No Teachers Needed? (1 John 2:27)
Abiding
No Teachers Needed? (1 John 2:27)
Abiding

No Teachers Needed? (1 John 2:27)

No Teachers Needed? (1 John 2:27)

1 John 2:27
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

Treasure Alert!

Thieves are always drawn to treasure. Whenever God wants to uncover treasure for us in His Word, Satan is usually not far behind, looking for some way to sneak in with his deceptive “craftiness” to entangle and lead people astray from the “simplicity” that is in Christ:

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Peter made this interesting comment about Paul’s epistles:

2 Peter 3:15-16
And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

When we dig in into the treasure of God’s Word, it is good to do so with prayer, surrendering our will to God, and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth:

John 7:17 (NASB)
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

The Twisting of 1 John 2:27

1 John 2:27 is one of those many hidden treasures in God’s Word. But, oh, how twisted up and confused people have become with this passage.

One interpretation I have often heard goes something like this:

“See what this verse says! I do not need anybody to teach me anything. I am filled with the Holy Spirit, and now the anointing me teaches me all things!”

I have also encountered people, especially members of pseudo-Christian cults, who use this same verse as a shield against anyone attempting to correct them. They will say something like this: “I know that I cannot be wrong because the anointing teaches me.”

That’s some bizarre twisting, right?

It is easy to discover the error of that wrong interpretation of 1 John 2:27. We only need to consider all the many passages in the Bible that stand in obvious contradiction:

   → Jesus’ commission to the disciples: “Go and teach all men…” (Matthew 28:18-20)

   → Twice, Paul claims he was appointed as a teacher (1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11).

   → Paul taught that one of Christ’s five ministry gifts to the church and for the saints (believers) is the teacher (Ephesians 4:11)…

   → Paul taught that when Christians gather together, a teaching can be given (1 Corinthians 14:26).

In fact, “teaching” is used 50 times and “doctrine” 30 times in just the Epistles! That’s a lot of verses that contradict that twisted interpretation of 1 John 2:27.

Furthermore, if that erroneous interpretation was somehow true, then there is another problem: We would have to call the Apostle John a hypocrite. Why? Because when he says we do not need anyone to teach us, what is he doing? Teaching us! The same hypocrisy label must also be handed to anyone who promotes that interpretation because they, too, are teaching that teaching is not necessary. How absurd is that!

Even worse, is that this “no-teachers-needed” concept fosters the sin of pride and produces people who are unteachable, uncorrectable, independent, and even insubordinate — some very dangerous deeds of the flesh that have no part in the Kingdom of God! This is precisely what Paul teaches Timothy as he explains how to identify unsound doctrine:

1 Timothy 6:3-5
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,
HE IS PROUD, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,
Useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such, withdraw yourself.

Using the 3 Keys of Interpretation

Shortly after I had been born again, baptized in water, and baptized in the Holy Spirit, my faith was severely challenged by an uncle who did not believe God’s Word was infallible or directly inspired by God. However, thanks to a wonderful pastor and wise teacher who was mentoring me at that time, that difficult testing of my faith only strengthened me and increased my love and respect for God’s Word.

During that time, the Lord placed Three Keys of Scriptural interpretation into my hands, and, since 1976, they have become well-worn keys that have helped me and many others to “rightly divide” God’s Word:

2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

[*”Rightly dividing” in the Greek is “orthotomeo” which literally means to make a straight cut; to accurately dissect; to handle skillfully; to correctly teach the Word of Truth.]
  • Key #1 – The God-Breathed Word
    ALL Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) is the inspired, God-breathed, living, and abiding, eternal Word of God. It is not the word of men, but of God. This is why the Bible has stood the test of time!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (Amplified)
Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action),
So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 Thessalonians 2:13
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
  • Key #2 – No Contradictions
    God does NOT contradict Himself. Therefore, Scripture does NOT contradict Scripture.
Psalm 33:4,9,11
For the Word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth…
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast…
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations…
Psalm 119:89
Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven.
1 Peter 1:23-25
Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which LIVES and ABIDES forever, because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the Word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the Word which by the Gospel was preached to you.
  • Key #3 – Scripture Interprets Scripture
    Every Scripture has its own “mate” elsewhere in the Bible – i.e., a passage or a verse by which it can be both confirmed and interpreted. This verse has always made me smile with sweet assurance as I read and study the “Book of the Lord”:
Isaiah 34:16
Search from the Book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these shall fail;
Not one shall lack her mate.
For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.

