Passage: 1 John 2:18-23
The Big Idea
If the first great challenge to walking with Jesus is worldliness, the second is substituting something else for Jesus. “Antichrist” means not only “against Christ” but “instead of Christ.” John warns that many substitutes have already come, people who lead others away from Jesus, and some who walk away from Christ’s body altogether. But every believer has an anointing from the Holy One: the Holy Spirit, who always testifies about Jesus and protects us with the simple truth that Jesus is all we need.
The Last Hour (2:18-19)
John writes: Little children, it is the last hour. You’ve heard that antichrist is coming, and even now many antichrists have come, which is how we know it’s the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving showed that none of them truly belonged to us (1 John 2:18-19).
- The Greek prefix anti can mean “against,” but it can also mean “instead of.”
- An antichrist is a substitute for Jesus, something in His place.
- Scripture speaks of one final Antichrist to come.
- But John says many other substitutes are already here.
- He’s mainly talking about people who lead others away from Jesus. Sadly, some of them even hold positions of spiritual leadership.
- Others simply walk away from Christ’s body and never come back.
- People aren’t saved by going to church. But when someone abandons the body of Christ altogether and never returns, it says something about their relationship with Christ.
- There’s a deep, unspoken unity among all who are in Christ.
Bible teacher David Guzik describes a familiar scene: conflict arises in a church, and someone says, “I’m sick of all this. Churches are full of hypocrites. I don’t need any of it. I’ll follow God my own way!” And they leave not just one church, but all fellowship. Guzik notes that only God knows the heart for certain, but it can appear that such a person trusted in the church or in themselves rather than in Jesus. If they were truly trusting Jesus, the common ground of that trust would be greater than any difficulty with other Christians.
Application
Do you ever doubt that Jesus is all you need?
- John would say that’s a huge temptation.
- Our flesh always sees another way to live.
- But the Spirit only breathes life through Jesus.
The Anointing (2:20-23)
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. John isn’t writing because they don’t know the truth, but because they do know it, and no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. That’s the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:20-23).
- This anointing is something every Christian receives.
- It isn’t something some believers catch and others miss.
- “Anointing” literally means being blessed with oil. Early church tradition says the emperor Domitian once had John thrown into a vat of boiling oil, as if to mock him: “You have an anointing? Here’s your anointing!” And the story goes that John came out unharmed, because he was anointed indeed!
- The anointing is the Holy Spirit. So we know everything we need in order to live by the Spirit.
- The word for “know” here suggests an inner, intuitive knowing.
- The way to be protected from substitutes is to trust the truth the Holy Spirit brings:
- Jesus is all you need.
- Life comes through Jesus only.
- Drawing near to Him matters more than anything.
- Everything the Spirit convicts us of centers on Jesus.
Jesus said that when the Helper comes, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me (John 15:26).
That’s how you can tell the true Spirit from every substitute: the Holy Spirit always points to Jesus.
Grace Takeaway
There will always be substitutes for Jesus: other saviors, other systems, other ways to feel spiritual without Him. But you’ve been anointed by the Holy One, and the Spirit within you keeps whispering the same simple truth: Jesus is enough. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Stay close to Him, stay with His people, and let the Spirit keep your eyes on Jesus.
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