The true child of God is promised eternal life. God’s promises are sure. We hear so many promises from politicians. Even if they were sincere, and few are, they do not control things that are needed to make their promises a success. In some cases there are factors even outside of our country that can affect things inside this country. Our politicians cannot even control things inside our country, let alone outside of our country.
God is in charge of all things. He limits the foolishness of man. He blesses those who seek wisdom from Him. In our text, He wants His children to know they have eternal life. This is a promise of God. It is not based on human works. It is a promise that is for all those who put their faith in the true God. They have eternal life.
In verse 26 we are reminded again that there are those who seduce those who are saved. The Greek word translated as “seduce” means “to cause to roam”. False teachers want God’s children to stray from the truth. We know that the false teachers deny the truth. They corrupt the Word of God for their own ends. We know that lost people go by feelings and choose that which feels good to them. The Holy Spirit is working in all lost people to convince them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Lost people know they are in trouble. In this dispensation they can also know what the true promise of salvation is. The time is coming when the lost will be led to believe the lies of the antichrist. At this time, the Holy Spirit is still working on the hearts of the lost. God has warned that during the Tribulation time, those who enter that time will be hardened against the truth. They will not be able to be saved then because they rejected the truth during this current dispensation.
God wants people to be saved. He helps lost people to see what is required for them to be set free from the bondage of sin. The seducers try to get the saints to roam from the truth. The seducers find it quite easy to keep the lost roaming from the truth.
In verse 27 we see that the anointing that God provides for His little children teaches us all things. The Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. There is a unity that God expects from His children. He provides the means for that unity to exist. That unity comes when His children submit to the authority of God’s Word. As we look at the next phrase in this verse, we need to keep it in context. It says that: “ye need not that any man teach you”. That phrase is not given in isolation. In Matthew 28 verse 19 saints are commanded to teach lost people the truth so that lost people can know what is truth and how to be saved. In verse 29 trained saints are taught to teach those who get saved how to live as saints.
When John was directed to make his statement in I John 2:27, he was not contradicting what God has already declared elsewhere. One aspect of the context of I John is a warning about seducers. If someone wants to come and suggest he has some new truth that he wants to “share” with you, that must be rejected. The Charismatics are often caught sinning by claiming to have some new revelation from the Lord. The Scriptures were completed with Revelation 22:21. There has not been any new revelation since John penned those words. The Charismatics are “seducers”. We, those who are saved, do not need any new teaching. There is none to be had.
John stated that the anointing that the saint has received, “teacheth you all things”. All of God’s truth is found in His Word. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself. He teaches that which God has freely given to man. The saved person needs to be a part of a true church and there he will be taught the truth. Personal Bible Study will help him as well. The Bible teaches us that we need to assemble with other saints in our study of God’s Word. We need a godly leader to guide us in our study.
That which is legitimate teaching is that which is proven to be in the Word of God.
The truth is no lie. If you are saved, you can see the truth from God’s Word as the pastor is teaching you. The pastor needs to be a saved man who has submitted to God’s Word and been taught by other faithful men. The Holy Spirit is key to good teaching. He works in the saved person’s heart and He helps the pastor as well as the student to believe the truth. If the Holy Spirit is doing the teaching, there will be a unity. That unity will be authentic because it is found in agreement with God’s written Word.
When a true child of God receives the truth, that is how he can abide in Christ. Jesus was not pleased when Peter led the disciples back to fishing again after His resurrection. He called them to be “fishers of men”. He did not cancel that out just because they were confused about His resurrection. He met them on the sea shore and called out to them and then spoke directly to Peter. He reminded Peter of his calling and directed him back to where his focus needed to be. God has a plan and His plan is right. When we follow His plan we will abide in Him. When we, those who are saved, stray, we cannot lose our salvation. We can strain that relationship that we are designed to have with God in Christ Jesus. We need to get back in line with what God designed us to be.
In verse 28 we see again that those who are saved need to choose to abide in Him. We need to walk humbly and faithfully with Him. If we do that, we will have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Every true child of God should be living with the expectation that Jesus Christ could come back in our lifetime. The trump of God could sound at any time. Jesus could come in the clouds at any time. That will be a glorious event. If those who are saved live in that light, we will not be ashamed on that day. Rather, we will have confidence. We will know that we have been serving Him faithfully and can expect His blessing in our lives.
Verse 29 begins with that small word “if”. True saints have no reason not to know that God is righteous. We have been saved. The Holy Spirit indwells us. We have the Word of God, which is our authority. We have the privilege of attending a true local church where we can grow in the Lord.
We can examine ourselves and see if we are genuine. We can know that everyone that “doeth righteousness is born of him.” We do not go by what the seducers say. We go by what the Bible says. We examine our walk by that sure Word. Thus there is no need to shrug our shoulders and be confused by what we see and hear. We know what to expect from a true child of God. There are no excesses and there is no extraBiblical activity. We take the sure Word of God and we build upon that.
Pastor Bartel