So we can see that everything concerning Christ is all about Anointing. When you are anointed with the Holy Spirit, then Christ dwells in you, He can teach you all things and can guide you to know things that the ordinary man cannot know but anointing is always in measure and to what measure you are anointed with Christ is the depth of revealed knowledge and wisdom that you can have, no more no less! Today, we ask ourselves: just how does Lord Jesus go about the task of responding to our petitions to be delivered from wrong or distracting thoughts? He does it through the gentle, yet powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. The words ‘oil’ and ‘anoint’ are used in Scripture to depict several things, not the least being comfort, gladness and consolation as we always see it to be, “7 You love righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with God and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.” as we read in Psalm 45:7. It is this thought, of course, which the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote, “You anoint my head with oil: my cup overflows.” When Christians are driven almost to distraction by the obsessive, wrong or unhelpful thoughts that buzz around in their heads, the most important thing they can do is to approach the Shepherd and say: ‘O Lord, help me –apply the soothing oil of Your Spirit to every area of my mind.’ And you know what? He will! It will surprise you how speedily and efficiently He complies with such a request when it is made in deadly earnest, zeal and sincerity of purpose. Some Christians make it their daily petition to ask God for the anointing of the Spirit upon their minds. Coolness in place of heat, and peace instead of torment are the rewards of those who are swift to turn to the Shepherd and invite Him to minister to them in this way. So when thoughts seem to niggle at you and almost drive you up the wall, draw close to the Shepherd in your heart and let Him apply the oil of the Spirit to your troubled and anxious mind. And you need have no fears that His supply of oil is limited in any way. He draws from a cup that never runs dry: ‘You anoint my head with oil: my cup overflows.’ You see the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a thing that many people like claiming, they wish they have it but I tell you the truth, there are conditions that we must have to meet or attain before we can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and you can see some of it in the very passage of Psalm 45:7 that we read above: love righteousness, uprightness, right standing with God and hate wickedness…if your stuff of person does not have some elements of these good attributes and traits, the anointing will find it very difficult to dwell in your heart and mind because it means that your heart and mind is likely to contain the opposite or its oscillating! Even in the book of Hebrews 1:8-9 we have this same words even with a plus ’ 8 But as to the Son, He says to Him, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever (to the ages of the ages), and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of absolute righteousness (of justice and straightforwardness). 9 You have loved righteousness [You have delighted in integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought, and action] and You have hated lawlessness (injustice and iniquity). Therefore God, [even] Your God ([e]Godhead), has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy and gladness above and beyond Your companions. So anybody who aspires to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God must live a life style that embraces all of these and more.

Now let us read 1 John 2:18-29; 18 [k]Boys (lads), it is the last time (hour, the end of this age). And as you have heard that the antichrist [he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ] is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, which confirms our belief that it is the final (the end) time. 19 They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things. 21 I write to you not because you are ignorant and do not perceive and know the Truth, but because you do perceive and know it, and [know positively] that nothing false (no deception, no lie) is of the Truth. 22 Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonist of Christ), who [[l]habitually] denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son. 23 No one who [[m]habitually] denies (disowns) the Son [n]even has the Father. Whoever confesses (acknowledges and has) the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, keep in your hearts what you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the first dwells and remains in you, then you will dwell in the Son and in the Father [always]. 25 And this is what He Himself has promised us—the life, the eternal [life]. 26 I write this to you with reference to those who would deceive you [seduce and lead you astray]. 27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [[o]permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being [p]rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do]. 28 And now, little children, abide (live, remain [q]permanently) in Him, so that when He is made visible, we may have and enjoy perfect confidence (boldness, assurance) and not be ashamed and shrink from Him at His coming. 29 If you know (perceive and are sure) that He [Christ] is [absolutely] righteous [conforming to the Father’s will in purpose, thought, and action], you may also know (be sure) that everyone who does righteously [and is therefore in like manner conformed to the divine will] is born (begotten) of Him [[r]God].

To abide in God is to abide in this Trinity or Godhead. To love God is to love all of God and to see that the heart of who He is and what He does involves the Father, Son, and Spirit. God is drawing us up into this very relationship of love between the Father and Son in the Spirit. Today we’ll be going through 1 John 2:18-29. As always, be sure to read the text beforehand or follow along as we go through it! Whatever observations I make or conclusions I come to, not only does the text say it better, but you can make the same observations and conclusions as well! This passage has quite a few interesting things that I want us to take a look at: • The use of the word “antichrist” (v. 18-22) • The connection with the Father and Son (v. 22-25) • The “anointing” that is mentioned (v. 27) Who is the “antichrist”? What’s particularly interesting to me is how I’ve heard the title of “antichrist” being used in the past, in contrast with how the Bible actually uses the word. I don’t know about you but when I hear the title of “antichrist,” what pops into my mind is Satan––the accuser, the adversary, or simply, “the devil.’” The image that pops up, at least for me, is that “end of the world” scenario, with the beast and the false prophet (shoutout to Revelation). Or maybe another idea that pops up is the “man of lawlessness” described in 2 Thessalonians. But John doesn’t use the title of antichrist in that way at all; he simply uses it as a term for someone who has turned away and denied the faith; the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s look at verses 18-19: 18 [k]Boys (lads), it is the last time (hour, the end of this age). And as you have heard that the antichrist [he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ] is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, which confirms our belief that it is the final (the end) time. 19 They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:18-19). And yes, I know some people will use this verse as an argument for predestination and Calvinism and all that jazz, but we are not having that conversation here! We are simply looking at the use of the word antichrist. The second instance of the word appears in verse 22: 22 Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonist of Christ), who [[l]habitually] denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22). So what is an antichrist? It’s simply someone who denies the Father and the Son. Someone who has turned from and denied the faith.

