antichrist and REMAINING.

18Dear 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. 19They 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.20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who 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. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.24See 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. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As 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.28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

My pastor did a teaching on this passage today. And it was extremely eye opening. I guess I never sat down to actually read into a lot of this. I read this passage a few years ago in my bible, but the notes I took on it do not nearly reflect the impact that this teaching today had on me.

There are some important aspects of this passage that need to be looked at prior to really digging into the text as a whole. First off, it is important to give recognition to the word, “remain.” This word shows up five times. This is an obvious illustration of the importance of the meaning of this word. In Greek (the original language of the New Testament), the word “remain,” means: “to remain or abide;” it also means, “to wait for.”

Also, the word “anoint” is used four times in this passage. Anoint in the Greek context has a three step process to understand it; goes back to the word, “Christos,” meaning “the anointed one,” which is Jesus. The word “Charisma” refers to the anointing that Christ gives us, our “gift of divine grace.” Lastly, this naturally brings us to “Christianous.” Christianous refers to the actual anointed ones, living our lives as “little Christs.” The word anoint has a complex meaning behind it, but it isn’t something I never really looked into, however, the three step meaning of it really brings light to the true meaning on “anoint.” The anointing of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received at baptism is the same Holy Spirit that exists today in us when we decide to become followers of Christ! I think I could basically stop right there, and just ponder that amazing thought! However, I am going to continue..

The understanding of this passage is so awesome, and almost leaves me in tears when I reflect on the life that I live. Every day is an ongoing battle to constantly be a living sacrifice for Christ. Here goes my understanding of the passage..

We are now living in the end times. We are in the “last hour” of our time waiting for the return of Christ. It is crucial that we are in constant evaluation of where we stand in Christ. We are the bride waiting for the bridegroom to show up, not knowing at what hour or day that will happen.

There is the warning of the lowercase “a” antichrist; not the capital “A” Antichrist that is written about in Revelation. The antichrist are living among us as we speak, but what do they really look like in today’s society? How many people do we walk by and really think “they are a Christian?” We may assume this by their actions, but I think we would all be surprised if we took the time to actually find out what their foundational beliefs are, in Christ and who he really is. Because, that is what makes up our faith, right? But how many people do we tend to concentrate on their actions instead of refining certain aspects of their faith? The truth be told, we continuously disregard the conversation to find out what their faith is foundationally built on. It sucks, but if there is a part of the foundation of faith missing, then are they really saved by faith? That would classify them as a type of antichrist! I believe the other type of antichrist that we continually pass by is the people who deny Christ as the God of the earth.. and this can be done in many different ways!

We know the truth. That is why John is writing this; but if we know it, why do we need to be reminded of it? How easy is it to be persuaded into something that “seems right,” but really isn’t? It obviously was a struggle when John was writing this, and it will continually be a struggle until Christ returns. We know the truth, we know our faith, but it is so easy to just fall into little traps that are “candy coated,” and “alluring,” and never realize the detrimental outcomes they may bring. So are you just accepting the actions and statements of others, or are you digging deep to get a true understanding of the foundation of their worldview and faith?

There are a lot of debates based on the idea of “once your saved, are you always saved?” However, I think that fact is almost completely irrelevant at this point. It is going to be a debate until the day that we pass from this life; I really don’t think we will ever have a definite answer. I do NOT believe that it is wrong to debate these things, but if we would put the time and energy that we put into this debate into the effort of us living our faith out in day to day life, then we might have more of a security in the fact that we are gracefully saved through Christ. The question turns from, “Are you always saved, once saved?” into “Am I really remaining in Christ?” Back to the Greek definition of “remain,” are we focusing our energy in remaining and abiding in Christ, and waiting for his return?” Take time to reflect on your life and think about what aspects of your life you can really say you are a direct reflection of Christ and are a living example of the Holy Spirit living in you. If this is where we focus our living and how we live our lives out as a “Christianous,” then verse 28 tells us, “continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”

My head is spinning over these ideas. Not that it is completely a whole new concept to me, but I can honestly say it is the first time I have actually sat down to dissect and study the passage in a new way. It brings a whole different meaning to the passage.