Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:18-19)

These days, any kind of teaching about the coming anti-Christ is very popular.  But less than 60 years after the cross John was already writing about the spirit of anti-Christ being evidenced in the false teaching that would later come to be known as “gnosticism”. The fact that those false teachers had come from among believers gave them a certain credibility in the growing church, but in John’s view the error of their doctrine proved that they had never been true believers. “For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19)

What’s New?

We’ll explore the power of that observation in a minute. But first let’s review the basics of gnosticism as it was being presented in John’s time. In essence gnosticism held that all spirit was good and all flesh was evil. They further believed that good and evil cannot exist together, so neither can spirit and flesh. Therefore God, being Spirit, could not dwell in Jesus, with His body of flesh.  Jesus, being a man and therefore evil, couldn’t have been sinless,  so He couldn’t have qualified to be our redeemer. Because of this, they claimed, the path to salvation was not through His death on the cross, but through the progressive attainment of secret spiritual knowledge (Greek: gnosis).  This same idea permeates Freemasonry, Scientology and the New Age religions, demonstrating that gnosticism in various forms is still around today.

Now back to John’s amazing declaration. “For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” If these proponents of gnosticism had truly received the Gospel in their hearts, they wouldn’t have begun propagating false doctrine. Their belief in the truth would have prevented this. The fact that they were teaching lies proves that they had never believed the truth.

Think about that. The fact that they were teaching lies proves that they never believed the truth. Ever hear a speaker who sounded so good and was so persuasive, but put forth a view that you knew to be at odds with Scripture? I’m not talking about ancillary things like how old we’ll be in Heaven, or what the Millennium will be like on Earth, but basic components of the Gospel.

Let’s take the Doctrine of Grace for example. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephe. 2:8-9).

According to the way I read 1 John 2:18-19, any teacher who denies that salvation is by grace alone is teaching a lie. If he says we have to do more than believe and receive in order to qualify for eternal life it means the truth is not in him.  Remember, grace plus work is no longer grace.

Can You Believe That?

And what about those who believe the false teaching? “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth” (1 John 2:20). Here John explained that just as those who have the truth in their hearts would be constrained from teaching lies, so also we who believe the truth will be constrained from believing those lies. Those who claim to be Christian but then join a religion that rejects the truth in favor of lies, demonstrate that they never really believed the truth in the first place.

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thes. 2:9-10)

The implication here is that those who are perishing knew the truth but refused to believe it. Their unbelief was willful and intentional. Many scholars believe these people will not get a second chance to believe the truth after the rapture but will be deceived by the false teaching of the anti-Christ and will perish.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (mythology).” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)  Again, the notion here is of willful and intentional rejection of the truth in favor of more palatable lies. I’m convinced John was of the opinion that the people Paul was writing about here didn’t just stray away, they never believed in the first place.

A Tale Of Two Gates

In Matt. 7:13-14 Jesus said,  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Some religions promote a way of salvation based on works.  Others try to combine grace and works.  They may claim to be Christian or they may claim a different God.  But they are all on the broad road heading for the wide gate.  The small gate is labeled “grace” and the narrow road is called faith alone.

This is what led Jesus to issue the warning that not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the Kingdom.  Even if they drive out demons and perform miracles in His name, He will deny ever knowing them (Matt. 7:21-23).  They’re on the broad road.

He said only those who do the will of the Father in Heaven will enter the Kingdom.  And what is the will of the Father? Listen to the Lord’s own words.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37-40

Our Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life.  It’s the shepherd’s job to keep the sheep, and it can never be said that the Good Shepherd saved us but then couldn’t keep us. If we present ourselves to the Father as sinners in need of a Savior, and ask that the death of His Son be considered as payment in full for our sins, the Father will place us under the protective care of His Son and no power in Heaven or on Earth can ever can ever steal us away.  If we happen to wander off for some reason, He will track us down and bring us back because it’s the Father’s will that the Son should lose none of us.

As I understand 1 John 2:18-19 then, believing that trusting in Jesus alone can’t save us is evidence of the spirit of anti-Christ. If someone thinks they have to do even part of the work, or that even though He did save them He could subsequently lose them, that’s the spirit of anti-Christ. Those who believe these things may have come from among us, but they never really belonged to us.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:31-33).

In the past I’ve written about the verses above in the context of faith. When  the Lord spoke these words the average person in his audience didn’t know what the term discretionary income meant. They didn’t have any extra resources nor were there any government programs to help them through rough times. If they were unable to provide for themselves they went without.  And yet the Lord told them not to worry about it.  He said if they sought the Father’s Kingdom and His righteousness all their needs would be met.

It wasn’t the first time God had made a promise like this.  In Deut. 28 the Lord promised Israel that if they fully obeyed Him and carefully followed all His commands they would be blessed above all the nations on Earth.

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.  The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.  Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. (Deut. 28:3-6)

He said He would give them victory over all their enemies, and prosperity such as had never been seen anywhere before.  They would be a nation of wealthy people, lending to others but never borrowing from anyone (Deut. 28:7-14).

