Today, Sunday July 25
“Abide in Him” 1 John 2:26-27 “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 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.”
Remember the three marks of an “antichrist”, a false teacher: He departs from the faith (v. 19), he denies the faith (v. 22). And he tries to deceive the faithful (v. 26). And the false teacher in John's day claimed to have a special unction (anointing) from God which gave them a unique knowledge.
It is important that we are able to detect the counterfeit and separate the teachings of Christ from the false teachings of antichrist. How can we do this? By depending on the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Each believer has experienced the anointing (the unction, 1 John 2:20) of the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who teaches him truth (John 14:17; 15:26). False teachers are not led by the Spirit of Truth; they are led by the spirit of error (1 John 4:3, 6).
The word anoint reminds us of the Old Testament practice of pouring oil on the head of a person being set apart for special service. A priest was anointed (Exodus 28:41), and so was a king (1 Samuel 15:1) or a prophet (1 Kings 19:16). A New Testament Christian is anointed, not with literal oil, but by the Spirit of God—an anointing that sets him apart for his ministry as one of God's priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9). It is not necessary for you to pray for "an anointing of the Spirit"; if you are a Christian, you have already received this special anointing. This anointing "abides in us" and therefore does not need to be imparted to us.
We have seen that false teachers deny the Father and the Son; they also deny the Spirit. The Spirit is the Teacher God has given us (John 14:26), but these false Christians want to be teachers themselves and lead others astray. They try to take the place of the Holy Spirit!
We are warned against just letting any man be our teacher, for God has given us the Spirit to teach us His truth. This does not deny the office of human teachers in the church (Ephesians 4:11-12); but it means that under the guidance of the Spirit we must test the teaching of men as we search the Bible for yourself (Acts 17:11). We must also test the “spirit” that is in them (1 John 4:1).
The Holy Spirit abides in us and teaches us all things (v. 27). False teachers have a way of "riding a hobby” and neglecting the whole message of the Bible. Jesus implies that we are to live by "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Paul was careful to preach "all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable" (2 Timothy 3:16). If we ignore or neglect any part of the Bible, we invite trouble. We must read and study the whole Book, and be able to "rightly divide" it (2 Timothy 2:15); that is, we must "handle it accurately".
Remember your Teacher abides in you and you are to abide in Him, and I can assure you that His Word in you will immediately detect the lies of the false teacher!
God bless!
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