Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:18-21:
- Verse 18 – John is using words that Jesus used to keep the church in a constant state of vigilance and readiness.
- This has been continuing for 2018 years
- Anti-Christ -> Hostile person: someone claiming to be Jesus but counter to everything Jesus taught or the way He lived.
- Verse 19: These people who went out from us but were never of us are those who came to church for what it could do for them, having never been called by God; then when not finding what it could do for them, leave and talk badly of the church or defining their own version of christianity that befits them.
- The fact that they went shows that they were not called and therefore did not have the perseverance needed to last to the end.
- Verse 20: Anointing -> The ability to discern the Lord’s instruction through His word. Having an anointing and knowing the Truth is the same thing. Verse 2:27 also captures this.
- Verse 21: John is writing these words not to correct but to reinforce what we know through our anointing.