THE SPIRIT IS THE KEY
“But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So, I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies…. So, you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship, we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.”
1 John 2:20-21, 24-25 NLT
John is careful to remind his readers that the Holy Spirit in them, the Spirit of truth, is the crucial key in the issue of deception.
Many deceivers were already around in John’s day. Legalistic Judaism was out to lure Jewish and Gentile believers back under its yoke as a safeguard from persecution. The Roman government tolerated Judaism, but this new Way that challenged the Emperor himself was intolerable. Christians refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. They bowed to no one but Jesus, this Nazarene whom they claimed had come back from Roman execution by crucifixion to live again.
An even more subtle deception was being propagated in the form of “Christian Gnosticism”. The crux of this heresy lay in the philosophy that spirit is good, but matter is evil. Since the body is matter, Jesus could not have had a real human body. Hence the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, the heresy spawned to get around the problem of evil matter. If Mary was conceived miraculously and without sin, this took care of the humanity of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit in the believer guides and convinces us of the truth. John urges his readers, then, to stay in and remain faithful to the truth so that they may remain in fellowship with the Father and the Son. Only in this way can they (and we) continue to be assured if eternal life.
Fellowship implies being in harmony with the Father and the Son, loving what they love and sharing in their work on earth. We cannot enjoy this fellowship unless we believe and stay faithful to the real Jesus, the God/man who came to reveal the Father and to take us to the Father by reconciling us to the Father through His atoning sacrifice.
Monthly Archives: September 2023
THE RIDDLE OF ANTICHRIST
THE RIDDLE OF ANTICHRIST
“Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that (the) Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.”
1 John 2:18-19 NLT
“Antichrist” is a hot potato in today’s prophetic machinations. Prophecy fundis have associated prominent names with “the Antichrist” almost since John wrote these words.
Who is this mysterious figure who dominates eschatological predictions? Some big names have come and gone, others are much alive, and still others have yet to appear on the horizon.
Trouble is, much of prophetic interpretation is imposed on Scripture rather than derived from Scripture.
So what is John saying? Since John is the only Biblical writer to use the word “antichrist”, we must look for the meaning first in his explanation.
“I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
2 John 1:7 NLT
First then, anyone who denies that Jesus was a real human being like us, is part of the antichrist. They are deceivers, obviously sowing their lies among God’s people to mislead them since people in the world are already living in deception.
Does this mean that antichrist is more than one person?
In our quote from 1 John 2, John spoke of “many antichrists”. What did he mean? “Many” means many! That isn’t difficult to understand! So, how can the Antichrist be a single figure?
“Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise, they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.”
1 John 2:18-19 NLT
Second, antichrists are those who originated in the church fellowship. They were once part of the church, but their departure is evidence that they were never real members of Christ’s body. No prominent political figure here!
Third, their presence from among God’s people is part of the “last hour”. What is the last hour? Scripture uses the terms the “last days” or “the last hour “, interchangeably, to mean the period of time between Jesus’s first and second coming.
“In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…”
Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV
So, John says that there is an antichrist spirit at work through people who were once in the church, the era of grace through Jesus, who deny the reality of Jesus’ real humanity. Their purpose is to deceive and mislead God’s people away from the truth. In this sense, anti-Christ means against Christ, in opposition to Christ.
There is a subtle way in which these “antichrists” speak against Christ. By denying His humanity, they rob Jesus of His right to be our atoning sacrifice. Since He had to be a real man to take our place in death, if He were not truly human, He cannot be our substitute and sacrifice.
John explains that faith is the incarnation of Jesus, His coming to earth as a flesh and blood human being, is crucial to the gospel. He took pains to explain, in the 4th Gospel, that the Word, the embodiment of God’s revelation of Himself, became “flesh” a term used to describe His physical nature, and lived for a while with us.
“So, the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
John 1:14 NLT
Two natures God and man, perfectly combined in one person. To deny Jesus’ humanity shatters any hope we have in His work of the restoration of all things to His original plan.
