Have you noticed that Jesus is under constant attack? Why is Jesus Christ is used as a cuss word? When someone stubs their toe or gets angry they don’t say, “oh Buda!” Why do organizations want all Nativity scenes removed from the courthouse lawns? Why is/was prayer banned in schools? Why do some people complain about the Bible verses on In N Out’s cups and demand that they’re taken off? Why do people want Chick-fil-a or Hobby Lobby, who are closed on Sunday due to their Christian owner’s convictions to open anyway? Christians are under attack right now in Nigeria and many other countries.
In today’s passage, John warns us all about these troubling times.
2:18 The term last hour is used only here in the New Testament. It refers to the “last days” or the “end times”—the time between Christ’s first and second comings (see Joel 2:28; Micah 4:1). The first-century readers of 1 Peter lived in the “last days,” and so do believers today. The word last also gives a sense of urgency. Christ will return soon.
You have heard (referring to the teachings from the apostles) that the Antichrist is coming. (Paul wrote about this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–10.) John mentioned this not so that believers would try to identify the person, but so that they might be ready for anything that would threaten their faith.
Besides, as John went on, already such persons who could fit that description have come on the scene—already many such antichrists have appeared. From the earliest days of the church in and around Ephesus, false teachers had been a problem. When Paul bid his final farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church, he warned, “I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you” (Acts 20:29). These are merely precursors to the one Antichrist. Throughout history there have been individuals who epitomized evil and who were hostile to everything for which Christ stands. These antichrists have lived in every generation and will continue to work their evil. There are many cult leaders today who, through their teachings, draw people away from true faith. Then just before Christ’s second coming, a completely evil man will arise. He will be Satan’s tool, equipped with Satan’s power (2 Thessalonians 2:9). This man will be the Antichrist.
Realize People will Fall Away
These other “antichrists” are the false teachers who deny (1) that Jesus is the Christ (2:22), (2) that Jesus is God’s Son (2:23), and (3) that Jesus was God incarnate in human form (4:2; 2 John 1:7). They are liars and deceivers. Jesus warned about them in Matthew 24:24.
During this “last hour,” these antichrists—these false teachers who pretend to be Christians and who lure weak members away from Christ—will continue to be active, just as they were in John’s day. Believers must be grounded in God’s word. They must teach the truth clearly and carefully to the peripheral, weak members among them in the church so that they won’t fall prey to these teachers.
2:19 These false teachers, these antichrists, were not total strangers to the churches; they had been part of the church community, in fellowship with John and the other believers. Then these people left the churches and evidently became promoters of false teachings about Jesus (see 4:1; 2 John 7). When their teachings were not accepted by the Christians or by those in leadership, they left. John explained that they never really belonged among the Christians in the first place. When the false teachers left, they proved that they were never true believers. If they had been true believers, John stated, they would have stayed.
All who attend church may not be true believers. The true believers may not now be able to discern the false believers, but they may in time. It may happen when some leave the churches and the teachings of Christ, proving that they never belonged. Or it may not happen until the Day of Judgment when Christ will separate his true followers from those who never belonged.
Recognize False Teachers
2:20 John faced the false believers head-on by telling the true believers that the Holy Spirit has come upon them and they know the truth. The Holy Spirit has been given to believers by the Father and the Son and promised by Jesus (John 14:16–17; 15:26 16:13). When a person becomes a Christian, he or she receives the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:21–22). John compared the believers with the ones who had left the fellowship and thus proved that they never belonged there. They did not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, so they did not receive the Holy Spirit. They did not know the truth, even though they may have claimed special wisdom and insight. Christians can withstand false teachers’ attacks by relying on the Holy Spirit’s help (see 2:27).
2:21 Those with the Holy Spirit (2:20) not only know the truth about the Father and the Son but can also detect the difference between truth and falsehood. John wrote, not giving them further teaching; the false teachers were attempting to do that. Instead, he was reaffirming the truth that had already been taught to them and that they had believed.
