1 John 2:18-25 It Is The Last Hour

Introduction

Confusing topics can often lead us to lose interest or become hesitant, which stops us from exploring issues on our own. With the overwhelming amount of information, commentary, opinions, and conflict available, it can be easy to dismiss the exploration of a subject as a lost cause, believing it cannot be understood. Before confidently diving into the deep end of the pool, it is important to learn the fundamentals, because this knowledge will give you the confidence to swim effectively. When speaking of the antichrist, that same logic applies. Rather than letting confusion or fear control the conversation, we need to understand what God has actually said in His Word and see how He has already prepared us to recognize what is true and what is false (1 John 2:18-25).

Rejection of Christ During the Last Hour

John begins by calling his readers children and telling them that it is the last hour (1 John 2:18). This does not mean that he was predicting an exact date for the end of the world. Instead, it means that we now live in the final stage of God’s plan of salvation. There is nothing left to anticipate in redemptive history except the return of Christ and the full revelation of God’s kingdom. The major movements of God’s plan have already taken place. The creation of the world has taken place. Humanity has rejected its intended purpose through sin (Genesis 3:1-5). The promise was made that the Evil One would be defeated and that the offspring of the woman would crush his head, even as his heel would be bruised (Genesis 3:14-15). God gave a promise to Abraham that through his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The law was given through Moses to reveal that all people stand condemned before a holy and righteous God. God promised David that his heir would sit on the throne and rule over the kingdom of God forever. The prophets proclaimed that a Messiah would come to save the people of God.

In time, a man named Jesus of Nazareth stood before Israel and declared that He was the Christ. He was believed upon as the King of the Jews, fulfilling what had been promised to David. Yet He was rejected, crucified, buried, and then resurrected, fulfilling what had been given through Moses and foretold by the prophets. Through these events, and because of this man Jesus of Nazareth, the Spirit of God was poured out on the nations through the preaching and hearing of His message, fulfilling the promise that had been made to Abraham. The gospel has gone out into the world, and the message of Christ has been proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2; Galatians 3:7-9).

At this point, we can ask a simple question that exposes the heart of this passage. Who else has completed these works or fulfilled what was recorded in the first hour? Who else has carried the promises from Genesis through Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and into the New Testament and brought them to completion? The answer is no one. Only Jesus has done this. Now we await His return. The last hour is the time in which the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, and everything that is connected to His teaching and message, goes out into the world and forces a response of belief or rejection. The last hour is not about panic and speculation. It is about the finished work of Christ and the ongoing call to trust Him.

John then moves directly to the reality of opposition. He says that his readers have heard that antichrist is coming, and now many antichrists have already come, and this is how we know it is the last hour (1 John 2:18). From the very beginning, there has been opposition to the promise of God and to the people through whom that promise would come. The serpent questioned the Word of God and tempted the woman to reject what God had said and to decide good and evil for herself (Genesis 3:1-5). God then promised that there would be ongoing hostility between the serpent and the offspring of the woman, and that the offspring would one day crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:14-15).

We see Pharaoh attempt to destroy the people of Israel because they were too many and too mighty for him, ordering that every son born to the Hebrews be cast into the Nile (Exodus 1:8-10, Exodus 1:22). In the days of Esther, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus out of hatred for Mordecai and hatred for the people of God (Esther 3:1-6). In the days of Jesus’ birth, Herod pretended that he wanted to worship the child while secretly planning to kill Him, and when his plan was frustrated, he ordered the slaughter of all the male children in Bethlehem two years old and younger (Matthew 2:7-8, Matthew 2:16).

In all of these moments, there is a common pattern. The Evil One is trying to cut off the promise of God and prevent the coming of the Christ, or to destroy Him when He appears. At the same time, we must recognize an important distinction. When God sent His people into exile through the fall of the kingdom of Israel and Judah, this was an act of discipline meant to restore them, not an attempt to extinguish the promise. Discipline is God’s loving action to bring His people back to Himself. The actions of the Evil One are attempts to destroy the promise and fight against God. Rejection of the promise and rebellion against God is an act of war.

The New Testament tells us that this pattern of lawlessness continues and moves toward a final expression in the man of lawlessness, who exalts himself against every so called god and object of worship and takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, and in time the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming. The coming of this lawless one will be by the activity of Satan, with false signs and wonders and wicked deception for those who refuse to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:5-10).

