31. 1 Jn2.18-28 Truth vs Falsehood Pt3

Truth vs Falsehood Pt 3: Tools for Our Conflict

1Jn 2:18-28 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (20) But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (21) I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. (23) No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. (24) Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. (25) And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (26) I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. (27) But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. (28) And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

1) The Reality and Time of the Conflict 2) Our opposition in the Conflict 3) Our tools in the Conflict 4) Discernment in the Conflict and 5) The Means of Victory in Our Conflict

It has been a while since we were in 1 John so it is important to review in order to understand verses 20 and 21 in their proper context.

1 John was written to combat the growing influence of Gnosticism in the church in the later part of the first century. The Gnostics of the day claimed special knowledge. They denied the sonship and the deity of Jesus which hacks at the very root of our faith and our assurance of salvation. They denied the sin nature in humanity (because of Adam we are all sinners) and the activity of sin essentially saying there was nothing inherently sinful. 1 John is a letter in contrasts. It is the truth verses falsehood. At this point in chapter 2 we have seen the reality and time of this conflict. “It is the last hour” meaning that we are in the last days before the Lord comes in glory. It is that period that began with Christ’s ascension and ends with His glorious return. If John considered it the last hour then how much more so now.

The conflict between truth and falsehood isn’t about philosophical ideas. It is the age old conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Gen 3:15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” But really the conflict began when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve with the idea that they could become like God knowing good and evil. This conflict continues to this day in people. John says antichrist in reference to one who is to come but also many antichrists. Where did these specific antichrists come from? The came from with the church and they left the church because they could not abide the sound doctrine proclaimed in the preaching and teaching of God’s word. They left on their own accord but sought to corrupt the church with their false doctrine. We have seen so far the 1) The reality and time of our conflict. 2) Our opposition in the conflict. This morning we will look at Point 3 “Our tools in the conflict.

First there are some textual issues to address in verse 20. I read from the ESV this morning.

(20) But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

The NASB reads: But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

The NKJV reads: But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

The KJV: But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 

The ESV translates the Greek word for anointing as a verb when in the original it is actually a noun. The verb have is present active verb denoting possession. It literally reads ‘have an anointing’. The NASB,NKJV, KJV are the more accurate translation of this phrase. It is important to ask questions when you encounter variations in translations. Does it affect the interpretation? While the two are often confused they are different. Translation relates to as much as possible a one for one word exchange from the host language to the target language. Interpretation is conveying the thought, intent, and purpose of the text from the host language to the target language. Here the ESV has changed from noun to verb to convey the one-time past action of having been anointed with the ongoing effects of knowing. True Christians are anointed with the Holy Spirit at conversion in contrast to those who have left the church having never had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I believe the reason why the translators of the ESV went this way is because of the difference between the English perfect tense and the Greek perfect tense. The English conveys the idea of a present action. The Greek perfect tense conveys the idea of ongoing, continual action. “You have an anointing” means that the anointing they received was present at conversion, is present not, and will continually be present in the future.

The second phrase “you have all knowledge” or “you all know” is in contrast to the “you know all things” of the NKJV and KJV. The “you” comes from the second person plural form of the verb to know. Does the word ‘all’ go with knowledge as in “all knowledge” or with the implied 2nd person pronoun “you”. It is not clear. You may think that it can’t be all knowledge because we don’t have all knowledge. But if we limit it to the context of what is said in this paragraph and ask do believers have all knowledge that Jesus is the Christ? Do they affirm God the Father and Jesus as God the Son? What would your answer be? This is a legitimate translation. But John could also be contrasting the “special revelation” claimed by a select few of the Gnostics to the “special revelation’ of the Holy Spirit to all those who are born again in Christ Jesus. I am inclined to the latter view but ask me again tomorrow and it may be different.

There are 2 points this morning: 1) The anointing we have received and 2) the truth

I. The anointing we have received – ‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One’

What does anointing mean? You have an anointing (unction) - What is the anointing? In 1Jn 2:27 (see notes) John says this anointing was one they had received from God and abides in them and is something that teaches them. While John does not clearly identify the anointing, these associated features (especially teaches) would strongly support the premise that the anointing represents the Holy Spirit. We know Jesus sent Him to abide in believers and to teach us and lead us into truth declaring "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." (John 16:13)

John Piper explains anointing - Acts 10:38 says that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit. And 1 John 4:13 says that God has given us of his Spirit. So the anointing referred to in 1Jn 2:20 and 1Jn 2:27 is probably the pouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts when we are born again. So we can go back and rephrase 1Jn 2:20 like this: “You have the Holy Spirit from God in you and so you know the truth.” And 1Jn 2:27 would go like this: “The Holy Spirit which you received from God abides in you and so you have no need that any one should teach you. That is, you don’t need these progressive prophets who claim to add new information about Christ beyond the truth you heard at the beginning.”

