PT-2 “JOHN’S COMMITMENT TO TRUTH”

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/26/2026 8:30 PM

PT-2 “JOHN’S COMMITMENT TO TRUTH”

            I continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary in order to finish this section on the life of the Apostle John.

            “John’s passionate devotion to the truth also prompted him to warn against the danger of false teachers, who twist and pervert the truth.  In his first epistle John listed three characteristics of such teachers (whom he label’s ‘antichrists’ [1 John 2:18] because they distorted and denied the truth about Jesus Christ).  First, they arose within the church, but then left, taking their followers with them.  As John noted, ‘They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us’ (1 John 2:19).  Second, they ‘denie[d] that Jesus is the Christ,’ thereby ‘[denying] the Father and the Son’ (v. 22).  Those who deny Jesus Christ’s true nature as God incarnate also deny the Father, who testified to the Son (5:9-10; John 5:32-38; 8:19).  Finally, false teachers try to deceive the faithful (1 John 2:26; cf. 3:7; Rom. 16:18; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:13; Titus 1:10; 2 John 7), as does their father (John 8:44), the devil (2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9).”  I will begin quoting these verses that are highlighted in yellow beginning with 1 John 2:22.

(1 John 2:22)

“22  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”

 (1 John 5:9-10; John 5:32-38; 8:19)

“9  If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 ¶  Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.”

“32  There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33  You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34  Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35  He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36  But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37  And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38  and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.”

“19  and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

(1 John 2:26; cf. 3:7; Rom. 16:18; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:13; Titus 1:10; 2 John 7), as does their father (John 8:44), the devil (2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9)

“26  I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.”

“7  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”

“18  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

“1 ¶  Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”

“13  while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

“10  For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.”

“7 ¶  For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

“44  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

“3  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

“9  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

            “John instructed his readers to avoid being deceived by those religious charlatans:

Testing the Spirits

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1-6)

“Christians must carefully compare any teaching purporting to come from God with the Bible.  They must be like the Bereans, who were ‘examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so’ (Acts 17:11).  At the core of every false system of belief is a denial of the truth regarding Jesus Christ.  Therefore John cautioned that ‘every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God’ (1 John 4:2-3).  The mark of false teachers is that they reject the doctrine of the apostles as revealed in Scripture. But the apostles, as John wrote, ‘are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us.  By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error’ (v. 6).

            “In his second epistle, John again warned that ‘many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh’ (v. 7).  He reminded his readers that such false teachers ‘[go] too far and [do] not abide in the teaching of Christ.’  As a result, they [do] not have God,’ because only ‘the one who abides in the teaching [about Christ] has both the Father and the Son’ (v.9).  Apostate false teachers are not to be given Christian hospitality, since doing so aids the spread of their heretical teaching (vv. 10-11).

            “John’s frequent use of the word ‘testify’ (Gk., martureo) also reveals how important truth was to him.  He wrote of the witness of John the Baptist (John 1:6-8), of the Father (John 5:37; 8:18), of the Scriptures (John 5:39); of the works Jesus did (John 10:25), of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26), of the disciples (John 15:27), and of Jesus (John 18:37).”

6/26/2026 9:14 PM