Daily Bible Nugget #304, 1 John 2:27

The Nugget:

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

My Comment:

The eighth proof of the Perspicuity of Scripture is that the Bible is understandable because it declares we have no need of a human authority to teach us.

This is a bold statement. The Apostle John wrote this to believers. The historical and cultural setting includes the fact that there were some teachers who were teaching new twists on doctrine. They had brought in this new doctrine–a teaching that involved moral apostasy–and tried to subvert the genuine believers who stayed faithful to the truth they had been taught whether by John or other apostolic authority. In this particular case the false teachers withdrew from the fellowship of the genuine believers. John said that marked them as being false from the beginning (1 John 2:19).

In our day we have all the apostolic teaching there is recorded and preserved to our time in one Book, our New Testament. The New Testament contains the only extant primary source documents about Christ and His teaching, and the teaching of His authorized Apostles and those who worked directly with them. Together with the Hebrew Scriptures originally revealed to the Jews and preserved in our Old Testament, this is the full extent of what has been written under Divine inspiration for our learning (Romans 15:4).

John writes that those who truly have been saved have an anointing that provides for them the understanding of Scripture so that they are in no need whatsoever of any other external official teaching authority. The final authority we all have is the Scripture–the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. That anointing which John mentions is the indwelling Holy Spirit which they–the ordinary Christians he was addressing–received upon placing their faith in Christ.

During the lifetime of the Apostles the Church as directly led and taught by them could indeed be considered the pillar and ground of the truth, and in that sense constituted the official teaching authority (1 Timothy 3:15). Now that none of the original Apostles is alive upon earth today, we have instead of the Church the Divinely inspired writings providentially preserved in the New Testament, together with the Old Testament, as the official source of our doctrine, and the final teaching authority.

The Apostles warned in their writings not to depart from the faith delivered once for all to the saints (Jude 1:3). Believers in that day were warned that immediately after the apostles were no longer present that false teachers would come in to draw away disciples from the church to themselves (Acts 20:29, 30; 1 Timothy 4:1).

The absolute test of truth is found in Galatians 1:8, 9. True doctrine must fully correspond with the doctrine the Apostles placed for us under divine inspiration found in our Bibles.

Any attempt to introduce new doctrine allegedly developed since the time of the Apostles is apostasy.

This must not be confused with the interesting fact that it is possible to study the Bible carefully enough to discover truth in the Bible that has been there all the time but is now more accurately understood than ever before, far as we know. For example, our understanding of Bible prophecy may well be greater than the understanding possessed by either the Church Fathers or the Protestant Reformers. I believe our understanding of the Bible doctrine of the Atonement of Christ today, though this new more accurate understanding is presently not widespread, is far greater than in previous generations of Bible students and scholars. Our understanding of the doctrine of God, particularly including the doctrine of the Trinity, is greater now than what has been recorded in the writings of the first Christian centuries. The doctrine of the Trinity, though the word itself does not occur in the Bible, is an example of a doctrine derived by means of necessary inference yet directly from the Bible.

Therefore, the Perspicuity of the Scripture is proven on the basis that the Bible declares we have no need of an official teaching authority outside of or beyond Scripture itself according to 1 John 2:27. Thus, as to ultimate authority, the Bible is our teacher, not the Church. What any church teaches must always be carefully checked against what the Bible teaches.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1474 for 1 John 2:27.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1493 or in Logos 5 Bible software for 1 John 2:27.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

