1 John 2:18-23
2:18 a Antichrist literally means “instead of Christ”; he claims for himself what belongs to Christ and poses as a substitute for Christ (cp. 2 Thes 2:3 b and Rev 13:1-10 c).• many such antichrists have appeared: They are the false teachers who deny that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son (1 Jn 2:22-23 d), God in the flesh (4:2 e; 2 Jn 1:7 f).
2:19 g These people left our churches: This is John’s first direct statement about the false teachers. At one point, they had been part of the church community, in fellowship with John and the other apostles. Then they left that fellowship and evidently formed a separate, exclusive community based on their false teachings about Jesus (see 4:1 h; 2 Jn 1:7 i; 3 Jn 1:9-10 j).
• they never really belonged with us: True believers would have stayed in fellowship with the apostles and remained faithful to their teachings.
Summary for 1John 2:20-23: 2:20-23 k for the Holy One has given you his Spirit: The Holy Spirit gives believers the ability to understand and recognize spiritual truth (see Isa 61:1 l; Acts 10:38 m; 2 Cor 1:21-22 n). Those who have the Spirit know the truth about the Father and the Son and can detect what does not accord with the truth of the apostles’ teaching.
2:22 o John marks out as a liar any false teacher who denies that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the unique revealer of the Father (4:2 p).
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