In this message we shall consider 2:20-27. Verse 20 says, “And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.” This verse speaks not of the ointment but of the anointing. The word “anointing” denotes something experiential that is taking place within us. The anointing is the moving and working of the indwelling compound Spirit. This all-inclusive life-giving Spirit from the Holy One entered into us at the time of our regeneration and abides in us forever (v. 27).
Verse 20 says at the end, “you all know.” Some manuscripts read, “you know all things.” I believe that the proper rendering should be “you know all,” not “you all know.”
In verse 21 John says, “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” In this verse the word “truth” is used twice. If we consider verses 20 and 21 together, we shall realize that the anointing surely must have something to do with the truth. Verse 20 says that we have an anointing, and verse 21 says that we know the truth. In this verse the truth is closely related to the anointing. Actually the anointing is the moving and working of the truth, which is the reality of the Divine Trinity, especially of the Person of Christ (vv. 22-25).
The knowing in verse 21 is the knowing by the anointing of the indwelling and life-giving Spirit. This is a knowledge in the divine life under the divine light, an inner knowledge initiated from our regenerated spirit indwelt by the compound Spirit, not mental knowledge exercised by stimulation from without.
In verse 22 John goes on to say, “Who is the liar if not he who is denying that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who is denying the Father and the Son.” The statement that Jesus is the Christ is related to the truth, and the truth is related to the anointing. These three matters are all related to one another. First we have the anointing, then the truth related to the anointing, and then the statement that Jesus is the Christ related to the truth.
Verse 22 indicates that the antichrist is the one who denies the Father and the Son. After speaking of Jesus being the Christ, John speaks concerning the Father and the Son. This indicates that the Father and the Son are related to Jesus being the Christ.
In these three verses we have four crucial matters: the anointing, the truth, Jesus being the Christ, and the Father and the Son. The anointing teaches us the truth, the truth is that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus being the Christ is a matter that includes the Father and the Son. According to verse 22, to deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Father and the Son. If we deny that Jesus is the Christ, this means that we deny the Father and the Son. This indicates strongly that Jesus, Christ, the Father, and the Son are one.