Off the Shelf Sunday School--1 John

Warning About False Teachers (2:18-27)

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.?They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.??

?1.????Those who have changed the gospel of Jesus are called antichrists. Some examples of these false teachings are: denying the divinity of Jesus, his atoning death and resurrection, salvation by works and universal salvation. Can you name some religions today that teach these false ideas?

2.????Many of these false teachers started as members of Christian religions. However, they left and formed their own religions. This is a sign to Christians that they never were born again. (Lk 12:8-9; 2 Jn 1:7-9)

3.????Knowledge of the gospel of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible are essential to help Christians discern false teachers. Also, the Holy Spirit will speak to us and we will sense that something is not right when we hear false teachers. This is the anointing of the Holy One. (Jn 16:7-13)

4.????There are some differences in beliefs among Christian denominations that separate them. These teachings do not alter the gospel of Jesus but reflect various interpretations of the Bible. Can you name some of these differences??

5.????The Nicene Creed reflects the essentials of the gospel. This statement was developed by the early church to define core beliefs that cannot be changed.

?I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Reformed Theological Seminary 2021

https://rts.edu/historical-creeds-of-faith/the-nicene-creed/