Warning Against Antichrists
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.
Children of God
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
My Understanding: This is the “last hour.” Another phrase similar to this is “last days,” which, most commentators I have read agree, began with Jesus first coming, and will end with his return. Many antichrists have come. “Anti” means “against,” so this basically means “against Christ,” only not just against who he was and is, but against what he stands for and what he taught. Christ means “anointed,” as well as Christ is the Son of God and the Messiah, which means “Christ.”
The Antichrist(s)
Those who are “antichrist,” thus, are those who do not believe he is God the Son, that he left his throne in heaven to come to earth to take on human flesh, that he was sinless, that when he died he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, that he was resurrected back to life in conquering Satan, death, hell and sin, that he ascended back to heaven where he sits at the right hand of God the Father, and that one day he is coming again to get his bride and to judge the earth and its inhabitants.
Yet, “antichrist” goes even beyond that. I believe a person can acknowledge all of the above intellectually and still be “antichrist.” John said that the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ is the antichrist, because he denies the Father and the Son. The antichrists are liars and deceivers. Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God and is antichrist (1 Jn 4:3). So, I see two key words here that I would like to examine: 1) Deny and 2) acknowledge. Deny means “to declare that something is not true or not the case.” Acknowledge means “to admit or accept that something exists, is true, or is real” (Source: Encarta). To accept something as true means to receive it, take it on, shoulder it, assume responsibility, allow for, agree to, and/or to bow to. To deny something means to repudiate, contradict (key word here), negate, invalidate, disallow, block, forbid, and/or prevent, etc.
What I believe the Bible teaches is that it is possible to acknowledge God/Jesus with our minds and even to confess him with our lips, but that we could still be guilty of denying him by our actions and our lifestyles. The Bible speaks of people who honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from God, and it speaks of false teachers who are like wolves in sheep’s clothing who secretly slip in among believers in Jesus Christ pretending that they are “sheep” when they are really wolves. So, it is possible to acknowledge Jesus intellectually and to even confess him audibly before men, and yet not have him in our hearts, and/or for our lifestyles and actions to be involved in contradicting, negating, and invalidating what we say we believe, because our actions don’t match our confession of faith. As well, to truly acknowledge Jesus Christ means to take ownership of what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, by us turning from our sin, by us daily dying to sin and our own selfish desires, and by us daily following Christ Jesus in obedience to him and to his commands. To truly acknowledge Christ means to do so in all that we do and say.
John said that the antichrists went out from the fellowship of believers. They did not really belong to the family of God, for if they had, they would have remained with them, but that their going showed that none of them belonged. John could be speaking here about a specific group of people who eventually left the fellowship of believers due to a difference in belief and practice, and that their parting of the ways was evidence that they were not one with the believers in faith and practice. Yet, since the Bible also warns us of false teachers (antichrists) who have secretly slipped in among us, we cannot assume that all antichrists will leave the fellowship of believers, because their purpose in being in there, perhaps, is to deceive and to lead the believers away from pure devotion to Jesus Christ, so they will have to pretend that they also believe.
Jude describes these deceivers as godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. They speak abusively against what they do not understand (things of the Spirit of God); and what they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals – these are the very things that destroy them. They eat with us without the slightest qualm. They are shepherds who feed only themselves. They follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. They are scoffers who follow their own ungodly desires, and they are the ones who divide us, because they follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
I can attest to the fact that there are many such men standing in our pulpits in America’s churches today. They water down the gospel message of Jesus Christ by removing the requirements of repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to Jesus Christ, and to his commands. They follow teachings of men over and above the teachings of scripture. They follow business plans of men for how to grow God’s church, rather than following the plan of salvation in scripture. They market the church like it is a business, and use worldly means and methods to try to attract the world to the church. Yet, the church is the body of Christ, i.e. those who have truly come to faith in Jesus Christ by God’s grace via repentance and obedience, so the only way to “attract” the world to the church is by sharing with them the truth of the gospel, i.e. that it required Christ’s death for our sins, and it requires that we die to sin and self and that we walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the cross is an “offense” to those who are perishing, yet many preachers today avoid the true meaning of the cross of Christ in our own lives out of fear of “offending” those who they want to “attract” to the “church.”
The Anointing
John said, nonetheless, that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, have an anointing from the Holy One (God), and that all of us know the truth, and that no lie comes from the truth. He said that this “anointing” we have received remains in true followers of Christ, and because of that we don’t need anyone to teach us. This is in reference to him warning the believers about those antichrists who were trying to lead them astray. He told them that Christ’s anointing teaches us about all things, and that it is real, not counterfeit, and because of this, just as the anointing had taught them, they were to remain in Christ.
We learned at the beginning that Christ means “anointing.” So, in one sense, the anointing that believers in Jesus Christ receive is Christ himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, who comes to indwell the lives of Christ’s followers. The Holy Spirit’s job is to teach us all things that Christ taught and that he commands, and to serve as guide, counselor, comforter, encourager, intercessor in prayer, as well as to convict our hearts of sin. Before Jesus Christ came, the people of God had the prophets who spoke God’s words to them, yet we have the Spirit of God within each one of us who has honestly received Christ as Savior and Lord, and he teaches us. We no longer have to rely on man to be God’s voice to us, though that does not negate the gift of teaching or the need for human teachers. It just means that they are not our main teachers, and that we should check out everything we hear, and we should test it against the word of God, and against the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. Then, we should not be easily persuaded by these “antichrists.”
In another sense, though, the anointing involves a calling to be Christ’s followers and to carry on the work that Jesus began during his earthly ministry. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 (see song below) when he said that the Spirit of God was on him, because “he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Since Jesus Christ left the earth, and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell us, we are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. In other words, we are Jesus’ hands and feet to the world around us. We are his witnesses. We are to make disciples of all nations, and we are to teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded. We are to preach the good news of salvation by proclaiming to people how they can be set free from sin, only not just how they can escape hell, but how they can be free from the control of sin while they are still here on the earth. And, we are to teach them how they can walk in daily fellowship with Christ in faithful obedience and surrender to his will for their lives. This is the true gospel! And, it is the only one that brings true hope!
John told the believers not to follow the liars and deceivers who would lead them astray to a false gospel, which today is primarily this watered-down gospel that removes the need for repentance and obedience to Christ. Instead they were to follow the truth that they had been taught. Since they had this anointing from the Holy One, they should know the truth. John then exhorted them to see that what they had learned from the beginning of their faith in Christ (the truth of the gospel) remained in them. To remain means “to continue, endure, persist, keep on, and/or “to continue in a particular state without changing” (Encarta). To continue means “to last, or make something last, beyond the present or throughout a period of time;” and to “not stop” (Encarta).
In other words, they were not to give way to this false teaching, but they were to keep on in the faith that they received from the very beginning. IF they continued, they would remain in the Son and in the Father, and they would receive the promise of eternal life. If they continued in Christ, they would be confident and unashamed before Christ at his coming. Many passages of scripture throughout the New Testament speak of the importance of continuing in Christ for our ultimate salvation to be made complete at his return. We remain in Christ by continuing in the faith we received from the beginning, if it was true faith, and by not denying Christ by giving way and credence to a false gospel. To remain in Christ also means to remain faithful to him and to his word, and to continue in obedience to him. May we all be ones whose lives are characterized as though who are continuing in Christ.
The Lord’s Anointed / An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based off Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.
They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to
Wear, as the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.
http://youtu.be/PSH4DBpc__U
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