V ERSES 18-28 OF THIS CHAPTER cov er a subject that is very vital in our day. It will not be necessary for us to quote all of it here, but there are certain verses which give us the key to this portion. It begins: “Lit tle children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with u s: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us . . . Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?, He is antichrist, that deni eth the Father and the Son” (w. 18, 19, 22). Here the question of true believers and pretenders is tested from the standpoint of doctrine. The doctrine at issue is the Person of Christ Himself. There is a play on the two words “Jesus” and “Christ,” and some may wonder why that should be when the full name is Jesus Christ the Lord, or the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the heavenly name given to that Person whom we know as the earthly Jesus. Christ is the anointed, eternal Son of God. His eternal exist ence is implied in this name and also His power. In other words, Christ is the Eternal God who came in flesh and became the Jesus whom we know. Vine states: “There are those who acknowledge a historical Jesus. They admit that He lived in this world and they give great acclaim to His teaching. They speak much about His teaching on love, but they deny that He was and is the eternal God. Such persons are not born-again Chris- 30
tians. They may have a great deal of religion, but they have another Jesus, and the Bible describes them as ‘antichrists.’ That is not a pleas ant name to be called, but that is the one God has employed to de scribe those who deny that Jesus is the Christ.” We are able to detect who these “antichrists” are for it says: “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” Now this does not mean that they left our particular denomination or church. What he is talking about here is that they left the fundamen tal doctrine of Jesus Christ. They were never born-again. The reason we say that is that the Word itself says so concerning them. Verse 19 which is quoted above makes that abundantly clear. The w ords no doubt are in italics and do not belong in the verse at all. Consequently it reads thus: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have con tinued with us.” This is fundamental to our whole understanding of the Christian life. If these men had been true believ ers in Christ, they would have re ceived eternal life, which is Christ Himself dwelling within the believ er. You recall what the Lord Jesus said in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” He is speaking here of His own, those who are truly born- again, and He says emphatically, “They hear my voice.” He then de clares, “I give unto them eternal life.” That is the new kind of life; the kind of life that only God can produce in a man. Being recipients of eternal life “they shall never perish, neither
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