Commentary - 1 John 2:18-27

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of his letter, the apostle John brings a word of urgent warning and profound assurance to the flock. He is addressing a specific historical situation, a schism that has taken place in the church, but the principles he lays down are perennial. The church is always beset by deceivers, and believers are always in need of grounding. John identifies the spirit of the age for them, which is the spirit of antichrist, and he points them to their absolute security against it. That security is not found in their own cleverness, but rather in the anointing they have received from the Holy One. The central issue is Christological. The fight is always, finally, about who Jesus is. John is arming the saints to stand firm in this foundational confession, reminding them that to have the Son is to have the Father, and to have them is to have the promise of eternal life.

He contrasts the apostates who departed, thereby revealing their true nature, with the true believers who remain. Their departure was not a tragedy for the church, but a clarification. It was a divine manifestation of who was who. The anchor for the saints is twofold: the truth they received from the beginning and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, their anointing. These two witnesses, the external word and the internal Spirit, are the believer's defense against the deceptions of the world. Abiding in this truth is not a static condition, but an active cleaving to the apostolic doctrine of Christ, which is the only way to abide in the Father and the Son.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour.

John addresses his readers with pastoral affection as "children," reminding them of their familial bond in God. He then makes a startling declaration: "it is the last hour." Now, we have been living with these words for two thousand years, which has caused no small amount of confusion for those who read the Bible like a bus schedule. But John is not mistaken. He is speaking of the end of an age, specifically the end of the old covenant order, which was coming to its cataclysmic end with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This was the "last hour" of the Judaic world. The apostles had heard from the Lord Jesus Himself that these things would happen within a generation (Matt. 24:34). The proof that this last hour had arrived was the appearance of many "antichrists." They were expecting a singular figure, "the antichrist," but John points out that the spirit of antichrist was already at work and embodied in numerous false teachers. Their presence was a sign of the times, a clear indicator that the end of that era was upon them.

v. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.

Here is the doctrine of apostasy in a nutshell. These antichrists were not strangers who attacked the church from the outside; they were insiders. They were part of the visible covenant community. They went to potlucks. But their departure was not a sign of the church's weakness, but rather a demonstration of God's sovereign sifting. Their leaving proved they were never truly regenerate, never truly "of us." True saving faith perseveres. If they had possessed the same life that animated the apostles, they would have remained. Their exit was a divine object lesson. God allowed them to go out precisely "so that it would be manifested" that their confession was hollow. Apostasy is not a believer losing their salvation; it is a false professor revealing their true colors. It is a mercy to the church, a lancing of the boil.

v. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

The contrast is sharp. "They" went out, "but you" have a different reality entirely. Your security is not in your ability to out-argue every heretic. Your security is this: you have an anointing. This anointing is the person and work of the Holy Spirit, given by the "Holy One," Jesus Christ. And the effect of this anointing is knowledge. Not exhaustive, omniscient knowledge, but a firm, foundational, saving knowledge of the truth. The Spirit has taught you, and so you know. This is not an arrogant claim to secret Gnostic wisdom; it is the quiet confidence of a child who knows his father's voice. Every true believer has this anointing. It is not the special property of a spiritual elite.

v. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

John clarifies his purpose. He is not writing to a group of ignorant novices who need to be taught the basics. He is writing to reinforce what they already know through that anointing. He writes because they know the truth, and because they know that truth and falsehood are antithetical. They come from two different sources. Truth is from God; lies are from the devil. There is no middle ground, no peaceful coexistence. A lie is not a slightly distorted version of the truth; it is a rejection of it. John is stirring them up by way of remembrance, encouraging them to stand in the truth they possess and to recognize that any teaching that deviates from the apostolic gospel is, by definition, a lie.

v. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

John now puts a fine point on it. What is the central lie? What is the defining characteristic of this antichrist spirit? It is the denial that Jesus is the Christ. In the context of John's day, this was likely a form of early Gnosticism (Docetism) that denied the incarnation. They denied that the divine Christ had truly come in the flesh. To deny this is to be the liar par excellence. And this denial is not a small theological quibble. To deny the Son in His incarnate reality is to deny the Father who sent Him. The two are inextricably linked. You cannot reject the Son as He has revealed Himself and claim to have a right relationship with the Father. To deny the Son is to be an antichrist.

v. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

This is the principle laid bare. There is no access to God the Father except through God the Son. Any religion, any philosophy, any spirituality that attempts to bypass Jesus Christ is a dead end. It does not lead to the Father. If you deny the Son, you do not have the Father. It is that simple. The inverse is also gloriously true. The one who confesses the Son, truly, from the heart, confessing Him as Lord and Christ, God in the flesh, that person has the Father also. The confession of the Son is the key that unlocks the door to fellowship with the Triune God. You get the Father by means of the Son.

v. 24 As for you, let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The practical exhortation flows directly from the theological reality. What is the duty of the believer? It is to ensure that the original message, the apostolic gospel they first received, continues to live and dwell in them. "Let that...abide in you." This is not a call to sentimental nostalgia, but to a rugged doctrinal fidelity. The faith is not something to be tinkered with or updated. The condition for abiding in God is allowing His Word to abide in you. If that foundational truth remains your anchor, then the result is secure fellowship: "you also will abide in the Son and in the Father." Our abiding in Him is contingent on His truth abiding in us.

v. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

And what is the outcome of this mutual abiding? What is the great prize? It is the promise that He, Jesus, personally made to us. That promise is eternal life. This is not just endless duration of existence, but a quality of life, the very life of God Himself, shared with His people. This is what is at stake in these doctrinal disputes. The antichrists, with their sophisticated denials, are robbing people of this promise. Holding fast to the simple, foundational confession of Jesus Christ is the path to securing this promised life.

v. 26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

John again states his polemical purpose. This letter is a weapon. It is written to arm them against the deceivers, the spiritual con men who were actively trying to lead them astray. The Christian life is a warfare, and a significant part of that warfare is intellectual and doctrinal. We must be equipped to identify and resist deception.

v. 27 And as for you, the anointing whom you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as He has taught you, abide in Him.

He concludes this section by returning to the theme of the anointing. This anointing, the Holy Spirit, abides in them. John then says something that is frequently misunderstood: "you have no need for anyone to teach you." He is not promoting a kind of radical individualism where every believer is his own magisterium, dispensing with the need for pastors and teachers. The very fact that he is writing to teach them refutes that idea. Rather, he means they have no need for any new teaching, any "advanced" revelation from these Gnostic deceivers. The anointing of the Spirit teaches them "about all things", all things necessary for salvation and godliness. The Spirit's teaching is true, it is not a lie, and it will always be in perfect accord with the apostolic word they heard from the beginning. The final command is therefore simple: abide in Him. Cling to Christ, as He has been revealed by the Word and illuminated by the Spirit.