Fakes

Fakes!

You have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come (V.18).

1 John 2:18-27

Reading

When bank workers are trained to spot fake bank notes, they study both real notes and fake ones. To recognise a fake note, they mustn’t focus on what is similar between the real and the fake, but on what is different.

In 1 John 2, John helps to protect Christians from ‘fake’ Bible teachers by showing them examples of fake Christians and teachers. One of the signs of the “last hour” (in other words, the last days on earth before Jesus returns) is the coming of antichrists (1 JOHN 2:18). Antichrists are people who pretend they are friends of God and that they have come from Him, but actually they reject and hate Him. They want to lead people away from Jesus.

John gave three signs of false teachers for us to look out for: they don’t stay part of the church or Christian communities (V.19), they say Jesus isn’t our Saviour (V.22) and they draw Christians away from Jesus, rather than bringing them closer to Him (V.26). John encouraged his readers to protect themselves against antichrists by relying on and listening to the Holy Spirit, knowing the truth of the Bible and staying close to Jesus and those who really love Him.
We can protect ourselves by knowing what these false teachers are like and by staying close to the truth—Jesus Christ.

WHENEVER YOU HEAR BIBLE TEACHING, ALWAYS CHECK IT AGAINST WHAT THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAYS!

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries