Pastor Billy Myron continues the study of 1 John after addressing the world, beginning at 1 John 2:18. He reads the passage: Little children, it is the last hour; as you have heard that the Antichrist will come, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. They went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. You have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. I have not written because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you; if it abides, you will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise He has promised us—eternal life.
The term antichrist appears only in John’s epistles. In 1 John 4:3 every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God; this is the spirit of antichrist already in the world. In 2 John 7 many deceivers who do not confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh are deceivers and antichrist. This includes early heresies that denied the physical incarnation of the Son of God and any denial of the Father and the Son. Unbelievers deny that Jesus is the Christ; some theologies claiming to be Christian have also denied these truths. The term is broader than the future man of lawlessness or first beast of Revelation, which many call the Antichrist though Scripture does not use that title for him.
These antichrists left the fellowship but were never truly of it. The language of continuing or remaining is the word for abiding—staying as one who is at home and at ease. One cannot abide in both light and darkness. Jesus stated in John 12 that He came as light so that whoever believes should not abide in darkness. John has already taught that the one who loves his brother abides in the light while the one who hates walks in darkness. Even while present among the believers, the antichrists were not abiding because that was not their true home.
In contrast, the readers possess an anointing from the Holy One and know all things. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1 that God establishes, anoints, seals, and gives the earnest of the Spirit. The knowledge here is intellectual perception, distinct from the experiential knowing used earlier in the chapter. They know the truth and that no lie belongs to the truth. Truth is central throughout 1 John: God is light and in Him is no darkness; claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is a lie; claiming to have no sin means the truth is not in us. The truth enables victory over sin. In 2 John the truth abides in believers forever. John addresses how the saved live: they are not to walk in darkness or deny the reality of sin, for denying the problem prevents its solution. The readers know that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, died for sins, was buried, and rose again, so that through their position in Christ they may live free from the sin nature—unlike the antichrists.
John’s reference to the last hour connects to warnings about the last times and last days. Romans 1 describes the ancient suppression of the knowledge of God that led to idolatry. 2 Timothy 3 describes perilous times in the last days marked by people having a form of godliness yet denying its power and ever learning yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3 warns of scoffers in the last days who deny the promise of His coming and are willingly ignorant of creation and judgment. Jude likewise speaks of mockers. Written in the AD 90s, 1 John addresses the presence of such denials of the incarnation.
The Galatians illustrate the danger of failing to hold the truth. Despite knowing Christ was crucified, they turned to works of the law for righteousness. Paul insists that a person is not made righteous by works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ; if righteousness came by law then Christ died in vain. Believers are crucified with Christ and may live free from the sin nature. Understanding the truth of the incarnation and the cross is essential; denying that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh precludes the gospel itself. John stresses these fundamentals so that believers are not hindered from living in the truth they already know.