How does our arch enemy, the devil, try to accomplish this? By using influential people to speak in place of (anti) and to speak against (anti) Jesus to deceive people into believing that He was never a real man.
“So, I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
1 John 2:21-23 NLT
So, what is John’s point?
“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.”
1 John 4:1-3 NLT
Apart from the many cults that deny the humanity of Jesus, there is a religious system, led by a succession of men representing that system, that denies the true humanity of Jesus. Through a process of human reason, the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary has become a central and official doctrine of a system that claims to be Christian but represents the spirit of antichrist.
This doctrine says that, since Jesus was born of Mary, and Mary was supposedly conceived without sin, Jesus cannot, therefore, have been made like us.
But the Bibles says…
“We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to
help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.”
Hebrews 2:16-17 NLT
Therefore…
“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testing we do, yet he did not sin.”
Hebrews 4:15 NLT
The debate about the identity of “antichrist” is, once again, a red herring, a distracter that lures us away from trusting and worshipping Jesus because He is the one and only true God/man, sent from the Father to bring salvation to the whole world.
“Then he (Jesus) asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon, son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
Matthew 16:15-17 NLT
Unless we confess, like Peter, that the real Jesus, the human Jesus, is God’s anointed Son, we are also part of the antichrist that has been at work since Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
IMPERMANENT TRANSIENCE
IMPERMANENT TRANSIENCE
“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love
the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers
only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and
pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but
are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that
people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”
1 John 2:15-17 NLT
What were John’s first words of caution and counsel to babies and grown-ups in
Christ?
BE CAREFUL OF THE WORLD
“The world is too much with us; and soon
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; -…” wrote William
Wordsworth in his sonnet, “The World is too much with us”.
The Apostle John was aware of this danger long before Wordsworth wrote his
observation. The world not only presses in on us, demanding attention and
response, but there is also an eager reply from within us, from that old nature
that is closely allied to the alluring temptations from the world.
The way God’s children deal with the world’s offers depends on one thing, the
object of our love. Jesus said that we will serve what we love, what masters
our affections, God or money.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you
will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be
enslaved to money.”
Matthew 6:24 NLT
Money symbolises everything the world has to offer because, in the end, money
pays for the world’s trinkets, fame, possessions, and achievements.
What is the major problem with the world’s rewards? Do they not
satisfy? Yes, for a time! Are they not enjoyable? Yes, for a
time! Are their rewards not real? Yes, for a time!
However, the real trouble is that worldly fame, pleasure, possessions, and
achievements are as transient as the world itself. The world and all its
systems are doomed to pass away. Gid has no use for a creation corrupted by
sin. His eternal plan is a perfect earth inhabited by perfect people and
governed by His perfect Son.
“But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the
heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves
will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to
deserve judgment.”
2 Peter 3:10 NLT
God made His promised renewal possible through the sacrifice of His Son,
atoning for the sin of the world and bringing about a reversal of everything
that went wrong when Adam rebelled.
“But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has
promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.”
2 Peter 3:13 NLT
So, says John, if you love the world and all it has to offer, you will join the
world and all who love it in the great judgment coming when unrighteousness
will be destroyed forever.
Only the power of love for God, motivated by His love for us, will save us from
His judgment and preserve us for eternal life.
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
1 John 4:10 NLT
Paul adds the dimension of vision to John’s motivation of love.
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits
are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last
very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will
last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix
our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be
gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
Hardship and trouble are as transient as the world’s pleasures because they are
part of this fallen planet. However, unlike worldly pleasure, hardships don’t
pander to the flesh. They serve the purpose of divine discipline, supporting
our efforts to subdue the flesh that we might share God’s holiness.
“Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t
we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live
forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best
they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might
share in his holiness.”
