According to the Bible, we teach that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. Isaiah 9:6 says that a Son has been given to us, yet His name is called the everlasting Father, or the eternal Father, or Father of eternity. This matches the Lord’s word concerning Himself and the Father recorded in the Gospel of John. The Lord Jesus said that He, the Son, came in the name of the Father (John 5:43). The Lord never said of Himself that He was the Son and the Father. But He did say that He was the Son coming in the Father’s name. In chapter fourteen of the Gospel of John the Lord also says that if we see Him, we see the Father (v. 9). Furthermore, in this chapter the Lord says that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (vv. 10-11). So He says in John 10:30 the Father and the Son are one. When we confess Him, we also have the Father (1 John 2:23). Furthermore, He is also the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). When we have Him dwelling in us, we also have both the Father and the Spirit. Do you not have the Lord Jesus in you? Surely you do. Do you not also have the Father and the Spirit in you? You certainly have also both the Father and the Spirit in you. This means that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all in you. How many, then, do we have within us? From experience we know that we have only One within us. This One who dwells in us is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the anointing is the moving of the Triune God enjoyed and experienced by us. The moving of the Triune God within us who becomes our enjoyment and experience is the anointing. The anointing here in chapter two of 1 John refers to our experience of the Triune God. It is this experience that teaches us the things concerning the Trinity.
John’s word concerning the anointing here was written to the young children, to those who are the youngest in the divine life. Even the youngest believers have experienced the Lord within them. They can testify from their experience that the One who lives in them is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
We need the proper experience of the Triune God. From the “taste” in our experience we know the things concerning the Trinity. For example, how do you know whether sugar tastes sweet or bitter? The way to know is to taste a little of it. The taste will teach you whether it is bitter or sweet. In a similar way, our experience, our taste, of the Triune God will teach us concerning Him.
John’s intention in 2:18-27 is to warn the young children about the antichrists and their heretical teachings. In these verses John seems to be saying, “Do not listen to all these false teachings about the Person of Christ. You have a Teacher within you, and this Teacher is the anointing. Do not give heed to what the antichrists say, but listen to your experience of the Triune God’s moving as the anointing within you.” Praise the Lord for the experience of the teaching of the anointing concerning the Triune God!