Lesson for July 3, 2024

The Book of I John

I John 2:24-29

Verse 24

“As for you, see that what you heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.”

Remains means to reside or “be at home with.” “The beginning” is the time when they began to hear certain doctrinal truths. John wanted the Bible doctrine that he had taught them to be remembered. “If” is a third-class condition meaning maybe that which you have heard in the past will remain in you, and maybe it won’t. Failure to have God’s Word abiding in them would mean they did not have a growing relationship with God. (John 15:7)

Verse 25

“This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”

The Greek word for promise is “epangelia,” and is a legal term referring to a summons, an announcement, or a proclamation. “Epangelia” is most often used in Scripture for the promises of God. In John 3:16, Jesus made a promise of eternal life for those who believe in Him.

Verse 26

^“These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.” 

The Greek word for deceive is “planao,” meaning to lead astray or to cause to wander. The apostate false teachers are those who reject or distort the truth of the Word of God for selfish motives. They represent themselves as true in order to gain entrance into a ministry. Some of them deny the deity of Christ, some deny the humanity of Christ, and others teach keeping the Mosaic Law for salvation or the spiritual life.

These false teachers use fabricated words of flattery with promises of prosperity in order to extort money and material possessions. They play upon the emotions of the duped believer since they themselves are ruled by their emotions. These false teachers have no substance in their message; they scoff at the truth and will not accept the authority of Biblical doctrine. 

They are rash in their speech, lack self-control, especially over their emotions, and cannot be trusted. With everything they have accumulated, they are nevertheless ungrateful and callous to human affection, they do not honor their parents, and are haters of anything good. We are to avoid them! (II Timothy 3:1-5)

Verse 27

^“And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him.”

The anointing is the ability to understand truth based on the accurate doctrine in your soul. This is one of the ministries of God the Holy Spirit to Church Age believers. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit (the anointing) to be in believers and teach them (you received from Him). John was pointing out the fact that these believers had been taught accurate doctrine in the past by him and other apostles, and they did not need anyone else teaching them, especially the false teachers. The Holy Spirit had made the doctrine understandable to them. The ultimate teacher of doctrinal truth has always been the Holy Spirit, regardless of the means of communicating truth. You remain in Him is an admonishment to stay with accurate Bible doctrine by staying in fellowship with God. John 14:26, ^“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.”

Verse 28

^“Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.” 

Most of us will never receive recognition in this life for our accomplishments, but I assure you that this will not be the case in eternity. There is going to be great inequality in eternity for believers. It is our divine production that will be rewardable in eternity, not our human good works. All divine production is a matter of God’s grace and is never based on human works. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

For every believer there are only two choices after salvation: 1) execute God’s plan or 2) execute your own plan. The first will result in what the Bible calls gold, silver, and precious stones, analogous to divine production. The second will result in what the Bible calls wood, hay, and straw, analogous to human production. Both will be judged (represented by fire) at the Judgment Seat of Christ. When gold, silver, and precious stones are subjected to fire, it purifies them and enhances their value. When wood, hay, and straw are subjected to fire, they are burned up. (I Corinthians 3:13-15)

Verse 29

^“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.”

Only those who have been born again (spiritually) by believing in Christ are able to practice righteousness, because they have His righteousness. II Corinthians 5:17-21, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”