Hebrews 12:9-10 NLT
Those who follow John’s good counsel discover that God’s will, and not ours, is
good, perfect, and acceptable, and that doing God’s will guarantee that we will
continue from this transient world to eternal life. We experience eternal life
now, in part, but then in eternity, for those who believe in Jesus will never
die.
ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDED
ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDED
“I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one. I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.”
1 John 2:12-14 NLT
John addressed his letter to all categories within the readers, young and old, mature and immature, those who were starting out on their journey with Jesus and those who had been on the road for a while. All had place in the family of God, and all had already embraced the truths that brought them to where they were.
Newborn children of God were held secure by their knowledge and experience of the forgiveness of sin. O, the joy of the sin-burden lifted and removed forever. Gone the dark cloud of guilt shame, and fear hanging over their heads! No matter their chronological age, they were new inside, beginning their new life in the joy and freedom of reconciliation to the Father.
Together with this new-found freedom came the strength to continue, to grow up and mature in Christ. They had won the battle over Satan’s control through faith in Jesus. They had embraced the message of salvation; God’s Word had come alive in their hearts. They were securely on the road to maturity as long as they persevered on this way.
To those who had been on the way for a while, John wrote to encourage them in their pursuit of God. As Jesus had prayed on the eve of His death…
“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”
John 17:3 NLT
…So, John wrote his letter to help them to know by experience the reality of Jesus’ life in them. Knowing God, knowing Jesus, is the essence of eternal life.
Knowing about the Father and the Son is never enough. Peter urged his readers, in his second letter, to…
“… Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ….”
2 Peter 3:18 NLT
To grow in grace and knowledge is to participate in all the blessings, benefits and training in the salvation God has provided through His Son. As we submit to the Lord Jesus in all the ups and downs of life, we learn His ways, we experience His grace and love, and we get to know Him.
“Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honour you.”
Psalms 86:11 NLT
For both “newborns” and mature believers, John’s desire is the same, to encourage them to know God and to have fellowship with the Father and the Son, and God’s people by living in the light of His truth.
WHAT IS “DARKNESS”?
WHAT IS “DARKNESS”?
“If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.”
1 John 2:9-11 NLT
Darkness is only the absence of light. Darkness cannot stand by itself. It disappears as soon as light appears. Sunrise dispels darkness. Even the tiny light of a candle makes a pool of light in a dark room.
Spiritual darkness is also the absence of light in another realm. In the first chapter of this letter, John stated that “God is light, and there is no darkness in Him.” Darkness, here, is figurative as well as literal. As much as He is the source of all physical light in the universe, God is also the source of all truth and wisdom, the light that enlightens us about Himself, us, and how to live in this world.
Conversely, sin has taken God’s light from us and plunged us into the darkness of spiritual death. We are separated from God and live in the realm of darkness, the realm ruled by the prince of darkness, the devil.
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT
How does God communicate His “light” to us who are in spiritual “darkness” because of our sin?
He sent His “light” into the world to show and declare God’s truth to us.
“God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”
John 1:6-9 NLT
However, we no longer have physical access to Jesus, since He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven. How can we know and receive the light that will take away our darkness?
The psalmist wrote,
“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
Psalms 119:105 NLT
God has provided a way for us to access this light so that we can find the way to the Father. He has inspired and preserved a written record of that Light for us to read, believe, and experience.
The light of God’s Word leads us to Jesus, the true light that enlightens everyone who comes into the world.
“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
John 8:12 NLT
Simply put, when we believe and receive the message about Jesus,
“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”
Romans 10:17 NLT
“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts…
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NLT
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NLT
The teachings of Jesus, the true Light, encompasses life in all its facets. When we follow Him, we walk in the light is His word as He walked in obedience to the Father’s word. Then we have fellowship with Him and with His people.
But…. to claim allegiance to Jesus and, at the same time, to hate a fellow believer is a contradiction. Our claim and behaviour make us liars. We can only be one with God and one another if we walk in God’s word.
“So, we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:6-7 NLT