say, "I believe Jesus is the Christ … as I define "Christ." But we must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, as the Bible defines Christ - the Messiah, who is fully God and fully man; who perfectly revealed God the Father to us.
He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son…
The spirit of antichrist identifies itself by its DENIAL of Jesus, and its denial of the Father; remembering that Jesus and the Father can be denied even by those who seem to speak well of them both.
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father also…
John here repeats an idea that Jesus expressed often, as recorded in the Gospel of John. Jesus said, He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. (John 12:44-45) He who receives Me receives Him who sent Me (John 13:20).
Often times it is said, "We all worship the same God. You have one name for Him and I have another. But that doesn't matter. We are just talking about different roads to the same God, because we all have the same God."
Here is the question to ask in response: "Was your God perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ?" If their God was, then you have the same God. If their God wasn't perfectly revealed in Jesus, then they do not have the same God as the Bible.
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