When John says that many antichrists have already come and that they went out from us, he is not describing people who were once true believers and then lost their salvation. He says that they went out from us, but they were not of us, because if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. They went out so that it would become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19). This is not the first time that the Lord and His message, which comes from the throne room of God, have been disbelieved. The Old Testament is a continual record of human rejection of the faithful God. A clear example of rejection directed at the Lord Jesus can be found in the Gospel of John. After Jesus taught that it is the Spirit who gives life and that the flesh is no help at all, and that no one can come to Him unless it is granted by the Father, many of His disciples said that this was a hard saying and turned back and no longer walked with Him (John 6:60-66). They heard Him, they followed Him for a time, and then they walked away. In every generation, the dividing line is the same. The question is what people will do with Jesus.

You Know the Truth

After describing those who went out and showed that they were not truly part of God’s people, John turns back to his readers and reassures them. He says that they have been anointed by the Holy One, and that they all have knowledge (1 John 2:20). He does not write to them because they do not know the truth, but because they do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth (1 John 2:21). When he calls them children, he is not belittling their faith or scolding them for being weak. He is speaking to them tenderly, as someone who wants to strengthen them. He is encouraging and commending them because they do believe that Jesus is the One sent by the Father.

John is very clear about what separates truth from lies in this passage. He asks, who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). The antichrist and those who follow his pattern are not defined first by moral failure or by confusion over secondary issues. They are defined by rejection of Jesus. This does not refer to those who believe in Christ but stumble in sin, because John has already reminded his readers that they have an advocate with the Father when they sin, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1-2). The antichrist pattern is not about weak believers. It is about a settled denial of Christ.

The key question, the litmus test, and the foundation of everything in this passage is simple and searching. Who is Jesus to you. What do you believe that He has done. Is He the one appointed as Lord over all creation, visible and invisible. Do you believe that the promises of God find their yes in Him. Do you believe that there is salvation in no one else.

The apostle Paul deals with a related situation in the letter to the Galatians. The question there is how salvation occurs and how believers are to continue in the faith. Some were tempted to return to works of the law as the basis for their ongoing standing with God. Paul speaks in a much sharper tone than John, but he is arguing from the same center, the person and work of Christ. He asks the Galatians if they received the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith. He reminds them that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified, and that having begun by the Spirit, they cannot now be perfected by the flesh. The One who supplies the Spirit and works miracles among them does so not by works of the law, but by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Galatians 3:1-6).

What cannot be lost in any discussion of salvation, obedience, spiritual gifts, or growth is the character, nature, and person of Christ. He cannot be reduced to a footnote on our list of good works. He cannot be exchanged for any effort of the flesh to build or maintain a righteous standing before God. The moment we move Christ to the side and trust our own performance as the basis of confidence, we are stepping into dangerous ground.

This is where John’s words are especially important in a church culture that often divides quickly over secondary matters. The deciding factor is not even lesser doctrinal beliefs. We may disagree over speaking in tongues, modes and timing of baptism, specific eschatological systems, or detailed views of the Lord’s Table. These questions matter, and they should be studied, but they can be held at a mostly academic level and even used to separate from others without the heart ever truly being gripped by Christ Himself. It is possible to have sharp opinions about many doctrines and still not know Him in truth. John is not saying that doctrine is unimportant. He is saying that the decisive line is what we do with the Son.

Abide in the Son

John moves from describing the danger to calling his readers to remain where life is found. He says that no one who denies the Son has the Father, and that whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:23). There is no way to claim a relationship with God while rejecting the Son. Confessing the Son and having the Father stand together. The Son is not optional. The Son is the way to the Father (John 14:6).

Because this is true, John tells them to let what they heard from the beginning abide in them. If what they heard from the beginning abides in them, then they will abide in the Son and in the Father, and this is the promise that He made to us, eternal life (1 John 2:24-25). Abiding is not about chasing something new. It is about remaining in what God has already revealed in Christ. The message that they heard at first, the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord, is not something they are meant to move beyond. It is the truth they are meant to remain in, meditate on, and build their lives upon.

