1 John (Written)

Friday, 3 April 2020

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 1 John 2:20

John has been speaking of “antichrists,” and their departure from the truth because they were not “of us.” He will again refer to them in verse 2:22. Between these verses, he now introduces this thought, saying, “But you have an anointing.” The implication is that those who departed have no such anointing. Their lives, doctrine, and conduct are not in accord with the truth of God in Christ.

The word “anointing” is the Greek word chrisma. It signifies the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit which will guide the believer into understanding God’s will. There is an inward conviction and persuasion which will take place when the believer seeks after the truth as presented to him (first by the apostles, and now by the word of God which came through those men of God).

Under the Old Covenant, oil was used to anoint priests, prophets, and kings to symbolize that they were ordained for the task they had been given. This oil is a symbol or picture of the anointing of the Holy Spirit on believers today. As Peter says in his first epistle – “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit which places us in that position, and which allows us to properly understand His word, and which makes us suitable to perform our tasks in a manner pleasing to God. This is in contrast to those who are antichrists of the previous verses.

John is forming a play on words, contrasting the antichrists antichristoi of the previous verses to those who have received the chrisma of this verse. The “anointing” that believers have is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – the third member of the Trinity. If someone denies the reality of, or the deity of, the Holy Spirit, he is doing the same thing as denying the deity of Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of God which illuminates Scripture for the believer. It is He who comforts the believer and reminds him of the salvation he received when he accepted Jesus as Lord, meaning God.

John next says that the anointing is “from the Holy One.” Scholars debate whether this is referring to Christ or to the Holy Spirit. The answer is Christ, the Anointed One (which is what “Christ,” or “Messiah,” signifies). The anointing is the Holy Spirit. This was stated by Jesus in several ways. It is the final promise of Christ before He was taken up –

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

The Holy Spirit is given to every believer who calls on Jesus through the gospel, as is stated by Paul in Ephesians 1 (and elsewhere) –

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14

John and Paul are referring to the same thing, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the believer, but they are using different terms to explain different aspects of what occurrs. Christ is the Holy One, and the Holy Spirit is the anointing by which we are anointed and sealed. Each member of the Godhead performs His own particular role in the unfolding plan of the redemption of mankind.

Finally, in this anointing, John says, “and you know all things.” Some manuscripts say, “and you know all.” This set of words should not be taken to unhealthy extremes. His words lead directly into the next verse which speaks of knowing the truth. The Holy Spirit is the One who leads us in the proper knowledge about the truth of God – the source of all things. He opens our understanding as we search out God’s truth in the Bible.

The word “know” speaks of discernment and perceiving. What John is saying cannot, obviously, mean that all believers know and have discerned everything about theology. The differences in opinion about one thousand points of doctrine are so varied that there is almost no harmony at all between scholars and denominations. Some people come to Christ and are never schooled in any doctrine at all. Some people inject their own presuppositions directly into the Bible as they read. And so on.

Because of these things, John’s words must be taken in light of Scripture, and that is to be in proper context. Believers have this resource available to them, and through it they “know all” that is necessary to hold fast to the truth of God in Christ. There is no necessary extra revelation provided to believers outside of the Bible. It alone is our source for knowing all that we need to know.

Life application: John’s words of this verse mark a sharp rebuke against false teachers. It is surely and particularly directed at those who believe they have the secret knowledge of God at their disposal, or locked up in their simple and irrational denomination, when in fact they have no true knowledge at all.

Should you find yourself attending a church where they make exclusive claims on the truth and that everyone else is false, you are probably in a place which is the opposite of what is described by John here. Claiming exclusive or secret knowledge is a sure sign that there is a manipulation or rejection of the truth, because the truth of God is openly revealed to all in the pages of Scripture. Believers can know all if they are willing to pursue God through the word He has given us.

Thank You, O God, for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, indwelling Your people and filling us with the ability to understand who You are and what Your intended purposes are for us. Thank You for this, and may we never take it for granted that Your good and Holy Spirit dwells in us when we, by faith, trusted in Christ the Lord. May You be praised by the lives we live for You. Amen.

Thursday, 2 April 2020

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. 1 John 2:19

John just said, “even now many antichrists have come.” Now he says of them, “They went out from us.” The words can be viewed in one of two ways – 1) They were removed from us, or 2) They had their origin with us. The next clause will show that it is speaking of the latter. These people who came from within the church had failed to accept the truth of Christ.

As noted in the evaluation of the previous verse, an antichrist is someone “who denies that Jesus is the Christ” (as will be seen in verse 2:22). Therefore, they deny the Father/Son relationship. To deny the Son is to deny the Father who sent the Son. These people, who deny this necessary truth, “were not of us.” This shows that the words, “They went out from us,” refer to their origin within the church.

