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1st John 2:21-end Part II
May 29th 2016
Okay last week we read:
1st John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
And we discussed them at length. John goes on with our text today, saying at verse 21:
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Back to verse 21 where John, having addressed the Little Children of the faith, says
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Don’t take this epistle wrong, John seems to say, I haven’t written unto you because ye don’t know the truth but rather BECAUSE you know it (and your understanding is clear, there is no lie in your views.
The things I have written to you are to help encourage you and protect you from the lies of the antichrists around us and I do this because you ARE in possession of the truth therefore I know you will hear and heed to the insights I’m presenting.
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Remember here, truth is truth. It is not relative nor is there any variance in it. Truth is absolutely unwavering is its form – there is no shadiness or fault in it – its pure light and WITHOUT any shadow, twisting or turning.
God is truth. Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Life.
There is nothing in them that is of a lie, that lies, or that a lie can reside upon.
Conversely, John says something perplexing to me here. He says that “no lie is of the truth.”
We could read this in a few ways. We could say that no part or portion of a lie can be founded on the truth OR we could say that in the truth there is no lie.
I take it the latter way – in the truth there is absolutely no lie. And having mentioned lies is says (verse 22)
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
We can see that John continues to address the nature of what he calls, antichrist. I think we can see from his language that he could be describing the singular Anti-Christ or he could be describing the spirit of anti-Christ that seems to be in many people in his day.
In other words John seems to ask:
Who is false; who maintains an erroneous doctrine; who is an impostor, (and then speaking to the Gnostics of his time and their specific lies he says) “but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”
“You wanna know who is a liar and false? Anyone who denies that Jesus is the anointed one.”
And then he enhances the description of these sorts by not just calling them liars but says:
“He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
In the first line he says that liars deny that Jesus is the Messiah or the anointed one. In the second line he says that those who deny (both) the father and the Son are antichrist (or stand in opposition to Christ) either as “The Anti-Christ” or as harboring the spirit of an anti-Christ.
Denying that Jesus is the Messiah seems to mean, contextually, those that admitted that Jesus lived (there were too many people around in that time to deny that) but who denied that he was the true Messiah.
We aren’t sure the grounds upon which they made this claim. It could have been from what the Gnostic Doecetae were saying or it could have been anyone who simply maintained that Jesus of Nazareth was not who or what He claimed to be.
John could have simply been speaking of the Jews who resisted the messiahship of Jesus too. Some think John was talking about the error propagated by a guy named Corinthus who separated Jesus from the Christ and said that they were two people not one.
We aren’t really sure.
But in the second line he directly says those that denieth the Father and the Son is antichrist.
He or she has all the characteristics and attributes of antichrist or they maintain a doctrine which somehow denies both things about the Father and things about His Son.
I think this is important because it doesn’t seem to mean that these folks denied all the truth pertaining to God Almighty – that He is eternal and good and gracious etc.
John seems to admit in these words that the central to the description of antichrist is they somehow reject doctrines pertaining to the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
That this is ANTI-CHRIST. This makes sense if he was speaking of Jews who certainly sought God almighty. But John seems to be saying that if a person doesn’t admit true understanding or denies a relationship between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, which might include that:
Jesus came from the Father
That God was His father
That He was in the beginning with the Father,
That the Father sent Him
That He was God with us, the great, “I am”
That He was on errand for the Father
That to have seen Him was to see the Father
Or any of these types of revelations – if these relationships are denied between the Father and Jesus the Anointed, that is anti-Christ and the Spirit of Anti-Christ.
I think it’s important to see clearly that the charge that such a person is anti-Christ while admitting that they actually could have devotion to God.
But Jesus made it clear
John 5:23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.
Look at our next verse as John clarifies what he has said in verse 22
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
So it appears that John is saying that these folks who are denying Jesus are also denying the father, and fulfill the role of anti-Christ.
Again, his point is really made clear in verse 23:
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Okay before we address the clarity of the content in verse 23 there is an issue to consider relative to it – is it reliable and authentic?
If we just read the words that are consistently in all the manuscripts we have only:
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. (and we could stop there and possess the gist of the message – deny Jesus you will not have anything with the Father. Period.)
The part in question is the second line that reads (in the King James at least)
“(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”
Many believe this was added to the mss. Which is why it is usually printed in italics in most versions of the Bible.
While it IS missing from some manuscripts or versions of the Bible it is found in a large number of them as well as in the Vulgate, the Syriac, the AEthiopic, the Coptic, the Armenian, and the Arabic versions, and in the critical editions of Griesbach, Tittman, and Hahn.
It is highly probable that it could be regarded as a genuine portion of the text.
Also it is very much in the style of John, and so while it’s not necessary to complete the sense of the first line it is well suited to John’s style of writing.
Additionally, the statement is true and so it’s not like it is adding something errant to the first line – if someone denies the Son of God they would have no access to the Father.
None.
This is a fundamental truth of Christianity. In fact I think that this is the single most important core tenet of the faith we hold dear.
“No person has access to the Father after this life but by faith in Jesus.”
This is it – the core of core issues.
Jesus said in
John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
In chapter six of John the Jews came to Jesus and asked how they could work the work of God and Jesus said:
John 6:29 This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Then 28 verses later added, when talking about eating His flesh Jesus said:
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Later Jesus was in the temple and cried out, saying:
John 7:28 Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
Paul wrote in Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
Which provides us with the clear assumption that all who do not believe in the Son in such a fashion will not be saved.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
And finally Philip was asked by the Ethiopian Eunich (reading Isaiah) if he could be baptized and Philip said,
“If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
This is the question. In my estimation this is the core, central belief of all Christianity.