2:22 The great truth is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to die for sin. To deny this amounts to blatant heresy—John battled this as the central focus of the false teaching. A man named Cerinthus, an avowed enemy of the apostle John, said that Jesus is not the Christ. He spoke of “Jesus” and “the Christ” as two separate beings who were united only from the time of Jesus’ baptism to the time of his crucifixion. Cerinthus taught that “the Christ” left Jesus at the Crucifixion. In other words, Jesus was no more than a mere man who, for a time, had been given divine power. Anyone who would teach this heresy, said John, is the great liar. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son. They are believing a lie, and lies are from Satan (John 8:42–44).
2:23 Apparently, the antichrists in John’s day were claiming faith in God while denying and opposing the Son. To do so, John firmly stated, is impossible. Because Jesus is God’s Son and the Messiah, anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father either. Many cultists today call themselves Christians, but they deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Some churches, such as the Unitarian church, deny the unique status of Christ as the Son of God.
John reiterated that no one can claim to have special knowledge of God while denying Jesus Christ’s deity and humanity. In both his Gospel and his letters, John made it very clear that the Father can be known only through the Son (John 3:11; 5:37; 6:46; 8:16, 29, 38; 16:32). Three times Jesus announced that he and the Father were one (John 10:30, 38; 14:9–10; 17:21). Denying Jesus means denying God, then the converse is also true: anyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. The disciples, however, found it difficult to conceptualize the Father about whom Jesus so often talked. During his last discourse with his disciples, Jesus again spoke of the Father. Exasperated, Philip blurted out, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied” (John 14:8). Jesus told Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” The Son was and has always been the image of the invisible God (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).
2:24–25 Many of these Christians had heard the gospel message from John himself. They knew that Christ was God’s Son, that he had died for their sins, that he had been raised to give them new life, and that he would return and establish his Kingdom in its fullness. But their fellowship was being infiltrated by teachers who were denying these basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and some of the believers were in danger of succumbing to false arguments. John encouraged them to remain faithful to what they had been taught from the beginning—to hold on to the Christian truth that had changed their lives. If the believers resisted the lies of the antichrists, they would continue to live in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. By clinging to the truth about God the Father and Christ his Son, believers can be sure they will never be separated from fellowship with God. That fellowship will literally continue forever, for Jesus promised that his followers would be given eternal life. John recorded many of these promises in his Gospel (John 3:14–15, 36; 6:40, 47, 57; 17:2–3). The believers understood the character of the one who made these promises and could trust that he would fulfill them.
2:26 As in 2:12–14 and 2:21, John took pains to clarify his purpose in writing and to affirm the practical import of his teachings. The false teachers were trying to lead people into error, away from the basic gospel that had been taught in the beginning. John wrote as he did because the Christians needed to be aware of those who want to lead them astray. To move away from the basic teachings into various sidelines that contradict those basics is to be “led astray” into heresy. These false teachers not only left the faith and the fellowship, but they wanted to lead others astray as well.
Remain in Christ
2:27 The true believers had received the Holy Spirit and he lived within them. This means that believers can place their total trust in him, rely on him for guidance and strength, and live as he directs. It implies a personal, life-giving relationship. The same idea is in John 15:5, in Jesus’ words about his being the vine and his followers the branches (see also 1 Peter 3:2–4; 4:15).
You don’t need anyone to teach you means that Christians can tell the lying antichrists, “We do not need another teacher because the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, teaches us, so we will continue in what he has taught us, and continue to live in Christ.” This does not mean that Christians should turn away from the counsel of faithful ministers and attempt to make it on their own—in fact, that often will lead them astray. Instead, it means that Christians can discern truth and reject falsehood. The better believers know the truth, the more easily they will be able to identify a lie.
The fact that the Spirit teaches all things refers to the basic gospel truths essential for salvation. This does not mean that all believers will know and understand everything, nor does it mean that the Spirit will add new revelation to what has already been taught. Instead, through the Spirit, believers know enough to keep them from throwing away their faith in Christ and believing the lies of the false teachers.
2:28 John was so anxious for the believers’ spiritual lives that he said over and over that they should continue to live in fellowship with Christ. Although believers already have fellowship with Christ through his indwelling Spirit, a time is coming when they will see him face-to-face in all his glory (3:2). Those who have continued in him will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame when he returns at his second coming. Persevering in our relationship with Christ ensures that we will remain in the true faith. Continuing in the faith keeps us truly ready for Christ’s return.
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