Antichrist and the Anointing Text: 1 John 2:18-27
Introduction: The Unmistakable Signs of the Times
The apostle John, writing to the churches under his care, does not mince words. He speaks with the authority of an apostle and the affection of a father, calling his readers "little children." But the subject matter is anything but childish. He is addressing a clear and present danger to the church, a danger that defines the very nature of the age they were living in. That danger was the spirit of antichrist.
We live in a time when eschatology, the study of last things, has been turned into a cottage industry for wild speculation, newspaper exegesis, and frankly, bad movie scripts. People hear the word "antichrist" and they immediately think of a future global dictator with a computer chip in his forehead. But John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us something quite different. He tells us that the "last hour" was upon them, two thousand years ago. He tells them that the antichrist they had heard was coming was, in a very real sense, already there, manifested in the many "antichrists" who had arisen.
This is not an option for believers to dismiss as a mistake on John's part. The Bible does not make mistakes. If we find the Bible saying something that doesn't fit our timeline, the problem is with our timeline, not with the Word of God. John, writing before the cataclysmic destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, was identifying the final hour of the old covenant age. The temple was still standing, but its foundations were shot through with rot. The Judaic world was about to be shaken to its core, and the final conflict was not primarily political, but doctrinal. It was a war over the identity of Jesus Christ.
And so this passage is intensely practical for us. The spirit of antichrist did not die with the first-century heretics. That spirit is perennial. It is the spirit that seeks to replace Christ, to redefine Christ, or to reject Christ. It is the spirit of the age, every age. And the defense against it is not found in elaborate prophecy charts, but rather in two non-negotiable realities John lays out for us: the apostolic truth that we must abide in, and the divine anointing that enables us to do so.
The Text
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. 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. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 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. 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. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 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. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 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.
(1 John 2:18-27 LSB)
The Last Hour and the Great Divorce (vv. 18-19)
John begins with a startling declaration of the time.
"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." (1 John 2:18)
When John says it is the "last hour," he means it. He is not being hyperbolic. He is speaking prophetically about the end of an age, the final moments of the old covenant world order centered on Jerusalem and the temple. The coming of Christ inaugurated the last days, and the period leading up to the destruction of the temple was the "last hour" of that transition. The proof of this is the arrival of the antichrists. They had heard that a singular figure, "the antichrist," was coming. But John says the spirit of this figure is already present and active in "many antichrists."
So what is an antichrist? The word can mean one who is "against Christ," but it also carries the sense of one who seeks to be "instead of Christ." An antichrist is not a persecuting Roman emperor from without; that is what the Bible calls a Beast. An antichrist is a false teacher from within. It is the smooth-talking heretic who weasels his way into the church, denies the fundamental truths of the gospel, and seeks to replace the Christ of Scripture with a Christ of his own making. In the first century, this was often a form of Gnosticism that denied the incarnation, that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. Today, it might be a liberal bishop who denies the deity of Christ, or a prosperity preacher who offers a different gospel.
How can we identify these antichrists? John gives us the definitive test in the next verse.
"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." (1 John 2:19)
This is a foundational text on the doctrine of perseverance and the nature of apostasy. Apostasy is not the losing of salvation. Apostasy is the revealing of a false profession. These false teachers were part of the visible church. They sat in the pews, they may have even taught from the pulpit. They were "with us." But they were never "of us." Their departure, their schism, was not a tragedy in the sense that a truly saved person was lost. It was a manifestation, a divine revelation of their true nature. The trash was taking itself out. Their leaving proved they were never regenerate. True saints persevere because they are preserved by God. Those who fall away prove they were never truly His in the first place. This is a hard word, but it is a necessary one. It forces the church to draw sharp lines based on doctrine and confession, not on mere external association.
The Anointing of Truth (vv. 20-23)
In contrast to the deceivers, John reminds the faithful of their divine safeguard.
