First John 2 20-27 (Without Antichrist)

I covered the topic of antichrist in my last post. This time we'll look at the other verses in this section of the chapter that deal with other points.

Verse 20 gives three promises; the original audience had an annointing, it was from Christ and it's result was that it allowed the annointed to, "know all things." The word annointing here comes from the Greek word chrisma, an oil or ointment rubbed on the skin.

This verse would have given the original audience of this book a great feeling of importance considering their state of mind in being worn down by the false teachings of the Gnostics. Annointing had traditionally been reserved for kings (I Samuel 10:10), priests (Exodus 29:7) and prophets (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus of course was their annointed one (Acts 4:27). To be told that they had an annointing from their Annointed One just reinforced what John had said previously. He wanted their, "joy to be full."

This was a miraculous annointing. It relates to taking on the Gnostics, the antichrists. This is proven in verses 26 and 27. If it were not miraculous and they truly knew all things then John wasn't anymore inspired than they would have been. What would have made John so important and special?

Verse 21 is a comment on the verses surrounding it about antichrist. The lie John talks about is the lie of the Gnostics, the antichrist since they are liars. It reaffirms to them that they know the truth.

In verses 22 and 23 John talks about Jesus and God. If you reject one you reject the other. He gives both the negative and positive implications here.

Read verse 24. What had they, "heard from the beginning"? Truth, the gospel (love) they had learned about earlier. The word abide was covered in a previous entry. It's from the word meno meaning to settle down and live as in one's permanent home. Let the truth abide or settle down permanently in us. We can then settle down permanently with Jesus and God. (2 John 5-6 and John 14:23)

The promise of eternal life is covered next in verse 25. John also wrote about this great promise in John 3:14-16 and 6:40. From this verse we learn eternal life is a promise. It's conditioned on us holding to what we have heard from the beginning. This is not presented by John as a present condition because one can't hope for what one already has. (See Titus 1:2 and Romans 8:24-25)

The next verse is obviously talking about the Gnostics. Verse 27 presents the same thought and message as verse 24 with one difference. In 24 it's given as a command. In this verse it's stated as fact. Remember this verse is still part of the defense against antichrist. That's important because it's apparently easy for some to missuse this verse in trying to prove the annointing is a miracle that takes place today.