1Jo 2:18-29 | PNT | STEP | It is the last time . We are in the last dispensation. Antichrist shall come . False Christs and those opposed to Christ. See PNT . Anti-Christ is Anti-Christianity. Whereby we know that it is the last time . Their appearance is a part of the series of events which leads to the final consummation.

1 John 2:18-29

It is the last time. We are in the last dispensation.

Antichrist shall come. False Christs and those opposed to Christ.

See PNT Mt 24:4. Anti-Christ is Anti-Christianity.

Whereby we know that it is the last time. Their appearance is a part of the series of events which leads to the final consummation. They went out from us, but they were not of us. This implies that these antichrists were apostates. The worst men are often those who were once outwardly religious and have fallen away.

For if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us. Had they been true and genuine Christians they could hardly have fallen into such a state of enmity. Their going away and bitter opposition show that they were not real converts. But ye have an unction from the Holy One. Ye are anointed with the Holy Spirit. Christian means an anointed one; Anti-Christ would mean against the Anointed. Hence John reminds them that they have been anointed by the Holy One.

And ye know all things. All things needful to guard against these opposers and seducing teachers. It is the privilege of those who have this anointing to know Christ experimentally (Joh 14:22,23). I have not written unto you, etc. John writes to them as those who know the truth, and know how to discern between the truth and lies. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? Hence they will know how to reject these antichrists who lyingly deny Jesus Christ. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. All who deny the Father and the Son are antichrist; so also those who reject the Son cannot have the Father. Let that therefore abide in you. The truth concerning the Father and the Son which Anti-Christ denies.

Ye also shall continue. He who remains steadfast in this faith will "continue in the Son, and in the Father". And this is the promise. This promise, "[even] eternal life", is made to all who abide in the Son and in the Father. These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. All these words about Anti-Christ; all in 1Jo 2:18-29 is to put them on their guard against false teachers. But the anointing which ye have received, abideth in you. See 1Jo 2:20. This anointing is spoken of because it furnishes them a means of guarding against the false teachers and seducers. The passage does not teach a continuous revelation, or that we are to be led by the inner light, but that God has given us means of knowing whether men speak the truth.

Ye need not that any man should teach you. There is another fountain of knowledge so that ye need not the aid of these opposing teachers.

As the same anointing teacheth of you all things. The Holy Spirit bestowed upon you. It was the promise of Christ that the Spirit should "guide you into all the truth" (Joh 16:13). The Holy Spirit was thus imparted to the apostles and through them spiritual gifts were imparted everywhere in the early church. Among these gifts were wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, and discerning of spirits. These extraordinary gifts continued until the Holy Spirit had prepared the New Testament to guide the church (1Co 13:8). Now we have the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit has given us, and the presence of the Spirit with us to fit us for understanding. The word and the unction still teach us all things. Abide in him. By continuing in the truth taught of God. If ye know that he is righteous. A life of righteousness shows that we have the life of Christ, and hence is proof that we have been "born of him".