1 John 2:18-29 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is 1 John 2:18-29. Let’s go!
1 John 2:18-28 (NIV)
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 And this is what he promised us–even eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
On verses 18-28: The apostle John is warning his readers about false teachers. These false teachers were originally part of the church that John led, but they left the church (v19) and were now teaching that Jesus is not the Christ (that is, not the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for nor the Saviour that we all need) (v22).
These teachers were likely telling the people in John’s church, “You do not know the truth” (v21), accusing John and the other apostles of lying to them. In response, John reassures his people that “you have an anointing form the Holy One, and all of you know the truth” (v20). With more reassuring words, John writes, “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth” (v21). He urges them to continue confidently in the faith and not to feel ashamed or insecure just because these false teachers were saying “You’re missing something!” (v27-28).
In particular these false teachers were likely saying, “you don’t need to believe in Jesus. All you need is to believe in God (the Father)”. In response, John clarifies that if you don’t have the Son Jesus in your life, you don’t have the Father either, and that “whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (v23). John says that those false teachers are the real liars (v22) because they deny Jesus. Borrowing from the common belief that one day an anti-Christ (a powerful leader who would turn God’s people away from the truth) would come, John calls these false teachers “antichrists” (v18, v22) because of how they have rejected Jesus and are leading people astray.
What can we learn from this? What the false teachers were teaching in John’s time is similar to what you will frequently hear in our world today. Many people nowadays espouse a belief in God generally but deny any need for Jesus specifically. But you can’t get to God without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus and His shed blood on the cross, there is no provision for our sins, no forgiveness and no access to God or heaven. As Jesus Himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well…” (John 14:6-7). Most people believe in God, but it is not belief in God that saves us. Even demons believe in God (James 2:19). What counts is faith in Jesus.
1 John 2:29 (NIV)
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
On verse 29: To paraphrase John here, “Righteousness is in God’s DNA. What that means is that those who are born of God will exhibit righteousness as well, not just in what they say but also in what they do.” Here John may be indirectly suggesting that the conduct of these false teachers was not righteous and thus the people in his church must be careful to take what these false teachers taught with a grain of salt.
What can we learn from this? If righteousness is God’s DNA, we as children of God are to live righteously by God’s power as well.
Father, thank You for showing us what true, saving faith looks like. It’s not just believing in God generally, but believing in Your Son Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Thank You that when we had no clue how to get to You, You got to us through the bridge called Your Son and His cross. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