As is seen, just because someone teaches a heresy, it does not mean he is an “antichrist.” As John has defined who an antichrist is, we cannot change the meaning. In other words, the various denominations that once started as sound and proper may now have departed from the truth, but they still accept the deity of Christ and acknowledge the Father/Son relationship. Therefore, they cannot be considered as “antichrist.” They may not be of the church any longer, but their heresy is different than what John is referring to here.

However, a cult like the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons do deny this relationship, and thus they can be considered under the umbrella of “antichrist.” John is dealing with the specific denial of Jesus being the Christ. These cults don’t overtly deny this, and in fact, they claim they believe it, but their definition of who “Jesus” is cannot be reconciled with the truth proclaimed in Scripture. Their “Christ” is a false Christ, their gospel is a false gospel, and their doctrines – which are tantamount to a denial – denial shows that they are antichrist.

John next says, “for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.” One can simply insert someone like Joseph Smith of the Mormons (and his subsequent followers) into this. He started in the “church,” following various ideas that grew out of the Christian faith. But he later went out from the church, following his own delusions. John’s words say that if this heretic was truly one of the church, he would have continued with the church – meaning that which is based upon the truth of God in Christ.

John next says, “but they went out that they might be made manifest.” This is exactly what the Mormons did, it is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses did, and etc. They not only formed a new denomination, but they did so by cutting themselves off from all other denominations. They did this by proclaiming a “Christ” who is not of the Father, because He is not the begotten Son. In their false belief, they show “that none of them were of us.”

Here, the verb is a present participle. It should read, “that none of them are of us.” These offshoots of the church have openly manifested that they are heretical sects whose teachings cannot be reconciled with the truth of God in Christ. They, and their followers, have nothing to do with the true faith. Unless they turn from their false teachings, they will be condemned with the rest of the world when the world is judged.

These are but two of the numerous groups which deny this fundamental truth, meaning that Jesus is the Christ, and that “Christ” means begotten of the Father – He is fully God and fully Man. To deny this fundamental truth of God in Christ is a sign of antichrist.

Life application: John made a play on words when he wrote this in Greek, that we don’t clearly see in the translation. When he says they went out “from us,” it’s the term ex hemon. He again uses ex hemon when he said they would have continued “with us.” Then a third time he uses ex hemon when he says that none of them were “of us.” He is letting us know that although there are those who are with us physically, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re of the body of believers spiritually.

John notes that if they were true believers, they would “have continued” in the faithful walk of believers. However, as has happened throughout the ages, some people are simply twisted in their concept of God or are even complete disbelievers in any Creator. They may totally depart from any faith at all and simply lead their lives from a totally human perspective, or they may look around and see the power that spiritual leaders have over others and decide to “invent up” a new religious sect that will bring them the glory that only the Lord is due.

Joseph Smith’s apostasy led to tearing away many souls from sound religious doctrine – a pattern which unfortunately continues today. The list of such antichrists is long and scary because quite often they fuse their false doctrine with smidgens of sound doctrine. But as Paul says in Galatians 5:9, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

Once heretical doctrine is infused into instruction, it permeates and pollutes the entire doctrine. Be careful to evaluate the church you attend or are considering. What may appear as sound and honoring could very well be reason for dismissal from the presence of Christ. The best advice for us to follow is to never direct our attention to a charismatic leader, but rather “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” Hebrews 12:2.

Lord Jesus, we pray for those who would consider following the strange and unsound doctrine of false teachers. Give them clarity of thinking that they may reject these heretics. Likewise, keep us secure as well, and let us not be drawn away by strange and unprofitable teachings Rather, help us to keep our eyes and thoughts on Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

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. 1 John 2:18

John has been speaking of the things of the world, a system ruled by the devil. With that in mind, he now enters into a new aspect of this doctrine, beginning with, “Little children.” Here, as in verse 2:13, he uses the word paidia for “little children.”

It is not the other word, teknia, which he uses as a term of endearment. Thus, this is indicating their immaturity in the doctrine he is going to talk about and explain – that of the antichrist and the last times. He says, “it is the last hour.” It is a term used only here in the New Testament, and it doesn’t contain a definite article in the Greek. Therefore, this may indicate that he didn’t believe Christ’s return would be soon, but it is rather a general statement about the entire church age – something that is of indeterminate length.

This is supported by the statement of Jesus at the ascension when the apostles asked if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel at that time. His answer indicated that they needed to get about the work of the gospel and not worry about what was under the Father’s authority, but it also indicates that his recipients knew the Antichrist was coming. As John says, “and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming.”

