1 John 2:18-25
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. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 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. 22 Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, see that what you heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”
Antichrist: The epistle is focused on getting people out of major theological error imposed by Gnosticism. These beliefs and these false teachers are antichrists. For John, the antichrist is not some future figure who will lead an army against the people of God. Instead, the antichrists are those who were at one time amongst Christians but who proved to not be authentic believers because of their theological error.
They went out from us: Apparently, the Gnostics were at one point part of the Christian church gatherings. But they were soon revealed to be false teachers through their teachings against the humanity of Jesus as well as the reality of sin (1 John 1). John saw these teachings as proof that these were not true believers. These Gnostics became their own pseudo-Christian group.
But you have an anointing: All people in Christ have an anointing from Christ. Jesus lives within them and they have been adopted into God’s family. To the contrary, all who are of the Gnostic teachings and who have rejected the physicality of Jesus, do not contain an anointing.
Denies the Father and the Son: All who reject Jesus reject the Father also. It does not matter how good a person’s works are, or how nice their beliefs are, if they do not believe in Jesus, they are also denying the Father because God is one being and three persons. All who confess the Son of God also confess the Father and the Spirit. They are a package deal. This means that the entire Trinity is pleased with God’s children. Believers are perpetually abiding in God, and God is perpetually abiding in His children.
Eternal life: God is offering an unending life, the very life of Jesus, to all who believe in Him. This salvation is an eternal salvation. This means that nothing can interrupt or interfere with it. God’s salvation has nothing to do with our promises or works before God. Rather, salvation is based on His promise to save all who believe in Jesus. This is the heartbeat of the New Covenant.
