“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” 1 John 2:27.
The anointing is the Holy Spirit who dwells within the believer, so the entire verse could be rendered this way:
“But the Holy Spirit which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same Spirit teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as He has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
The really big problem with the Holy Spirit is that He does not yell into our ear. This is unfortunate for most of us because the racket going on in our heads sometimes drowns out the words of the Spirit and we end up doing something we want to do and assume it is God’s Spirit urging us to do thus and such.
Often as not, after rushing headlong to do “God’s will”, we find ourselves standing in some barren field listening to the crickets.
Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” seven times in His letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation.
And in the book of Hebrews, while writing about the High Priest Melchizedek, the author says this.
“…of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” Hebrews 5:11.
So the believer has the option of really listening to the Spirit or of going about the motions.
I have often sat down and read my Bible for a few minutes and after finishing, I could not remember a thing of what I read. At least I had done my “duty”, but this is not communion with the Father, and while this is too common, it is not God’s will.
Like any good parent, God the Father would like to reveal Himself to us and teach us something to help us grow strong in Christ.
“But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His [Jesus’] name…” John 1:12.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” Romans 8:16.
This being with the Father, being with Christ, has an interesting effect on us, the more time we spend in God’s presence, the more we become like Him.
I am sure that you have already experienced something like this with your best friend; the more you hang around together, the more you begin to talk like them, and walk like them, it is all a little like osmosis, you just assimilate without trying to be like them.
This, by the way, is why Scripture says the following.
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” I Corinthians 15:33, New American Standard Bible.
Associate with the Father, and be more like the Creator of all things and less like those who would corrupt your good morals.
The desire to learn should be the first thing that the student of the Bible brings to God; and a prayer “Father please show me the things you want to teach me”.
A quiet mind that is willing to really hear what the Spirit says to you is a necessity; if you are agitated or in turmoil, you need to pray for peace and a resolution to whatever conflict is distracting you.
Even if you are in harsh circumstances, pray and read anyway. It is better to do it and get a little out of it than it is not to read at all. Prayer in all things is indispensable.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.
“…pray without ceasing…” I Thessalonians 5:17.
The Holy Spirit is called the comforter, the one called alongside to help (Parakletos), He is there to help. He will help you see the error of the antichrists, teach you about God, and guide you through life.
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:16-18, KJV.
The best of this comes through the Scriptures, both studying them and meditating on them.
Sometimes a verse will come to mind in a situation, other times when you are about to make a wrong turn of sorts, you will have a gut feeling. When you do, you would do well to consider more carefully what you are about to do.
The Holy Spirit is there to help. Take advantage of that.
“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” I John 2:28.
Jesus is coming back for His own soon. We have been primarily concerned with the antichrist Gnostic doctrine in this chapter, but that is not the only error out there, as we have seen.
So the question becomes, will you be serving Christ, or, having been deceived, will you be part of a cult, leading unsaved people to a Christless grave?
Will we have confidence before the Lord when He comes or will we shrink back, as it is translated elsewhere?
This verse is speaking of the rapture of the church; an extremely joyous occasion when in a moment, a twinkling of an eye we are transformed from our mortal bodies to glorious immortal bodies.
People have prayed for this moment for nearly two thousand years. There will be nothing like it when all who are still alive and have accepted Christ as their savior are changed and then taken to heaven, without having to experience death.
When we see Him, will we have confidence before Him or will we be ashamed? Will we be found abiding in Him, or as some, will we be called while sinning?
Some will be preaching Christ, some will be praying over a sick friend, and some will be comforting their wife, while others will be working in shops and offices.
Some will be cheating their employer, some will be beating their wife, some will be on drugs and some will be having sex with their neighbor’s wife, they will be taken and she will be left behind.
It will be a memorable occasion and folks will ask you what you were doing in that wonderful moment. What will you tell them?
“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” I John 2:29.
The first phrase, “If you know that He is righteous” could be rendered this way, “Since you know that He is righteous”; the meaning of the word “if” depends on its usage, it is important to watch for this as it will change the entire meaning of a passage.
For instance, the word “if” can mean the same as shown above “since”; as an example, “If you are going to the store, buy me a can of soup”; the person making this statement knows that someone is going to the store, so they are just saying, “Since you are going to the store”.
This is how Satan used the word in the temptation in the wilderness.
“If [since] You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Matthew 4:3b.
The Lord was then taken to the pinnacle of the temple, where Satan said this.
“If [since] You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down…” Matthew 4:6a.
See Matthew 4:1-11 for the entire passage.
Satan knew who Jesus was because Jesus had created the angel Lucifer who sinned and became Satan. He would have to be a pretty dim bulb not to recognize his Creator.
Notice too the ridiculous things he asked the Lord to do, change stones to bread, throw Himself off of a very high roof, these are things that only the Son of God could do. They certainly would not tempt the average man.
The dictionary gives a few other possibilities which you may find of interest, but these are the ones we are concerned with in these passages.
Therefore, since we know that the Lord is righteous we know that those who practice righteousness are born of God. The important condition in this verse is the word “practices”.
It is the difference between those who do good works, acts of righteousness, to work their way to heaven, and those who practice righteousness because they are a new creature in Christ Jesus, this righteousness comes from the heart.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision [the Jews] nor uncircumcision [Gentiles, non-Jews] avails anything, but a new creation.” Galatians 6:15.
“Heav’n above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green! Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen: Birds with gladder songs o’er flow, flow’rs with deeper beauties shine, since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine. Things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest; closed in everlasting arms, pillowed on the loving breast. O, to lie forever here, doubt and care and self resign, while He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine.”
“I am His and He is Mine” George W. Robinson.
The Anointing, 1 John 2:27-29 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-1-11, updated on 6-2-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.