18aLittle children, bit is the last hour; and as you have heard that cthe Antichrist is coming, deven now many antichrists have come, by which we know ethat it is the last hour.
19aThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for bif they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but theywentoutcthat they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20 But ayou have an anointing bfrom the Holy One, and cyou know all things.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22aWho is a liar but he who denies that bJesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
23aWhoever denies the Son does not have the bFather either; che who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Let Truth Abide in You
24 Therefore let that abide in you awhich you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, byou also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25aAnd this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who tryto1 deceive you.
27 But the aanointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and byou do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing cteaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you1 will abide in Him.
The Children of God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that1 when He appears, we may have aconfidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29aIf you know that He is righteous, you know that beveryone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
John makes it clear in verses 20-21 that his audience is composed of deeply converted people who have God's Holy Spirit and are rooted and grounded in the truth. The "anointing" is the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we can see from II Corinthians 1:21-22: "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit." John's phrase, "you know all things," simply refers to the fact that these people knew and understood the basic doctrines of the church.
John informs us that the antichrists were right in the church fellowshipping with the truly converted! No doubt, they performed the same function in John's areas of responsibilities as they did in Paul's. They created a measure of havoc in the church through heretical teaching and then left the fellowship, proving they were not really part of the church. They were tares.
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