Quote:
Originally Posted by Koinonia
Evangelical, you are embarrassing yourself. In this section John is referring to "antichrists" (see verse 2:18). Why are you equating this to people that do not meet with your group?
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I think it does not matter who they were or why they left. It's basically saying, "people left our church, since they left it proves they never really belonged". John refers to "us and them".
Suppose these people were not anti-christ but wanted to leave to start their own denomination according to their own preference, would not John say the same thing?
I think John, being the last apostle/disciple alive at the time, would not have included as "us" any who did not stay with the apostle's teaching. To leave John's teaching and John's fellowship was like leaving Christ.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koinonia
Your group is not the "true church."
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OK. So what do we have to be like to be the true church?