This term “anti” can mean someone standing openly against Jesus (the Christ) or someone who is attempting to be a substitute for Him – something more subtle and befitting the pattern of the workings of the devil. The latter is more likely, especially when we see Paul’s description of him in 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10 –

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

Elsewhere, Jesus spoke of false Christs (Greek: pseudochristos). Like a false prophet, these are people attempt to fill an office without denying what the office stands for. Thus, a false Christ will attempt to fulfill the qualifications of the Christ. However, such a false prophet understands the meaning of “Messiah” or “Christ.”

On the other hand, an antichrist (or the Antichrist) may be someone who not only claims to be the Christ, and who claims he is the embodiment of Christ – including the office and teachings – but he does so while denying the truth of what the office represents. He stands in complete opposition to it. With this marked distinction made, Vincent’s word studies describes the “last hour” by saying –

“The dominant sense of the expression last days, in the New Testament, is that of a period of suffering and struggle preceding a divine victory. See Acts 2:17; James 5:3; 1 Peter 1:20. Hence the phrase here does not refer to the end of the world, but to the period preceding a crisis in the advance of Christ’s kingdom, a changeful and troublous period, marked by the appearance of ‘many antichrists.’”

The time for the final Antichrist is coming, but John says that the truth is that “even now many antichrists have come.” To understand what this means, one must go forward to verse 2:22 where John explicitly states, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.”

It is the denial of the relationship between the Father and the Son – meaning that Christ is of God and thus is God – that defines what is antichrist. Even at the time of John, antichrists had arisen. They denied the Father/Son relationship, and thus they stood in opposition to Christ, the only begotten Son of God. As this attitude had already infected the world at John’s time, he then explains the significance of that truth by saying, “by which we know that it is the last hour.”

The “last hour” of the church is that hour which is marked by this challenge of holding to the truth of who Christ is. As John already acknowledged it as the last hour, the thought of every moment being challenged by this aberrant doctrine is a moment that must be engaged by the church and spoken against. When the church stops challenging the doctrine of the antichrist (through negligence or because of the rapture), the field will be ripe for the final Antichrist to step forward and begin his unholy ministry.

Life application: John takes time to note that the world was already influenced by the power of “many antichrists.” These are people who deny the workings of Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah, the Son of God. Any tenet which diminishes His work, or His deity, falls under the category of “antichrist.” To deny the Son of God wasn’t possible until He was manifest in the flesh. Since that time, Satan has come to dismiss the work Christ Jesus wrought on behalf of the world. This will continue to increase until the rapture of the church. At that time, Satan’s work will climax in the person of the Antichrist himself.

Heavenly Father, you sent Your Son, our Lord Jesus, to show us the way to You. Keep us from the deceitful lies of Satan, and protect us from the spirit of the Antichrist which is intended to diminish Jesus’ work and misdirect our faith in Him. Prompt us to fix our eyes on Jesus, because nothing else will do. Only in Christ Jesus can our souls be satisfied. Amen.

Tuesday, 31 March 2020

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17

John spoke of the things of the world in the previous verse, meaning the ordered system of the world. He now says, And the world is passing away. The Greek is a present verb, passive. This means that it is ongoing, and it is simply happening through the natural course of time.

There is nothing permanent in this passing system and, therefore, there is nothing that can be relied upon or trusted in. When one trusts in a government, the government is overthrown, goes bankrupt, or etc. When a person feels confident in his strength, he eventually ages and becomes weak, or he has an accident and is paralyzed, etc. The things we trust are temporary and will not last. This includes “the lust of it.”

Man lusts after money and it is lost, stolen, or eaten away in its storage vault. Man lusts after beauty, and the beauty ages and fades away. Man lusts after power, and the position is eliminated, the business goes bankrupt, or the election is lost and the power is gone. Because the world system is temporary, and because lust for the things of the world is directed to that which is temporary, there is nothing that has any true permanency. However, John then contrasts that with, “but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

The Greek reads, “abides to the age.” The person who does the will of God is doing that which is, by its very nature, eternal. As God is the Creator, what He does and who He is stands forever. Therefore, when one does the will of God, what he does is not a part of this age, but of the age to come. This isn’t speaking of the man not dying. Until the Lord comes, all will continue to die. But the things man does while here, and which are directed toward God’s will, are enduring. They belong to the age which is not passing away.

Life application: Because John’s words concerning the passing away of the world are in the present tense, it tells us that “it is already passing away.” The decay has begun, and the final end of what we now see and live in will continue to ebb until it is completely used up.

Think of what he is saying in comparison to a tank of gas. “The fuel is being used up.” Again, the present tense in our language tells us it is being used and it is diminishing. At some point, the tank will be empty. The verb “is passing away” is paragó, and suggests that this is occurring all by itself; it is like a canker on a tree which, in destroying the tree, destroys itself.

John says in the same context, “and the lust of it.” The same thing which is happening to the world system is occurring to the lust of the world. The eyes which lust the temporary are also temporary and will have an end – being used up in futility.

