Holy Wit – Bible Study #6 Many Antichrists (Walking in the Light: Studies Through 1 John – 1 John 2:18–27) Scripture Reading (NKJV): 1 John 2:18–27 18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:18–27 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A18-27&version=NKJV 1. The Last Hour and the Many Antichrists John begins with urgency: “Little children, it is the last hour.” He is not trying to frighten believers into panic, but to sober them into watchfulness. The coming of Christ, His death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit have placed the church in the final stage of redemptive history. The Messiah has come. The gospel has gone out. The church now lives between Christ’s first coming and His return. John says his readers had heard that “the Antichrist is coming,” but he also tells them that “many antichrists have come.” This is important. Scripture does teach a final, climactic opposition to Christ, but John is also concerned with the spirit already operating in the world. Antichrist is not only future. Antichrist is also present wherever Christ is denied, diminished, replaced, or quietly moved away from the center. The danger is not always crude hatred of religion. False teaching often sounds spiritual. It may speak warmly of God, morality, enlightenment, love, wisdom, power, or blessing. But when it removes the biblical Christ — the eternal Son who came in the flesh, died for sin, rose bodily, and is the only way to the Father — it carries the spirit of antichrist. 1 John 2:18 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A18&version=NKJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A3-4&version=NKJV 2. They Went Out from Us John does not describe these false teachers as outsiders who never had contact with the church. He says, “They went out from us.” That is part of what makes the matter so serious. False teaching is often most dangerous when it arises from familiar places, familiar words, familiar gatherings, and familiar names. Their departure revealed something. John says they “were not of us.” This does not mean every person who leaves a particular local church is an unbeliever. People may move, relocate, disagree over secondary matters, or join another faithful congregation. John is speaking about those who departed from apostolic truth. They left not merely a building or a group, but the confession of Christ handed down from the beginning. The visible church has always included mixed company. Some belong outwardly for a time but do not abide in the truth. When pressure comes, when doctrine becomes inconvenient, when the offense of Christ becomes too much, they depart. Their departure exposes that their attachment was external rather than saving. This is a serious warning, but also a mercy. God protects His people by making error visible. What was hidden comes into the light. The church is grieved, but not abandoned. Christ preserves His own. 1 John 2:19 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A19&version=NKJV Matthew 13:24–30 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+13%3A24-30&version=NKJV 3. The Central Lie: Denying the Son John does not leave false teaching vague. He identifies the heart of the matter: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” The central issue is Christ. False doctrine may begin in many places, but it eventually shows itself in what it does with Jesus. To deny Jesus as the Christ is not merely to reject a title. It is to deny Him as the promised Messiah, the Son sent by the Father, the incarnate Redeemer, the One in whom all the promises of God are fulfilled. John adds that whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. This is a vital doctrine. No one truly possesses the Father while rejecting the Son. Many religious voices are willing to honor Jesus as teacher, prophet, moral example, miracle worker, social reformer, or spiritual guide. But John gives no room for a Christ reduced to those categories. A lesser Christ is not the Christ of Scripture. A Christ who does not save from sin, reveal the Father, conquer death, and rule as Lord is not the apostolic Christ. The Father is not known apart from the Son. The Son is not optional. Christianity does not merely include Jesus; Christianity stands or falls with Jesus Christ Himself. 1 John 2:22–23 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A22-23&version=NKJV John 14:6–7 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A6-7&version=NKJV 4. Let What You Heard from the Beginning Abide in You John’s answer to false teaching is not novelty, but abiding. He tells his readers, “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.” The safeguard against spiritual deception is not chasing every new claim, new teacher, new revelation, or new spiritual fashion. The safeguard is remaining in the apostolic gospel. “What you heard from the beginning” refers to the message of Christ delivered by the apostles. It is the same truth John emphasized at the opening of the letter: “that which was from the beginning.” Christianity is not improved by being detached from its foundation. The church does not mature by outgrowing Christ. It remains faithful by going deeper into Him. This matters because false teaching often presents itself as advanced spirituality. It claims to offer something deeper, higher, newer, freer, or more enlightened. But John says the true path is to abide in what was already delivered. The gospel does not need replacement. It needs to be believed, guarded, proclaimed, and lived. The Christian life