1 John 2:27. the anointing. FS22D5L, +Ps 45:7. See on ver. *+1 J 2:20. *1 J 3:24. Ex 28:41. 29:7. 30:26. 37:29. 40:13. Le 2:1. 7:35. 8:12, 30. Nu 7:43. 18:8. **1 S 16:22. 1 Ch 16:22. +*Ps 23:5. 92:10. 105:15. 133:2. Is 10:27. Ezk 16:9. Mt 25:4. *Jn 1:16. 3:34. *Jn 4:14. *Ac 10:38. 2 Cor 1:21. Ep 4:30. 1 Th 4:9. *1 P 1:23. *2 J 1:2. received of. Westcott notes that the Greek construction employed here (lambanein apo) emphasizes the source (as also 1 J 3:22; 3 J 1:7; Mt 17:25); the construction lambanein para (Jn 5:41, 44; 10:18; 2 J 1:4; Re 2:27; Mk 12:2; Ac 2:33; 3:5; 17:9; 20:24; James 1:7; 2 P 1:17) to emphasize the giver. 1 J 3:22. Mt 17:25. Lk 11:13. *Jn 1:16. Ac 2:38, 39. 5:32. 3 J 1:7. abideth in you. FS101, +Dt 32:42. +1 J 3:24. **1 J 5:10-13. Jn 15:7. +*Ro 8:9, 14, 16. need not. Ye have no need whatever (Lange). 1 J 4:1. Jn 2:25. 16:30. +*Ga 1:8n. 2 Cor 9:1. 1 Th 1:8. 4:9. %He 5:12. Re 2:2. any man teach. T#1117. ver. *1 J 2:20, 21. +**Pr 28:5. +*Is 8:20n. *Is 54:13. **Je 31:33, 34. Ezk 14:10n. Jn 6:45. *Jn 14:26. *Jn 16:13. %Ac 8:31n. **Ro 14:12. Ga 1:8n. *He 8:10, 11. 2 P 1:20n. but. 1 Cor 2:13. *Ep 4:21. **1 Th 2:13. 1 Tim 2:7. *2 P 1:16, 17. +*Jude 1:3. same anointing. +=Ex 28:41. Jn 14:16, 17. 2 Cor 1:21. teacheth you. Present tense, active voice, indicative mood verb. The application and interpretation of the truth is continuous (Westcott). T#841. Ps 25:5, 12. +*Ps 32:8. +*Ps 119:12, 18, 102, 104. *Ps 143:10. *Pr 1:23. 11:9. Is 30:21. 35:8. 54:13. Lk 12:12. Jn 6:45. +*Jn 14:26. *Jn 16:13, 14. 1 Cor 2:10, 14. Ep 4:20. Titus 2:12. of. Gr. peri. or, concerning. all things. Mt 13:11. +*Jn 14:26. 1 Cor 2:12. Col 2:10. +*Col 3:16. +**2 Tim 3:15-17. +*Jude 1:3. is truth. +Jn 14:17. 16:13. and is no lie. As Antichristian teaching (JFB). ver. 1 J 2:21. even as. Gr. kathōs (S#2531g). The use of kathōs marks this idea of a definite and fixed standard (Westcott). ver. 1 John 2:6, 18. 1 J 3:2, 3, 7, 12. hath taught you. Aorist tense, active voice, indicative mood verb. The first teaching contained implicitly all that is slowly brought to light in later times. … This clause excludes all ‘developments’ of teaching which cannot be shewn to exist in germ in the original message; and at the same time leaves no room for the inventions of fanaticism. That which was taught first is the absolute standard (see Westcott). Ac 11:26. Ga 1:6-9. +*Jude 1:3. ye shall. ver. *1 J 2:28. Jn 6:56. **Jn 8:31, 32. *Jn 15:4-7. *Col 2:6. abide. FS101, +Dt 32:42. ver. 1 J 2:24. Jsh 2:19. 2 S 7:3. +*Ps 119:33. Pr 3:21. +*Jn 8:31. 15:4, 9. +*Ac 11:23. +*Ac 13:43. +**Col 1:23. him. or, it. The personal reference cannot be questioned in ver. 1 J 2:28, and that must decide the interpretation here. Christ—God in Christ—is the subject constantly present to the mind of the Apostle (see Westcott). ver. 1 J 2:5. Jn 15:4. *Col 2:7, 8.

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One Response to Daily Bible Nugget #304, 1 John 2:27

  1. ken sagely says:

    1 jn 2.27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and
    ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of
    all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide
    in him.
    cross ref
    jn 14.26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
    in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
    whatsoever i have said unto you.
    jn 16.13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
    for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

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