For us, this means that we must not turn away from the knowledge of Christ that has been revealed in the Scriptures. In Him we have encountered the words of life. As we walk through this world, the name of Jesus is often used to promote ideas that are foreign to the gospel. His name can be attached to self help messages, political agendas, or spiritual claims that distort His teaching and deny His identity. We must test what is said with what has been written. John will later say that we are to test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1). The standard for testing is not our feelings, our traditions, or what sounds impressive. The standard is the Word of God and the true confession of Christ.

The decisive factor in matters of life and death, light and darkness, being awake or asleep, and being righteous or condemned depends on what we believe about the person of Christ and all that is connected to Him. Jesus says that everyone who acknowledges Him before others, He will also acknowledge before His Father in heaven, but whoever denies Him before others, He will also deny before His Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33). He says that whoever is ashamed of Him and of His words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of that person when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38). He declares that He has come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Him may not remain in darkness. The one who hears His words and does not keep them is not judged by Him in that moment, because He came to save the world. But the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words already has a judge. The word that Jesus has spoken will judge that person on the last day, because He has spoken what the Father commanded, and that commandment is eternal life (John 12:46-50).

Jesus has made Himself known through His Word. We have the Scriptures and the teaching of the apostles recorded for us to study, search, and learn. At some point, every person must decide who He is. You must decide who He is. Make your own choice concerning your belief in the gospel of Christ. Is the message of Jesus simply one religious option among many, or is it the voice of God the Creator speaking through His Son, calling you back into His presence through the work of the cross. The testimony of Scripture is clear. Jesus is the One sent to redeem sinful humanity from the wrath that is to come.

In simpler terms, the work of the antichrist represents a long standing opposition to God’s promise and purpose from the very beginning. Throughout history, there have been repeated attempts to carry out a rebellious agenda against the Lord. Those who left the fellowship of true believers did so because they chose to trust the lies of the Evil One and to declare that God is a liar. In doing this, they rejected Jesus as the Son and placed themselves in the camp of antichrist, lovers of this world instead of lovers of God (1 John 2:15-17).

Conclusion

The gospel of Christ, revealing Jesus as Lord, is the foundation of true life. Our faith is not built on our effort or on the opinions of the world. It is built on the revelation of Jesus in the Word of God and the finished work of the cross. This passage does not give us every answer about the end times or every detail about the antichrist, but it gives us a firm place to stand. It tells us that we live in the last hour because Christ has fulfilled the promises of God. It tells us that those who deny the Son do not have the Father, and that those who confess the Son have the Father also. It calls us to remain in what we have heard from the beginning and to let that truth abide in us.

Do not walk away into darkness and reject Jesus as the light of the world. Do not let confusion, fear, or the noise of false teaching pull you away from the One who has completed the story of God’s salvation. Instead, trust Him, hold fast to Him, and rest in the promise that those who abide in the Son and in the Father have eternal life.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:1-5 – The serpent’s temptation of the woman and the first questioning of God’s Word.
• Genesis 3:14-15 – God’s curse on the serpent and the promise of the offspring who will crush his head.
• Exodus 1:8-10, 22 – Pharaoh’s fear of Israel’s growth and his command to kill the Hebrew sons.
• Esther 3:1-6 – Haman’s rage against Mordecai and his desire to destroy all the Jews.
• Matthew 2:7-8, 16 – Herod’s deceptive search for the child and his order to slaughter the male children in Bethlehem.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 – The man of lawlessness, the mystery of lawlessness already at work, and the final destruction of the lawless one at Christ’s coming.
• John 6:60-66 – Many disciples find Jesus’ teaching too hard and no longer walk with Him.
• 1 John 2:1-2 – Jesus Christ the righteous as our advocate and the propitiation for our sins.
• Galatians 3:1-6 – Paul’s rebuke to the Galatians for turning from the Spirit to the flesh and his reminder that they received the Spirit by hearing with faith.
• John 14:6 – Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to the Father.
• 1 John 4:1 – The call to test the spirits because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
• Matthew 10:32-33 – Jesus’ promise to acknowledge those who confess Him and to deny those who deny Him before the Father.
• Mark 8:38 – The warning that whoever is ashamed of Jesus and His words will be denied when He comes in glory.
• John 12:46-50 – Jesus as the light of the world, the seriousness of rejecting His words, and the Father’s commandment that is eternal life.