But in contrast to those, the one who does God’s will aligns himself with the eternal, not the temporary. The words “abide” and “forever” both speak of this, and provide the believer with the assurance that the will and promises of God go beyond the current age into the eternal sphere. The Greek word aiona, or “ages,” assures us of this. This all points back to the one who reflects on God’s word as is noted in the first Psalm –

“He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:3

Lord, when the trials and sadness of this life seem too much to bear, or when we look on the wickedness occurring around us, we can return to the beautiful words You have given us in Your word, and we can rejoice in the promises of the age to come, when all this trial and trouble will be no more. May You return soon and set up that eternal system! Amen.

Monday, 30 March 2020

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. 1 John 2:16

As noted in the previous verse, there are several thoughts that can speak of “the world” when the Greek word kosmos is used. It speaks of an ordered system, but it can mean various things, including the physical world which involves everything in its operational order. That can even extend to the entire creation which goes beyond the world itself. Or, it can speak of the people of the world, as the ensemble of humanity. Further, it can also speak of the sphere of life in which humans exist – people working for success, wealth, fulfilling lusts, and etc.

It was stated in the previous commentary that the last of these three is what John is referring to here. That will be confirmed by his words now. He begins with, “For all that is in the world.” What he will next refer to is, therefore, an all-inclusive thing. The ordered system which impels the sphere of life, in which humanity operates, is at enmity with the Father.

It is obvious that this is not the case with the physical world. God created the heavens and the earth, and He called them good. This has not changed in the ultimate sense as is testified to by Scripture, and as is evidenced in the coming of Christ. For the Lord to unite with humanity demonstrates that the Father found it acceptable for Him to do so.

It is obviously not the people of the world, in and of themselves. This is testified to in John 3:16, where the word kosmos, or “world,” speaks of the people of the world. God was willing to send Christ to redeem fallen man. Thus, the love of the Father is for this part of His creation, even if there is a moral disconnect which currently separates the two.

That moral defect, however, is driven by the third meaning of kosmos – that which forms the sphere of life in which man exists. John next describes that thing which continuously impels man forward within this system, calling it “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

What is seen here hearkens all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 –

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  Genesis 3:2-6

As you can see, Eve was tempted with, and fell for…

1) the lust of the flesh – the “tree was good for food;”
2) the lust of the eyes – “it was pleasant to the eyes;” and
3) the pride of life – “in the day you eat of it…you will be like God.”

This then is the part of what God created which is now opposed to Him. The first two – desires of the flesh and of the eyes – may have defects because of this, but they can be and will be corrected as is promised elsewhere in Scripture. However, this part of the system – the pride of life – is opposed to God because it puts the things of creation, and the will of man, ahead of God and of His perfect will for man. It is contrary to what is morally right, and it must be eliminated for man to again have restored fellowship with God.

If you follow the account of Jesus’ three temptations by Satan, he offered Jesus the same three enticements –

1) the lust of the flesh – When Jesus was hungry, Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
2) the lust of the eyes – After showing him all the kingdoms of the world, Satan proclaimed “…if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
3) the pride of life – After asking, “If you are the Son of God,” Satan challenged “throw Yourself down from here.”

But where Adam failed, Jesus prevailed. He stood firm against the devil’s enticements, and He continued to love the Father more than the temptations of the world. But this is what the devil offers, something to replace God in our worldly ordered system. As John says of this, it “is not of the Father but is of the world.”

Jesus was directed to the things of the Father, and He prevailed. But when we pursue the things of the world, we pursue that which is not of the Father. This is the point John is making, and it is a point revealed throughout Scripture. An interesting parallel of this is even found in the Levitical system of cleanliness. In Leviticus 13:2, it says –

“When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.”

What does that verse in Leviticus have to do with the subject John is speaking of? Watch the sermon and find out – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHkoJfJcho

Life application: Today, Satan challenges us in exactly the same way he always has. To succumb to these temptations is to succumb to the love of the world – Satan’s domain. This is the proper interpretation of “the world” in these verses, and it is meant to remind us that we simply cannot live for God without relying completely on –

1) the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
2) our knowledge of the Bible, and
3) complete faith in, and reliance on, the Person and promises of Jesus Christ.

If we don’t hold fast to these, we are opening ourselves up to complete disaster in every aspect of our lives. Let us hold fast to the truth God has given us in these three avenues of keeping ourselves from Satan’s enticements.

Heavenly Father, the devil is there tempting us every step of the way – luring us to fall back into the life of sin Jesus saved us from. Please, we ask of You, keep us from his temptations and give us the will and the power to hold fast to our commitment to You. We know we are powerless without You, so be with us every moment and in every step. Amen.