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. (1 John 2:26-27)
How do you know that you know? Is it even possible to really know something for certain? These are questions that are asked everywhere in our society today.
The recent events surrounding the moral failure of our President illustrates the difficulty our society has in even defining the truth. Listening to the unending discussion on what is right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, moral and immoral makes one acutely aware that there is no common definition accepted by all. This is, of course, nothing new to most of us. We have known for sometime that our culture was dominated by a relativistic philosophy that claims no absolute truths. Morality is considered a personal and private matter. Each individual must determine for himself or herself what is moral and right, this way of thinking concludes. Our culture, unfortunately, has bought this mistaken notion. And now we are redefining even commonly understood terms.
There seems to be a desire on the part of many today to do wrong and still be right. Because of this we attempt to redefine the very notion of right and wrong itself. This is in the nature of human beings. The Bible calls it "original sin." Isaiah spoke of it several thousand years ago when he said: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness." (Isaiah 5:20) Even in his time there were those who wanted to do wrong and still be right.
Why are we in this sad situation? It is because we have made a choice to abandon the previous commonly held standard for the truth – the Bible. While standards from the Bible – the Ten Commandments for instance – were written into the laws of our nation by our founding fathers, we must now think that we have evolved into a higher level of intelligence and that we can now abandon these truths. We certainly need to call for a return to the truths contained in the Bible. And that call even needs to go out to Christians as well. Many Christians don’t understand what their own Bibles teach concerning these things.
As Christians, we should be people of the Book. Indeed, most evangelical churches emphasize that the Word of God is God’s perfect treasure of revelation to us. And this is certainly true. It is. In this book we have a message from God given to enable us to live for Jesus as fully devoted followers of Christ, equipped to do His work. We must become intimately and thoroughly acquainted with this message in every respect. We must come to a place where the message contained in the Bible informs and directs every decision we make. This is the call for every Christian disciple.
But so many people have a copy of the Bible yet do not understand it. Some, of course, do not understand it because they do not read it. But there are others who do read it and still do not understand it. And it can be very intimidating. When you pick up the Bible and thumb through it, you do find that it is a very long book. It contains many different forms of writing, some of which is symbolic. And there aren’t even any pictures unless you count the maps! Surely one needs a seminary education in order to understand the Bible.
While I do not believe you need a seminary education in order to understand the Bible, I do believe that you do need something besides the Bible itself. The Bible as a merely written revelation is not enough. By itself it has been misunderstood, misapplied, twisted, and perverted. We must have something more.
If we are going to truly understand the truth contained in the Bible, then we must have the "anointing" of the Holy Spirit of God. Our text today tells us that it is this anointing that teaches us. Only the Spirit of God Himself can teach us some things. Only He can confirm to our hearts and minds what is really the truth.
As we look at our text for today we are reminded why John is writing to them. There were some who were trying to deceive them. False teaching had spread in their midst. John goes on to say in verse 26: I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
There is always a danger of deception where there are people seeking the truth. And as I said before, many have misinterpreted the Bible and misapplied its teachings. The existence of the many cults in our world is an evidence of this ability to twist the Scripture. If you take Scriptures twisted out of their original context and misapply them, you can prove almost any position you desire.
The Bible says, "there is no God." This, of course, is a portion of Scripture taken out of its context. But it is there. Someone could claim the Bible says this. But what they fail to tell you is that the entire verse says, "The fool has said in his heart ‘there is no God’". If you simply look at the Scriptures as a piece of literature subject to your own private interpretation, you may come out far from the truth.
John was writing to these Christians in order to give them an awareness that there were those proclaiming a perversion of the truth. They needed to beware. The danger was very real for them. And the danger is very real for us today as well. Unless we have a certain way to know the truth, we might find ourselves led astray into deception. We might find ourselves calling evil good and good evil. So how do we know that we know?
