2:18 Little children, these are the end times,
and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming,
even now many antichrists have arisen.
By this we know that it is the end times.

2:19 They went out from us,
but they didn't belong to us;
for if they had belonged to us,
they would have continued with us.
But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.

2:20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know the truth.

2:21 I have not written to you because you don't know the truth,
but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
2:23 Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father.
He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

2:24 Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning.
If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you,
you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.

2:25 This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.
2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray.
2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you,
and you don't need for anyone to teach you.
But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true,
and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.

---

1John 2:18 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.

John's readers were apparently informed concerning the antichrist and end times events, so he doesn't elaborate upon such things here. There is a specific person who is prophecied to come just a few years prior to Christ's return. Paul writes of this man in 2Thess 2:3-10. In the book of Revelation he is referred to as "the beast." But there are also antichrists who act as forerunners, being present throughout the history of the church.

By "the last hour" I think John is referring to the church age. It is the last epic - the last dispensation - prior to the Millenial Kingdom.

1John 2:19 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.

This is another characteristic distinguishing children of God from children of the devil. Who is John referring to as "They"? From verse 18 John is writing of antichrists. And according to verse 22,23 antichrists deny Jesus Christ the Son of God. So these people left the Christians community in the sense that they became apostates, denying the most fundamental aspect of the Christian faith - namely that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Fundamental Principle:
The Perseverance of the Saints

if they had belonged to us,
they would have remained with us

This is not simply saying "Once saved, Always saved", though that can be logically inferred. This is saying, "Once saved, it is inevitable that such a person will remain in the faith identifying with the Christian community". (And as such, once saved, always saved, seeing as the saved never depart from the faith)

How did John know that "they did not really belong to us."? Because they left the Christian community. Thus if a person departs from the faith, such is indicative that they had never really been of the faith to begin with.

1John 2:20,21 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 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.

Everyone born of God has been anointed with the Holy Spirit. In fact "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." Rom 8:9 That's why John can make such a general statement. John elaborates upon this in verse 27. One work of the Holy Spirit is guidance into the truth. Jesus said, "When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13

1John 2:22,23  Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist— he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Likewise Jesus said,  "He who hates me hates my Father as well." John 15:23 and, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.  When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me." John 12:44,45 This is yet another another characteristic distinguishing the children of God from the children of the devil. There are many people of various religions such as Islam and modern Judaism who claim allegience to God, but in fact by their denial of the Son of God they show themselves to be self-deceived.

1John 2:24,25  See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us— even eternal life.

I think John is contrasting these verses with those concerning antichrists who reveal themselves by leaving the faith. In particular what John is referring to as "what you heard from the beginning" is the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

In his second letter John writes a parallel passage concerning these same ideas saying, "Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son." 2John 1:7-9

The promise of eternal life is only to those who remain in the faith, and in particular in the truths of the faith revealed in the Word of God. Thus Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." John 8:31 Else we are not really disciples of Christ. He warns, "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." John 15:6

1John 2:26,27  I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit— just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Jesus said, "When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13 and furthermore promised, "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26 Thus when those born of God hear the truth, the Spirit confirms it in our conscience. We embrace truth as a sheep listens to the voice of its shepherd, as Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice." John 10:27

So I have confidence that those who are of a like Spirit will listen and understand, and cease listening to those who would lead you astray concerning these matters.

"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." (NIV)

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." (AV)

The words "out from" and "of" in this verse are the translation of the preposition ek which is followed by the ablative case. There are two classifications of the ablative here, ablative of separation and ablative of source. In the statement, "They went out from use," we have the ablative of separation. These false teachers (antichrists) went out from the true believers in the sense that they departed doctrinally from the position of the Church as to the Person of the Lord Jesus, a position which they had held only in an intellectual way. It was a mental assent to the doctrines concerning, not a heart acceptance of, the Person of Christ.

In the words, "They were not of us," we have the ablative of source. That is, the antichrists did not have their source in the Mystical Body of Christ composed only of true believers. They were merely members of the visible, organized church on earth. They did not partake of the divine life animating the members of the Body of Christ, made up of true believers. All of which means that an apostate is an unsaved person who has mentally subscribed to the doctrines of the Christian faith and who then rejects those doctrines while still remaining within the organization of the visible church and posing as a Christian.

John argues that had these antichrists belonged to the Body of Christ, thus possessing the divine life in company with true believers, they would in that case have remained with these true believers in matters of doctrine. But, he says, they departed from the doctrinal position of the Church so that it could be shown that they did not belong to the company of the saints. The words of the A.V. are misleading, "that they were not all of us," the implication being left with the reader that some of these antichrists had belonged to the company of the saints. The translation should read, "All were not of us." In the Greek text, the verb separates not from all. In such cases, accordign to New Testament usage, the negation is universal. The A.V. not all makes it partial.

With so many different translations, it becomes impossible to study the english and recognize and correlate the verses where "meno" shows up. The following are where it shows up in 1Jn where I've consistently translated it "dwell".

VERSE PARAPHRASE
2:6 if Walking as Christ then dwells in Christ
2:10 if you love Christians then you dwell in the light
2:17 if you do God's will then you will dwell forever
2:19 if you are really a Christian then you will always dwell as a Christian
2:24 if The word dwells in you then you dwell in the Son and Father
2:27 The anointing dwells in you -> to instruct
2:28 if you dwell in him then you will not be ashamed when he comes
3:6 if you dwell in him then doesn't live a lifestyle of sin
3:9 if God's seed dwells in him (= born of God) then does not sin because cannot sin
3:14 if not love Christians then you dwell in death
3:15 if hate other Christians then eternal life doesn't dwell in you
3:17 if not meet basic needs of Christians then God's love doesn't dwell in you
3:24 if you keep his commandments then you dwell in him
3:24 we know he dwells in us by his Spirit
4:12 if we love on another then God dwells in us
4:13 we know that we dwell in him and he in us by his Spirit
4:15 if we profess that Jesus in the Son of God then God dwells in him and he in God
4:15 if we dwell in love then we dwell in God and God in him.

OBSERVATION:

If we dwell in him, then we will not be ashamed at his coming
But if we profess that Jesus is the Son of God, then we dwell in him.

 

 

Therefore

if we profess Jesus as the Son of God,
then we will not be ashamed at his coming

CONCLUSION #1:

• you walk as Christ did
• you love other Christians in practical ways
• you do God's will
• you are a real Christian
• the word dwells in you
• you dwell in him
• you are born of God
• you keep his commandments
• you profess that Jesus is the Son of God

• you dwell in the light
• you dwell forever
• you dwell in the Father and Son
• you won't live a lifestyle of sin
• God dwells in you
• you will always be a Christian
• you will not be ashamed when he comes

These also imply the following:

CONCLUSION #2:

If you accept the truth of the gospel, you can be assured that you will have eternal life, which is contrary to what those false teachers are teaching you. Listen to the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. He will convince you of this.