is not a movement away from the first truths of Christ, but a lifelong settling into them. 1 John 2:24 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A24&version=NKJV Jude 3 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+3&version=NKJV 5. The Promise: Eternal Life John grounds perseverance in promise: “And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.” The Christian is not merely defending doctrine for the sake of winning arguments. Truth matters because life is at stake. To have the Son is to have life. To lose the Son is to lose everything. Eternal life in John’s writings is not simply endless existence. It is life from God, life in Christ, life reconciled to the Father, life that begins now and continues forever. False teachers may promise freedom, hidden knowledge, spiritual power, or a more respectable faith, but they cannot give eternal life. Only Christ gives that. This also clarifies why John writes so strongly. Some modern ears may find his words severe. But love must warn when souls are in danger. A shepherd who sees wolves and speaks softly of “alternative sheep-care perspectives” is not being gracious. He is being negligent. John warns because Christ is precious, truth is necessary, and eternal life is found only in the Son. 1 John 2:25–26 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A25-26&version=NKJV John 17:3 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+17%3A3&version=NKJV 6. The Anointing of Truth John tells believers, “You have an anointing from the Holy One.” This does not mean Christians have no need for pastors, teachers, preaching, correction, or Bible study. John himself is teaching them as he writes. Rather, he is saying that true believers have received the Holy Spirit, who enables them to recognize and remain in the truth of Christ. False teachers often claim special insight. They suggest ordinary believers need their secret knowledge, superior experience, or spiritual advancement. John reassures the church that they are not helpless before such claims. The Spirit of God indwells Christ’s people and bears witness to the truth concerning Christ. This is not a license for private arrogance. It is not “I have the Spirit, so no one can teach me.” That would contradict the New Testament’s command to receive sound teaching. Rather, it is confidence that the Spirit does not lead the church away from the Son. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, confirms apostolic truth, and protects believers from fatal deception. Any claimed spiritual anointing that makes less of Christ is not from the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:20, 27 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A20%2C27&version=NKJV John 16:13–14 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A13-14&version=NKJV 7. Abide in Him John closes this section with the call to abide. Abiding is one of the great words in John’s writings. It means remaining, continuing, dwelling, staying. It is not a passing religious interest. It is the settled life of faith in Christ. To abide in Christ is to remain in His word, depend on His grace, confess His truth, obey His commandments, and refuse any version of spirituality that separates blessing from Him. The Christian life is not maintained by cleverness, personality, emotional intensity, or constant novelty. It is maintained by remaining in Christ. This is both command and comfort. The believer is commanded to abide, yet the ability to abide is tied to God’s preserving grace. Christ does not abandon His sheep. The Spirit does not lead believers into soul-destroying error. The word heard from the beginning is not fragile. It remains true because Christ remains true. False teaching often sounds spiritual while quietly removing Christ from the center. John’s answer is plain: do not follow it. Do not admire it. Do not make peace with it. Let the truth abide in you, and abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2:27 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A27&version=NKJV John 15:4–5 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A4-5&version=NKJV Reflection Questions 1. Why does John connect false teaching so directly to what a person believes about Jesus Christ? 2. How can teaching sound spiritual while still removing Christ from the center? 3. What does John mean when he says certain people “went out from us,” and how should that sober the church today? 4. Why is abiding in what was heard “from the beginning” a protection against deception? 5. How does the Holy Spirit’s anointing help believers remain in the truth without making them proud or unteachable? Prayer Points 1. Ask God to give His people discernment to recognize teaching that diminishes Christ. 2. Thank the Father that eternal life is promised in the Son and not in human wisdom or religious novelty. 3. Pray for pastors, teachers, and churches to remain faithful to the apostolic gospel. 4. Ask the Holy Spirit to keep you humble, teachable, and firmly rooted in the truth. 5. Pray for those being drawn away by false teaching, that God would bring them back to Christ and His word. For further study (NKJV): Matthew 24:4–5 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24%3A4-5&version=NKJV John 15:1–8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-8&version=NKJV 2 John 7–11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+John+7-11&version=NKJV Jude 17–23 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+17-23&version=NKJV #HolyWitBibleStudy #GordonMcGinnis #WalkingInTheLight #1John2