These weren’t empty promises and there were times in Israel’s history when their obedience brought them a  standard of living that was the envy of the world just like God had said it would be.

Because of the terms of their relationship with God, the Jews associated wealth with righteousness.  But it was a righteousness based on works which can bring pride and selfishness along with blessing.

God warned them against this.  Throughout Deut. 8 He told them that as they became  prosperous they should not forget who it was who had provided for them.  Otherwise they would become proud, thinking they had earned their wealth in their own strength, and would  begin ignoring His commandments.

Sadly, that’s what happened.  Eventually poverty was thought to be evidence of disobedience.  There is no motivation to help someone in need when you think their unfilled need is a punishment from God.  Over time those who were prosperous began to neglect the plight of the poor to the point of ignoring the portions of the law they saw as helping the poor to the disadvantage of the wealthy.  Things like loaning money without interest, periodically forgiving debt, freeing indentured slaves, and returning land either purchased or taken in pledge to its original owner were either skirted around or ignored altogether.  Because of this their prosperity waned as well. This cycle repeated itself several times in Israels’ history.

Old Vs. New
Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4) so we can look into Israel’s history and know that God makes good on His commitments.  But God’s blessing to Israel was based on His promise to reward them in return for obedience. His promise to the Church is much more than a reward for good behavior and requires only that we accept it.  Here’s how it works.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12-13).

The Greek word translated right in the above passage is most often translated power. It’s a power that  stems from authority and John said it’s ours to exercise.  Believing that Jesus died for our sins gives us the absolute authority to declare ourselves to be a child of God. Many Christians think of this only in spiritual terms, but in the following passage Paul revealed that from God’s perspective being a child of God includes much more.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.  So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,  to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir (Galatians 4:1-7).

In his letter to the Galatians Paul explained this in terms of the laws of inheritance in his time. He compared our position before being born again to that of a child with no rights.  Even a child who was a direct biological descendant of his father had no more rights than one of the servants in his father’s household.

But when he reached the time set by his father, he was granted the full rights of sonship. In the Greek culture there was a formal adoption procedure that legally established these rights.   From that time on he was treated like a son, and being made a son meant he was entitled to inherit his father’s estate.

In our case, the time our Father set for our adoption was when we accepted the death of His Son as payment in full for our sins.  Doing so made us righteous in His sight and qualified us to be in His presence. At that time we became born again, a new creation, with legal standing as one of God’s children, including the right of inheritance.

As I said, God considers this to be a legal issue that contains rights and responsibilities. Our responsibility is to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, in other words to be born again and exercise our right to become one of His children.  His responsibility is to provide for our needs like any good father would do for his children.

Therefore, Jesus told us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, not our own. The righteousness of God cannot be earned through good behavior.  It can only be imputed to us by faith (Romans 1:17) and because of that it promotes an attitude of gratitude.  The Pharisees often appeared stingy and uncaring because they believed they had earned their righteousness.  They looked down on the poor as having failed to do the same.  If you want a good example of this, read the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector (Luke 18:9-14).   But we’re to be generous and sensitive to the needs of others, knowing we’re getting something we have not earned.

To further discourage us from becoming like the Pharisees, the Lord promised to do more than just meet our needs.  Under the Old Covenant people were blessed as a reward for their obedience. Under the New we’re promised blessings in proportion to our generosity (Luke 6:38).  Everyone is blessed for giving, but generous givers receive comparatively greater blessing than those who give sparingly (2 Cor. 9:6).  This is a cause and effect relationship that will continue to spiral upward as long as we’re faithful until we’re made rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion (2 Cor. 9:11).   Far from thinking of poverty as a punishment from God, we’re supposed to give to everyone who asks (Luke 6:30) knowing that God will repay our generosity toward others with generosity toward us.

(Now please understand me here. I’m not talking about sending money to rich televangelists who distort God’s word in order to extort money from the poor.  That’s the opposite of what God intended. I’m talking about a genuine expression of generosity to someone less fortunate based on our gratitude for what the Lord has done for us.)

It’s A Family Matter
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim. 5:8)

If this is what God expects of man then surely He holds Himself to the same standard.  To those who exercise their right to become one of His children He has promised to meet our needs for food, drink, and shelter.  After all by agreeing to adopt us into His family, He has legally obligated Himself to support us.  Granted, if we insist on taking care of ourselves He’ll stand aside. But He’s placed a foundation of security beneath us that will preserve us even when everything we’ve built comes tumbling down, and it’s ours for the asking.

To those who demonstrate their gratitude through expressions of generosity toward others, he’s promised still more, responding with generosity toward us in an upward spiral of blessing that has no limit and is conditioned only on our continued participation.

Next to our salvation I think this might be one of the most important promises God made to us, and I often wonder why it’s not more widely understood in the Christian community.  After all, the verses I’ve quoted in support of it are clear and concise, and don’t take any special skill to interpret.  All they require is a willingness to take God at His word and trust Him to make good on what He’s promised.  It’s literally the opportunity of a lifetime.