Quote:
Originally Posted by A little brother
I am glad you have picked up the idea that some verses are specific to certain context. But what I have in mind was actually the next verse that you didn't mention:
1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.
I believe both the Holy Spirit and the Scripture are needed to teach us the truth. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth in the Scripture, and we need the Scripture to check against false spirits. It is the basic scriptural principle of 2 or 3 witnesses. Or in simple words, checks and balances.
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In the context, "all things" means all necessary things relating to salvation. If "all things" meant everything, then he would not need to write to them as their teacher.
"you have no need that anyone teach you" is another way of saying "you already have what is essential for salvation so you don't need me to tell/remind you that Jesus is the Christ, and that whoever has the Son has the Father..."...but the purpose of John's writing is to that they may not sin (1 John 2:1) and to warn them about deception (1 John 3:7), not to teach them the elementary truths about Christ, of which they have an anointing that teaches them all necessary things about Christ.
I would say:
God's anointing teaches us the necessary things about Christ for our salvation such that no one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28). We can see that it is by the anointing which teaches us about all necessary things about Christ that we are protected from losing salvation. Teachers like John and Scripture are required to teach about things important, but not necessary for salvation. These teachings are not so that we can be saved or not lose our salvation, but so that we "may not sin" (1 John 2:1) and "not be ashamed at His coming" (1 John 2:28). But "if we do sin" (if we ignore John's teachings), then we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1).
The consequence of following false teachers for a believer is not that they are in danger of losing their salvation if they do (they have an anointing which prevents that) , but that they may be led astray into sin. A paraphrase of 1 John chapter 2 is this:
"I don't want you to sin and be ashamed at Christ's coming, that's why I am writing to you about these false teachers. If you do follow a false teacher you won't lose your salvation because you have the anointing which teaches you the truth about Christ for salvation, and you have an advocate by which your sins will be forgiven, but please abide in Christ so that you won't fall into sin".