The next thing I wanted to take a look at is regarding the connection between the Father and Son, which John emphasizes. It actually draws us back to what is written in 1 John 1:1-4. “[We are writing] about the Word of Life [[a]in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands. 2 And the Life [[b]an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [[c]in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers]. 3 What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may [d]realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a [e]distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 4 And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and [f]your joy may be complete].” I’ll just copy the relevant text here in 1 John 2:22-25: 22 Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonist of Christ), who [[l]habitually] denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son. 23 No one who [[m]habitually] denies (disowns) the Son [n]even has the Father. Whoever confesses (acknowledges and has) the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, keep in your hearts what you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the first dwells and remains in you, then you will dwell in the Son and in the Father [always]. 25 And this is what He Himself has promised us—the life, the eternal [life]. (1 John 2:22-25). There are two important observations to make: 1. Whoever denies Lord Jesus as the Christ denies both the Father and the Son (v. 22 and 23) 2. Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also (v. 24) We took note of the repetition between each addressed group of John’s “reason for writing.” The only thing that seemed kind of off was that two different reasons were given for writing to the first group (the dear children). Except, if every reason for writing was supposed to be a repetition, maybe it was John equating the first reason to the second one. To simplify, we asked the question: Does John equate “sins being forgiven on account of his name” with “knowing the Father?” And looking at the text from today, it does look like it! John makes a pretty big deal about acknowledging the Son in order to know the Father. He makes the point that if you deny Lord Jesus as Christ, you deny the Father as well (v. 22)! But, if you acknowledge the Son, then you also know the Father as well! That seems to be the same reasoning that follows, being that if you are forgiven in His (Jesus’) name, as in, you know Lord Jesus, then you would also know the Father. I almost forgot to mention this, but you may have been wondering why I slotted in v. 25 if it’s not really related to the Father/Son discussion. But, it’s another quick review lesson from the very first post! In it, we talked about what John talks about when he talks about eternal life. (Hint: it’s not about life after death).

Moving on, the one last thing I wanted to go over was the “anointing” that is mentioned in verse 27. 27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [[o]permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being [p]rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do]. (1 John 2:27). Now, two questions pop up while reading this. I’ll go through each of them: 1. What is the anointing that John is talking about? 2. What is this anointing that the audience no longer needs anyone to teach them? The first question is “What is the anointing that John is talking about?” Or even better, let’s talk about what anointing actually is. The Anointing is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. It enables the believer to understand, apply, and administer spiritual truth. Simply put, the presence of The Anointing enables believers to have a spiritual connection. Anointing was a sort of ritual or ceremony that was often done in the Old Testament where oil was poured onto someone––it was done usually for the Judean kings or priests, and was a symbol of being consecrated or “set apart.” (Another interesting side note is the connection with believers being anointed, priests being anointed, and the idea of believers being a “royal priesthood” in 1 Peter 2:9.) The anointing that John talks about, though, is special. It’s an anointing that is done not through oil but by the Spirit of God, and it is done by God Himself: 20 But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things. (1 John 2:20) 27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [[o]permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being [p]rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].” It’s an anointing that “remains in us” and “teaches [us] about all things” (v. 27). One verse that helps us understand this connection between the anointing and the Holy Spirit shows up in Acts, where we find out Lord Jesus had a similar anointing: 38 How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, [a]in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38). Now that we’ve solved the “anointing,” that it refers to the giving of the Holy Spirit, what does John mean when he says that now there is no longer a need to be taught? Could he mean that they literally no longer need any more teaching? Well, that wouldn’t make much sense, as he is currently writing that teaching in the middle of a letter full of teachings (so much irony!). What could he mean instead? Well, one thing we could do is to look at the context of where this teaching is located. If we take a look at the surrounding verses from 18-29, we realize that the focus of this section is on false teachers. John is warning the recipients of the faith of the Gospel to not fall prey to false teachings. He mentions this explicitly in v. 26: 26 I write this to you with reference to those who would deceive you [seduce and lead you astray]. (1 John 2:26) This is important because it helps us understand that John is not telling them to never listen to any teachings again, but that the Holy Spirit that they’ve been anointed with will give them the ability to discern what is true. And that they, with the help of the Holy Spirit, can know what is real. And how does John conclude this thought on false teachers and anointing? By reminding them to remain firm in Lord Jesus and to continue in Lord Jesus, so that they may be confident at Lord Jesus’ second coming. This whole section is a reminder not to fall prey to false teachers, but rather to stand firm in the faith. Let us not focus on these finer details and forget the bigger lesson that John is trying to teach us. The Holy Spirit that they’ve been anointed with will give them the ability to discern what is true. And that they, with the help of the Holy Spirit, can know what is real. So as we read this, and take note of all the details and observations along the way, let’s also keep in mind John’s lesson to be wary of false teachers. To watch out for those who teach, yet deny Christ. Those who claim to know the Father but not the Son. But at the same time, let us be encouraged that those false teachers do not hold power over us. Why? Because we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit who gives us discernment about those who teach such things.