What is plain from these two verses is that without the Holy Spirit we would not know the truth. Knowing the truth about Christ is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

I must offer myself a reproof. I titled this sermon our tools in the conflict. A tool is something inanimate to be used and put away. So a better title is in order. The Holy Spirit of whom we have been anointed is not a tool but a person. He is the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. We, once dead, being renewed and regenerated by the work of the Spirit Titus 3:4,5 are illumined by Him.

2Co 4:6  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This illumination is not an informing of the mind or communication of spiritual knowledge but an experimental and effective consciousness of the Truth. This anointing is the resurrection of the dead to life. It is transformational. He, the Spirit, is Who gives certainty to what the Word of God says in relation to Christ Jesus as the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners.

Joh 9:25  He answered, “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

2Ti 1:12  But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

There are three primary benefits in the Spirit’s work in us.

1) It gives certainty to the soul. The Spirit’s work once wrought in the believer’s heart means that it is impossible for anyone or anything to move that soul away from the certitude that Jesus is the Christ of God. That there is no other name under heaven by which men are saved. Such is that certainty that men and women of faith have proclaimed Jesus as Lord with their last breath in the midst of persecution and martyrdom.

In 2015 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were kidnapped in Libya by Isis. Dressed in orange jump suits the Christians were given an opportunity to convert to Islam. They all refused. In the video released by ISIS voices could be heard shouting ‘Ya Rabb Yeshua’. Arabic for O Lord Jesus as they were being beheaded.

History is full of such examples of steadfast faith.

2) As stated before it is transformative. The spiritual apprehension of the truths of God are efficacious, meaning that it brings about the intended effect. The image is stamped on the heart and we are molded into the image of Christ. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit 1 Cor 12:3. It is by the Spirit we see sin for what it is. Once pursuing the desires of our flesh in accordance to the lust of this world now seeking to put our sin to death confessing it and repenting from it. The anointing we have received illuminates us to the truth of Christ and the reality of our sin.

3. It is the divine preservative. There are those who have been in church all their lives and yet fall away. 1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

2Pe 2:1  But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

But these have never know the effective anointing of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of their souls. They are religionists and moralists. But for those who have been anointed by the Holy One, they are preserved from being captured by Satan’s emissaries. The Spirit safeguards the people of God.

Joh 10:5  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

II. Knowledge of the Truth

John says you all. This is important to note because the gnostics claimed special revelation for a select few. John is saying to the churches the truth is for all believers and all believers know the truth.

There are two Greek words for knowledge, one is in reference to knowledge that is acquired over time and the other is intuitive. The word used here is intuitive. It is the knowledge that comes with faith. The subject of the knowledge comes from 1Jn 2:22-23  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  (23)  No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. This is central and essential to the faith. A rejection of Jesus as the Christ, a rejection of the Father is a rejection of the faith.

This knowledge is Spirit wrought but the foundation of it is the Word of Truth. It is the Word of God and what it contains that the Spirit uses to convict us of sin. He convicts us of the truth of the salvation of God in and through Christ Jesus alone. 2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

There is the objective truth of the Scripture and there is the subjective confirmation of the truth in the believer by the work of the Holy Spirit. There is no better illustration than John 9 when Jesus opens the eyes of the man who was born blind. After Jesus opens his eyes the man born blind was called before the Pharisees twice. We pick up the narrative on the second interrogation.

Joh 9:26-33  They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”  (27)  He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”  (28)  And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  (29)  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”  (30)  The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  (31)  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.  (32)  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  (33)  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The same word for know here is used in 1 John. From darkness to light, from blindness to sight.

The work of the Spirit and the Word of Truth is the double assurance that the believers will stand firm against the false teaching of the gnostics.

Verse 21 reiterates John's assurance that his readers knew and were adhering to "the truth" they had received. "I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it" assured them that he was not seeking to impart new truth. There is no hint of correction. He was supporting them in their adherence to "the truth" in the face of the false teachers.

In typical John fashion, the positive is added: "but because you do know it". This pastoral assurance was designed to confirm their rejection of the many antichrists that had arisen (v. 18). As Barclay observes, "The greatest Christian defense is simply to remember what we know."

The third ‘because’ or reason why John is writing is to state in no uncertain terms that ‘no lie can co-habit with the truth’. A little error is all error. A partially true statement is still false. John is fencing the truth. And so must we all.

1. Be thankful for the work of the Spirit in renewing, regenerating, and illuminating your heart to know the truth of God in salvation. It is all of Him and none of you.