There is a way for us to know that we know. Actually, it is more than a way. In fact, it is not an "it" at all. It is a He. We have a Guide who will interpret the truth for us and confirm the truth to our heart. This Guide is none other than the Holy Spirit. He is the testimony of truth.
Look at what John says in verse 27: 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.
In order for us to really come to know the truth, we must have the "anointing" of the Holy Spirit. It is this anointing that teaches us.
Don’t be confused by the word "anointing." This is simply a way of saying that the indwelling Holy Spirit is present to teach us and to guide us into the truth. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would teach us things concerning Him. He is our guide. He is the one who testifies to the message of Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can teach some things.
Also, don’t be confused when it says "you do not need anyone to teach you." He is not implying that there is no place for people to teach the Word of God. Obviously, the Scripture talks about the need for human teachers. In fact, there is a gift of teaching and there are those who are called to be pastor-teachers. This is not what he is saying. Rather, he is saying that human teachers have their limitations. There are some things that can not be taught by human teachers. And the confirmation of the truth of God’s Word is one of those things.
You see, when you’re listening to a human teacher expound the Word of God, how do you know that what you’re hearing is true? You may say that you can check it out from the Bible itself. This is indeed what you should do. But how do you know that your understanding of what the Bible says is true? This is where the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes in. It is the Spirit’s inner testimony to the truth that confirms the truth to our hearts. When the Spirit Himself speaks to our hearts then we have really come to know the truth.
We all know that we can hear on a physical level and not really hear on a spiritual level. Any wife can tell you that her husband can hear the words she says and not really hear what she is saying. Even Jesus acknowledged that it takes spiritual ears to hear a spiritual message. He would say to those listening, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." We can hear with our physical ears and not hear with our hearts. We can see with our physical eyes and not see with our spirits. And this is true concerning the Word of God. We may hear it with our physical ears and see it with our physical eyes but not have a clue as to what it really means. This is why we need the anointing of the Spirit.
Look at an interesting passage of Scripture in Romans 10:17. There it says that "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." A more literal translation says "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." This is an interesting passage of Scripture because of how it says what it says.
Notice first what it doesn’t say. It does not say that faith comes from hearing the word. It says that faith comes from hearing. In other words, you cannot have faith until you have first heard. But we have already established that it is possible to hear with the physical ears and not really hear with the heart. It is the hearing of the heart that is the hearing referred to in this Scripture. In other words, faith comes from truly hearing.
And where does this hearing come from? We are told that hearing comes from "the Word of Christ." And the word used for "word" is not the Greek word logos but the Greek word rhema. The word rhema refers to a living or spoken word. In other words, when the Spirit of Christ speaks to our hearts faith is brought to birth. Then we know that we know. We know because God has showed us the truth.
For the Christian this becomes a law of living for us. In fact, this is what John says in the last part of verse 27: just as it has taught you, remain in him. Just as we have been taught we are to live.
Do you see what he is saying here? He is saying that our living depends upon a relationship with the Spirit of God. As we depend upon the Holy Spirit speaking to us concerning the revealed truth of the Bible, we will begin to grow in our knowledge of the truth. We will know that we know. This is the law of life for the Christian.
We see the practical application of this in our daily reading of the Scripture. As we open this book we call the Bible, we recognize that it is a living book. We also recognize that the Holy Spirit is present within us to reveal to our minds and hearts the truth we read. So as we read we are depending upon the Spirit’s anointing to open our minds so we can understand that Scriptures. We read them prayerfully, listening for the insight that the Holy Spirit provides.
In this way we are living in a dynamic relationship of dependence upon God Himself. And this is how the Christian is to live. Indeed, this is how Jesus lived while He was on earth. This is why the Scripture says that it is those who are led by the Spirit who are the children of God.
It is not trusting in our own human understanding and wisdom. It is trusting in the life of the Spirit to lead us into the truth. This is how we know that we know. If you have the Spirit — and you do if you are born again — then you can know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
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