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| Leader's Guide to Lesson 4: Warning Against Antichrists, 1 John 2:18 - 27 |
Open It1. Who are the enemies of the Church today? 2. What do you think is the best defense against cults and other false spiritual teaching? 3. What effect do you think warning labels on cigarettes and alcohol have? Explore ItJohn now returned to his major purpose – to show the difference between false and true believers. He moved to his third test – the doctrinal test, the test of belief. He presented this by distinguishing between the heretics and the true believers (vv.18-21), by describing their wrong teaching (vv.22-23), and by giving safeguards to prevent wrong belief (vv.24-27). 4. What time did John say it is? (2:18) John began by stating with confidence that they were living in the “last hour,” which in essence means the final days before the Second Coming of Christ. He then gave evidence that this is the last hour by describing the events which signify it. Finally, he described the life of the true believers. John and the other New Testament writers viewed Christ’s incarnation as the beginning of the beginning of the end, the inauguration of the “last days” or the “new age.” Here John claimed that the “last hour” has come. Though there are numerous opinions about what this means, it appears that he spoke of the period before Christ’s return that is marked by a last surge of the evil forces against His kingdom. 5. Who was coming and who had come at the time John wrote this? (2:18) The evidence (“this is how we know,” v.18) that the “last hour” is here was the appearance of the “antichrists.” The appearance of the Antichrist was long thought to be a sign of the approaching end. The believers around Ephesus knew of this teaching because it was a part of the apostolic teaching they received (2 Thess. 2:5). For John, the “many antichrists” (v.18) are forerunners of the Antichrist still to come. In 1 John 4:3, he spoke of the “spirit of the antichrist” which is now in the world. These antichrists were not evil spiritual creatures but false teachers. John unmasked their identity in verse 19, and they were probably the same as the “false prophets” of 4:1. The New Testament church believed that the coming of the Antichrist, the personal embodiment of evil, would be a hallmark of the resurgence of evil that would precede the Second Coming of Christ. These “antichrists” around John’s churches were not “the Antichrist,” but, they manifested his spirit. 6. What did John say about those who had left? (2:19) These “antichrists” revealed their true colors when they left the believers (“went out”). This is the same verb that described Judas’ departure from the disciples on the night of his betrayal (John 13:30; “he went out”). John drew a sharp distinction between the heretics and the true believers. Their going proved that they never really belonged to the community of faith, although they had a superficial connection. John was so convinced of this that he could write, “For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us” (v.19b). 7. What did the readers of 1 John have? (2:20) In verses 20 and 21, John gave assurance to the true believers in the church, the ones who remained after the antichrists left. Their assurance comes from two things. First, they “have an anointing from the Holy One” (v.20). The “Holy One” could be a title designating either God or Christ. The “anointing” probably refers to the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers as Christ Himself was anointed not with oil, but by the Holy Spirit at His baptism (Luke 4:18; Acts 4:27; 10:38). The antichrists were against Christ and were falsely claiming to be like Him and were striving to be for Him. The personal pronoun “you” is emphatic, emphasizing John’s confidence in their salvation. Jesus received the title the “Holy One” in the New Testament. “’You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:67-69). 8. What did the readers of 1 John know? (2:21) Second, John’s readers could have assurance because they “know the truth” (v. 20). This thought is elaborated in verse 27. Here we should make the connection between the Holy Spirit and truth. John had taught that the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17), would become their teacher (John 14:26). John claimed that all the readers have “knowledge” because they have all received the “anointing,” the Holy Spirit. In verse 21 he stated that he was writing them to give them this assurance. 9. How is the antichrist identified? (2:22) The false teaching of those who left the church is revealed in verses 22 and 23. They denied that Jesus is the Christ. These teachers must have taught a false doctrine similar to full-blown Gnosticism of the second century. Some of the Gnostics said that Jesus, the man, was not the same as Christ, the divine being. To them, Christ was only united with Jesus the man during a portion of His earthly ministry. Therefore, Jesus was not the Christ. He was just a man. The incarnation wasn’t real. John made the standard for this test of belief clear. He had already declared, that one who disobeys God’s commands or hates his brother but claims to know God is a “liar” (1:6; 2:4). The same is true in this third test for the person who believes this heresy and denies that Jesus is the Christ. The basic doctrinal test for salvation is one’s belief about who Jesus is. To deny His deity and His humanity is not just a wrong belief; it is a belief that eliminates one from the family of God. John was direct: “Such a man is the antichrist” (v.22) – one of those who exemplify the spirit of the Antichrist to come. 10. In what way is denying (or acknowledging) the Son related to having the Father? (2:23) The effects of belief are described clearly in verses 22c – 23. The one who “acknowledges” Jesus is in relationship with both the Father and the Son. John must have had in mind a public denial and acknowledgment since he used the same two verbs that Jesus used on the same subject (Matt. 10:32-33). Of course, inward belief precedes public acknowledgment. 11. What did John encourage his readers to do? (2:24) John next exhorted his readers to protect themselves from falling prey to the false teaching. They could do so by remaining true to the apostolic teaching and the heavenly teacher. His first command to them to let the original gospel message, the apostolic teaching, “remain in” them. This is described as “what you have heard from the beginning” (v.24a). The Greek begins with an emphatic “you” (as does verse 27). This was John’s way of setting the readers over against the heretics. John assumes they must work to keep the apostolic teaching a part of their lives. They must not allow themselves to be caught up in false ideas and incorrect doctrines. If they kept apostolic teaching a part of their lives, then they would “remain in the Son and in the Father” (v.24b), which is simply another description of “eternal life” (v.25). 12. What did the Father promise? (2:25) Eternal life. See underlined above. 13. Why did the author write these things? (2:26) 14. What was the relationship between the anointing these believers received and their need to be taught? (2:27) Next John commanded believers to let the Holy Spirit, “the anointing,” remain in them (v.27). They had “heard” (v.24a) the apostolic teaching from the apostles, and they had “received” the Holy Spirit “from him” (v.27). This referred to the Holy One, Jesus Christ. Both were means of staying true to the Lord. John provides his readers with two forms of protection: the truth of the Word and the Spirit of truth. John claimed that they needed to remain in both. He reminded all of his readers of this important balance. A person should not focus on the Scripture over against the Spirit or vice versa. What John claimed is that the best safeguard against false teaching is a real knowledge of the truth as gained through study and Spirit-guided illumination. Get It15. What makes you think that we are living in the last hour today? 16. What antichrists are among us today? 17. What truths do we know about Christ? 18. What have we been taught by the anointing of the Holy Spirit? 19. How can we remain in or have fellowship with Jesus Christ? 20. What groups of people are trying to lead believers astray today? 21. How can we protect ourselves against false teachers and antichrists? Apply It22. What will you do this week to deepen your fellowship with Jesus Christ? 23. What steps do you need to take to better prepare yourself against antichrists and their false doctrines? 24. Who is someone you can encourage in their relationship with Christ this week? A BOOK OF CONTRASTSOne of the distinct features of John’s writing style was his habit of noting both sides of a conflict. He wrote to show the difference between real Christianity and anything else. Here are some of his favorite contrasts.
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