"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 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." (1 John 2:20-21)
The defense against the spirit of antichrist is not superior intellect or a clever apologetic technique, though those things have their place. The ultimate defense is a supernatural one. Every true believer has received an "anointing from the Holy One." This is the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth, and He illuminates the minds of God's people to recognize and hold fast to the truth of the gospel. John is not flattering them; he is stating a covenantal fact. He writes to them not to teach them some new, secret knowledge, but to remind them of the truth they already possess by virtue of this anointing. This anointing gives the believer a sort of spiritual immune system that can detect the foreign virus of heresy. It recognizes that truth is a coherent whole, and that "no lie is of the truth." Lies are parasitic; they cannot stand on their own but must always attach themselves to some truth in order to deceive. The anointing helps us see the lie for what it is.
And what is the central lie? What is the lie that defines the spirit of antichrist?
"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. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23)
Here is the heart of the matter. The central lie is always Christological. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny His unique identity as the anointed one, the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God. This is not just getting a fine point of theology wrong. This is the whole ball game. And notice the unbreakable connection John makes. To deny the Son is to deny the Father. You cannot reject the biblical Jesus and claim to have some other access to God. You cannot say, "I believe in God, just not in that Jesus stuff." To deny the Son is to be orphaned. You do not have the Father. The Father and the Son are inextricably bound. To confess the Son, to affirm the truth about Him as revealed in the apostolic testimony, is to have the Father also. The whole Christian faith hangs on this point. This is why doctrine is not a secondary issue; it is life and death.
Abiding in the Truth (vv. 24-27)
The practical exhortation, therefore, is to remain steadfast in this foundational truth.
"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. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life." (1 John 2:24-25)
The command is to "abide." This is a central theme for John. It means to remain, to dwell, to live in. What are they to abide in? The apostolic gospel, "that which you heard from the beginning." There is no new, evolving truth. The faith was once for all delivered to the saints. The test of all teaching is whether it conforms to this original deposit of truth. And the logic is covenantal and beautiful: if the Word abides in you, you will abide in God. Doctrine is not an abstract set of propositions; it is the house in which we have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And the result of this abiding, this faithful indwelling, is the fulfillment of God's great promise: eternal life. Eternal life is not just a long time; it is a quality of life, the very life of God Himself, enjoyed in fellowship with Him. It is not something we get when we die; it is something we possess now through our union with Christ.
John then concludes by restating the threat and the provision.
"These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 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." (1 John 2:26-27)
The threat of deception is real. But the anointing, the Holy Spirit, also abides. When John says "you have no need for anyone to teach you," he is not encouraging a free-for-all of individualistic interpretation. He is not dismissing the office of pastor-teacher, which he himself is exercising by writing this letter. His point is that they do not need any new revelation or secret Gnostic knowledge from these false teachers. The Holy Spirit, the anointing, teaches them all things necessary for salvation by illuminating the apostolic truth they have already received. The Spirit's teaching is always in accord with the Word. He is true, not a lie. The final command brings it all together: "abide in Him." Abide in the truth. Abide in the Son. Abide in the Father. This is made possible by the Spirit who abides in you.
Conclusion: Stand Fast
So what does this mean for us, living centuries after the last hour of the old covenant age? It means everything. The spirit of antichrist is as active now as it was then. The core temptation is always to abandon the biblical Christ for a more palatable, modern, sophisticated, or convenient substitute. The temptation is to unhitch the Son from the Father, to deny the sharp edges of apostolic doctrine, to believe the lie that sincerity matters more than truth.
The lie of the antichrist says that Jesus is not the only way. The lie says that denying the Son has no bearing on your relationship with the Father. The lie says that doctrine divides and love is all that matters, all the while redefining love to mean affirmation of sin. The lie says that new truth is being discovered that supersedes the "outdated" words of Scripture.
But to all this, the true Christian, possessing the anointing from the Holy One, has a ready answer. We know the truth. Not because we are smarter, but because God has shone in our hearts. We have the apostolic word, delivered from the beginning. And we have the abiding Spirit who testifies to that word. Therefore, our task is not to be clever or innovative. Our task is to abide. To remain. To hold fast to the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
When the deceivers come, and they will, their departure from the faith will simply manifest who they really are. But for those who are truly "of us," who are born of God and anointed by His Spirit, the call is simple. Let the truth you heard from the beginning live in you. And as it does, you will live in the Father and the Son, secure in the promise of eternal life. Stand fast, therefore, and do not be moved.