Antichrists Among Us: 1 John 2:18-29
[Note: This is part 3 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary That You May Know: The First Letter of John. During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John presents.]
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him (1 John 2:18-29).
Today, we continue our study of 1 John. In the last post (Marks of the Believer Part 1), we saw the beginnings of what John calls the evidences of salvation—how we can know that we have eternal life. In this post, we (with John) briefly turn from those evidences to the counter-example. In this passage, John gives us three marks of what he calls “antichrists,” people who reject Christ and teach against Him. These marks should be taken together; we should not try to apply one without the rest, otherwise, we suffer from distorted thinking.
Evidence #1: Rejection of the Fellowship
The first thing that marks the antichrist, John says, are those who leave and reject the fellowship of the church (vv. 18-19). Notice that this is not the same as the church removing someone from fellowship due to unrepentant sin (Matt. 18:15-20, a practice that is sorely lacking today, but that’s another matter entirely). It is also not the same thing as one who might leave one congregation and be called to another congregation. Such a person usually retains their belief in Christ.
Instead, the antichrist rejects the fellowship of the believer entirely (and at the same time rejects biblical teaching on Christ and other matters of the faith—see below). In John’s day, as there were no “denominations,” leaving the church meant living in the world without the protection of Christ, cut off from the means of grace. John then pointedly remarks that if they had been “of us” (meaning believers, part of the fellowship), they would have remained. Thus, while a true believer will seek to remain in fellowship, the false will often fall away and leave the church.
If we are not careful, this passage can pose problems when dealing with someone who has left the fellowship because of wounds sustained at the hands of believers. Sadly, this is becoming more and more common today. For the most part, these people have not truly rejected the church or Christ. They retain their core belief about Jesus and salvation. We must pray for the grace of Christ to lovingly draw them back into fellowship, so that they will not fall victim to the schemes of the devil.
Evidence #2: Denial of Christ
The second mark of the antichrists is their denial of Jesus as the Christ (vv. 20-23). In context, it seems these people (in John’s day) claimed to have some special anointing to receive “truth”—a truth that was at odds with the teachings of Christ and the apostles. They denied that Jesus was the Christ. This often came in two forms.
First, some taught that “the Christ” was a spiritual manifestation that came upon the man Jesus at His baptism but left before His death. Others taught that Jesus and “the Christ” were indeed the same, but they denied that Jesus was a true man, making Him to be a spirit (hence Jesus’s words to the disciples in Luke 24:38-40). Both views deny the truth of the Incarnation that God became a man.
We see much the same thing today, if in different wording. There are many ideas about Jesus and the Christ—good teacher, wise man, prophet, sorcerer (!), etc. Such teachings want to strip Jesus of the very thing that makes Him our Savior—the fact that God took on human flesh and became a man. It’s not possible, John says, to claim to be a Christian and deny any part of the Incarnation.
Evidence #3: Living in Lies
John concludes this section by reminding his readers to abide in that which was taught to them from the beginning–the truth of Christ. The implication is that those who have departed are now living a life of lies. But those who continue to abide in Christ will be granted eternal life and will have confidence when they stand before Him–not in themselves of course, but in His work in them.
Takeaways from This Passage
As we mentioned at the beginning, these three ideas should be taken together. In fact, everything that John says in his letter should be taken together. John here looks at the overall picture when dealing with people. With the exception of denying Christ, it is possible to be a believer and still stumble in other areas. We may be wounded and leave the church for a time. We may struggle with walking in the light (walking in truth). But we are still believers.
John constantly reminds us that he is giving us this information so that we are not deceived. Deception can come in very subtle ways, so we must be alert and hold fast to our faith, rightly judging all things by Scripture. In the end, we too can have confidence in His grace as we stand before Him.
