{"id":3179,"date":"2025-11-07T00:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:35:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:35:37","slug":"meditations-on-1-john-218-23-with-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/meditations-on-1-john-218-23-with-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditations on 1 John 2:18-23, with Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 2 <\/strong>(NIV–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deceptions of the Last Hour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 18,<\/strong> Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) \u201cThe false teachers who were present were worldly to the core.\u201d John warns the readers to keep alert regarding members of the church, for \u201cAntichrist<\/strong> … would display his traits of hostility toward god\u2019s Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

(FSB) \u201clast hour<\/strong> Refers to the time preceding Jesus\u2019 second coming. … antichrist is coming<\/strong> Jesus had noted that those who falsely claim authority\u2014as anointed (messianic) leaders\u2014would come (see Mark 13:21-22; Matt. 24:4-5, 24). … The singular term \u2018antichrist\u2019 … might refer to the evil figures described in 2 Thess 2:3-10 and Rev 13:1-10. … many antichrists<\/strong> Refers to those who have withdrawn from the community John is addressing. He identifies them in this way because they spread false teaching about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Moody) \u201c2:18-19.<\/strong> … John was indicating that there were forerunners of the antichrist<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Prophecy) \u201cAntichrist.<\/strong> This is the first appearance of this term in the Bible.\u201d The last hour: \u201c(cf. 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:7; 2 Pet 3:3; Jude 1:18).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ESV) \u201cBroadly an \u2018antichrist\u2019 is anyone \u2018who denies that Jesus is the Christ.\u2019 (1 John2:22). … Persons doing the devil\u2019s bidding and not God\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 19,<\/strong> They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) \u201cThey went out from us<\/strong>\u201d probably refers to the legalists from the apostolic churches of Jerusalem and Judea, \u201ca particular threat to the readers because they came to them claiming roots in the soil out of which Christianity arose. … They did not really belong to us<\/strong> … did not really share the spirit and perspective of the apostolic circle.\u201d They exhibit a \u201cfundamental disharmony with the spirit and doctrine of the apostles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(FSB) \u201cThey went out <\/strong>… they do not represent the viewpoints of the Church or Jesus. For John, the origin of a viewpoint (or someone\u2019s ministry) does not validate it. Rather, people must remain within Christ\u2014within the church community and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.\u201d Based on John 14:6 \u201cJohn views the world through the lens of whether people are of Christ or not. … Not of us John indicates that these secessionists\u2014antichrists\u2014are not authentic believers… be shown<\/strong> Because the antichrists withdrew from the Christian community, they could not receive correction. Their decision to depart from the Church revealed their true character.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Moody) \u201cTheir defection has shown<\/strong> they never shared the church\u2019s heavenly birth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 20,<\/strong> But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(FSB) \u201cThis anointing served as further evidence of the Christian community\u2019s genuine relationship with Christ, on another, and John.\u201d Regarding you know all things: \u201cIt provided them with the discernment necessary to reject the false teaching of the antichrists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Moody) \u201cThis illumination gave these believers insight about the truth\u2014an appreciation for it, an application of it\u2014that those without the Spirit lacked. …(Cf. 1 Co 2:6-12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Wiersbe) Conflicts warned about in this epistle: light and darkness, love and hatred, and now truth and error. \u201cto walk in the light and to walk in love is not enough; … must also walk in truth. The issue is truth\u2014or consequences!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 21,<\/strong> I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(FSB) \u201cyou do know it<\/strong> John appeals to their knowledge of the truth, setting up the argument in the remainder of this chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Moody) \u201cthey know the truth of the gospel\u201d so they would recognize faulty doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 22,<\/strong> Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist\u2014denying the Father and the Son.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) \u201cTo reject One is to reject the Other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Prophecy) \u201c2:22-23<\/strong> … Their blatant rejection of Him as the Messian is also a rejection of His incarnate deity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

v. 23,<\/strong> No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(FSB) \u201cthe only way to relationship with God the Father is through God the Son (compare John 14:6).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ESV) \u201cThe world\u2019s religions do no constitute \u2018many paths to the one God.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIRST JOHN 2 MEDITATION vv. 18-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Christian believers wonder if the antichrist figure is already in the world somewhere, ready to emerge and engage with Israel in these last days. John\u2019s epistle tells us to look in our own churches to see if an antichrist is already there. In your home fellowship, is there someone who is at odds with the other believers? Do you hear complaints or gospel half-truths from people in your church (\u201cJesus is Savior, but He is not God\u201d)? Does anyone there have a problem with persons in authority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John emphasizes again and again that fellowship with God the Father and the Son is a key metric of a healthy, thriving spiritual life. This constant communion shows that we have our priorities straight; we understand grace, faith, obedience, and love, and the illumination of the Spirit regarding truth. If we have this fellowship, then we are in a good position to detect whether others coming into the church are not, and to be watchful that other members of the body are not led astray by them. With spiritual senses alert, we\u2019ll detect the disruptions in the body coming from those who are not in fellowship with the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This abiding fellowship with God results in joy, and when something causes disharmony in the church relationships or in our decision-making, it should disturb our spirits. We need to watch and pray. The devil\u2019s instruments are at work even now. Our enemy still wants to draw us away from a fellowship with Christ of trust and humility. When we have a healthy relationship with God, we\u2019ll know the principles of a healthy fellowship with the body of Christ. We will have one Father over all, and following the same commandments of love for one another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2 (NIV–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.) Deceptions of the Last Hour v. 18, Dear children, this is the last hour; and as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[593],"tags":[591],"class_list":["post-3179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-john-with-notes","tag-meditations-on-1-john"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3180,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions\/3180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevehusting.com\/alivetogod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}