These Christ-opposers belonged to the church outwardly, but “were not of us” — not organically identified with the body of believers, 19. For them defection or apostasy was nat ural and “they went out.” Their de fection proved their false profession. Fellowship with Ch r i s t and His church is never possible for those who deny Him. On the other hand, God’s children are protected from the peril of de fection and the influence of false teachers by the unction (anointing) of the Holy Spirit given by “the Holy One” — Christ Himself. This anointing enables believers to dis cern between truth and error, and to discover those who are antichrists, 20, by the Spirit’s help. This epistle was written because of the existence of the antichrists who stood opposed to the truth and because John’s read ers knew the truth, 21. The essence of doctrinal defection, 22-23. Writing against the back ground of the Gnostic heresy, John identifies the defectors as those who deny the deity of Jesus, 22. The Gnostics (liars) denied that Jesus was the God-man, stating that the Christ-spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism and departed before His death. By denying the Son they also denied the Father, since the Bon is the revelation of the Father and the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6, 9), 22b. This last thought is given emphasis in 23. Fellowship with God the Father and the Son is never possible to those who deny the Son. To deny Him by refusing to accept His deity is to forefeit the privilege of a living relationship with Him. Doctrinal defection gives evidence of personal rejection.
trary is the evil world to all that God is, both cannot be loved at the same time. "The world” embraces “the lust of the flesh,” the keen de- sire of the unregenerate man cen tered upon self and opposed to God (Rom. 7:18) ; “the lust of the eyes,” those keen appetites which master our body, soul and spirit through the eye gate (2 Sam. 11:2; Josh. 7:21; Ps. 119:37) ; “the pride of life,” i.e., the vainglorious display of godless living. Thus the evil world is com pletely at variance with our infinite ly holy God, 16b. (2) The world is fleeting and impermanent, 17a. It is even now passing by, in a state of transition like a parade and it will soon be gone, as well as “its lusts.” By contrast, the doer of God’s will is destined for permanence, 17b. “But he who continually does God’s will remains forever,” even as God abides forever (Ps. 90:2), for he is linked eternally with God in Christ and in present unbroken fellowship. 2:18-28 LOYALTY TO THÉ FAITH AND FELLOWSHIP Doctrinal defection, the foe of fel lowship, 18-21. John again addresses “little children,” perhaps emphasiz ing their immaturity in contrast to the writer’s authority and spiritual experience. He reminds them that “it is the last time,” 18a, or literally “the last hour,” furthering the idea of the passing away of the present world (v. 17). This entire present age may be characterized as “the last hour” with an acceleration of defection as the second advent draws nearer (1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Jude 17-18). The apostle then iden tifies the source of much opposition to the truth by affirming both the presence of many antichrists in his day and the coming of the Antichrist at a future time (2 Thess. 2:3-10; Rev. 13:1-10). “Antichrist” means one who is opposed to Christ but under the guise of Christ, 18.
2:24-29 ABIDING IN
CHRIST AND FELLOWSHIP Adherence to the Truth, 24-26. In contrast to those who promote error 31
Made with FlippingBook HTML5