It is where all conversation starts and when we think about it where all of them ought to end – with Christ Jesus – since we can’t read the hearts of every professor.
All we can do is see their love.
But the key line in this passage, when we consider context and why John was writing in the first place is
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.”
The goal of the Son, in His condescension, His birth, His life, baptism, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension is to bring us to the father.
To deny Him is to deny ourselves eternal access and relationship with the Father.
This is the central message of outreach – Jesus came to save us and reconcile us to the Father. Don’t deny Him, learn and live for Him.
To do so is to have access to the invisible God. This hearkens all the way back to the first words of Hebrews 1 (which we’ve studied and which say:
Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
John continues with an encouraging reinforcement of the faith and says:
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
Now remember, John is talking to the cream of the crop of saints here. We know this because he said in verses 1-3 (regarding the anti-Christs)
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
So we know that his letter is going to those whom he believes are the most faithful, spirit smeared or anointed believers around.
And what does he admonish them toward here in verse 24?
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
This is a very conditional statement and it is supported by the very fact that John is writing to them to encourage them to hold fast to their true love – proving that even those who are anointed by the Spirit can let go of what they have heard from the beginning . . . a fade.
“Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning.”
In my opinion these words hearken back to what John said at the beginning of the chapter at verse 3 when he said:
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
Let the truth of Jesus abide in you.
Let the light shine.
Let the goodness remain.
Abide in Him and He will abide in you.
Believe, as you did at the beginning.
Love, as you were instructed by Him in the beginning.
“Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning.”
WHY? John says because . . .
“If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
I want to talk about this phrase, eternal life.
It is used 26 times in the New Testament and “life eternal” which means the same thing is used four.
Greek is an adjective “ahee-o’-nee-os”
means perpetual, for ever, everlasting.
It is taken from the noun “ahee-ohn” which interestingly means an age, a course, or period of time.
And Life is “Zoe” which means life, living, alive, not dead, with life, animated.
Throughout the New Testament people are seen coming to Jesus and wanting to know how to obtain eternal life or life eternal.
Matthew 19:16 says:
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
In Luke 10:25 we read
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And in Luke 18:18 we read
“And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
To answer these questions we find the following insights in scripture:
Very simply we read in John 3:15
“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
So we know that merely believing in him we will “avoid perishing and will gain eternal life.”
John 17:3 says “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
So, to know the only true God and Jesus the Anointed whom he sent to the world – this is life eternal.
Then in John 12:25 Jesus said:
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
So those who hate their life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
Then in Mark 10:29-30 Jesus says, “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
So we know that what we have left and lost for his sake in this life will “in the world to come,” gain eternal life.
Then in John 6:54 Jesus said
“Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
So we know that those who believe in Christ to the extent that they remember Him through communion have eternal life.
Then we read in John 6:68
That Simon Peter said, “thou hast the words of eternal life.”
So we know the things Jesus said and taught were key to eternal life.
Then Jesus said in John 10:28
“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
So we know that it is Christ who gives it and once He has given it nobody can grab them from His hand.
We learn that Eternal Life is a gift from God, as Jesus said in John 17:2
“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
And then we get closer to understanding it through Romans 5:21 which informs us that
“as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So it is by grace through righteousness that eternal life reins by Jesus Christ where “sin once reigned unto death.”
Again (and similarly) we learn that eternal life is tied to an absence of wages of sin as Romans 6:23 says:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
From this I think we can safely say the following:
“That sin reigns unto death because the wages of sin is death BUT that the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST where His grace reigns unto righteousness.”
Sin and death.
Righteousness and eternal life.
All by Christ.
In sin and in death, which exists without Christ, there is loss, darkness, pain.
In righteousness and life, which exists by and through Christ, there is gain, light, and joy.
So eternal life is a continued, uninterrupted state of gain, light, and joy.
How can we gain life eternal? By Christ Jesus- faith in and following of. This is what God has promised us, or as John says:
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Therefore, we are called to trust and HOPE in these promises of God –
Titus 1:2 says it this way:
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”
And the in chapter 3 verse 7 reiterates:
“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This hope is based in the fact that God has not only promised those who believe life eternal but that we are called to it upon belief.
Paul says in 1st Timothy 6:12
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
In our preemptive preparations we are told we “hold on to it” as Paul says in 1st Timothy 6:19
“Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Finally, we learn something really interesting about eternal life – it is IN GOD’S SON – as we will read in chapter five verse 11 which says:
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Two verse later we will read:
1st John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
So God has made a promised to us, even eternal life. It seems John is using this promise of eternal life to encourage them to hang on to the truths that are in them.
He then gives us a direct statement on why he has written, saying
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
I have written all of this to help you avoid being drawn away from the seductive teachings of the anti-Christs.
The word seduce means to lead astray – it is something that John does NOT want to happen to any of these stalwart saints in his care.
In the face of the next verse it seems like John does not mean that they had actually seduced them because he states in the next verse that they were yet safe; but he refers to the fact that there was danger that they might be led into error.
What would be the result of they were lead into error? They would be destroyed at His coming. Wiped out with the other million. Thrown in Gehenna possibly. They would suffer loss.
In my estimation this is the same loss that all people today experience who pass without a belief in Christ. They do not, in other words, enter into an
“uninterrupted state of gain, light, and joy,” but instead enter into a perishing state – whatever that looks like.
To his audience, however, John adds:
27 But . . . (and then he gives 7 points which I think are worth some study – so we are going to read them now but cover them next week.
So John says, But . . .
1. the anointing which ye have received of him 2. abideth in you,
3. and ye need not that any man teach you:
4. but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,
5. and is truth,
6. and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you,
7. ye shall abide in him.
Q and A