Not one passage of Scripture shall “fail” nor lack its “mate”! There is no other book like God’s Book! It’s the only book that always has its Author present when we read it! God’s Book is LIVING and it leads, keeps, and speaks:

Proverbs 6:22-23 (KJV)
When thou goest, it shall LEAD thee;
when thou sleepest, it shall KEEP thee;
and when thou awakest, it shall TALK with thee.
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Uncovering the Treasure of 1 John 2:27

We discovered what 1 John 2:27 DOES NOT MEAN (it does NOT mean that we no longer need teachers). Now, it is much easier to unfold what it DOES MEAN. This is the delicious part and the whole reason I have been excited to dig deeper into 1 John 2:27.

Let’s unpack this verse section by section:

  • Section 1: 1 John 2:27a
    But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you…

What is the anointing that abides in the believer? It’s the Third Person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit (see Luke 4:18; Isa 61:1; Acts 10:38).

  • Section 2: 1 John 2:27b
    …and you do not need that anyone teach you, but as the ANOINTING teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie…

This verse is definitely not lacking its “mate” because Jesus told His disciples this exact same thing. He said that He had to leave, so the Holy Spirit would come to dwell within the believer to teach them:

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Notice how Jesus phrases this idea: “He will teach you ALL things and bring to your remembrance ALL things that I said to you.” This is in perfect  alignment with “sound doctrine” as Paul told Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:3 (NASB)
If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with SOUND WORDS, THOSE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness.

There is one other important point about this promise that the Holy Spirit will “bring to your remembrance” the Words of Jesus. It is just logical that we already have God’s Word in our minds, for it is not possible to “remember” something that we never knew to begin with. This is why Bible reading and teachers who lead us to study God’s Word are necessary.

  • Section 3: 1 John 2:27c
    …and just as it [the anointing] has TAUGHT you, you will ABIDE in Him.

What is it that the anointing of the Holy Spirit has taught and is teaching the believer about?

To ABIDE in Christ!

Everything God has for us is all found in Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s specialty is teaching and leading us to abide in Christ! That is one of the most essential reasons that Jesus had to go and the Holy Spirit had to come:

John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Jesus says this about the Day (Pentecost) in which the Holy Spirit would come to baptize and indwell His disciples:

John 14:20
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

While Jesus walked on earth, all the riches of Christ were veiled behind mortal flesh and confined to the Christ’s geographical location. But since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit makes the riches of Christ available – without any geographical limitation – to “whoever believes in Him” (John 3:16; Romans 10:11,13).

What Does Abiding Mean?

In English, as in the original Greek, “abide” is a richly meaningful word that carries these ideas: to dwell, to remain, to endure, to continue, to continue to be present, to persevere, to wait on, to wait for, to tarry, to be held, to be kept continually. Everything about the word, “abide,” describes the very function of faith, hope and love in our union and communion with Christ (1 Corinthians 13:13).

The most vivid imagery of “abiding” is presented to us when Jesus says, “I AM the True Vine” (John 15:1). In this last of seven “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John, Jesus defines “abiding” as the vital, life-supporting union of a branch with its vine. In John’s Gospel and epistles, “abide” is used around 30 times!

John chapters 14 through 17 are Jesus’ final words to His disciples before He went to the Cross. Knowing that the Holy Spirit’s specialty is teaching us to abide in Christ, it is no wonder that Jesus uses these final moments to describe the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit will do once He comes.

Abiding Begins with the New Birth

It is at the New Birth when a person receives Christ and first trusts in Him for salvation. That is where “abiding” in Christ begins:

Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Trusting Christ for salvation is absolutely intimate, personal, and individually unique. No method or formula functions apart from the inner working of the Holy Spirit. When a person turns to Christ, it is the Holy Spirit who is responsible for convicting of “sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11), and for enabling that person to trust Christ for salvation. The Spirit of God continues to teach us to abide in Christ throughout our entire life’s journey from earth to glory.

Abiding Compared to Marriage

Abiding can also be likened to a marriage relationship. Responsible Christian parents will do their best to teach their children the Biblical guidelines of marriage. However, once the couple is joined as one, the intimacy of the marriage relationship is its own individually designed piece of art. Mother and Father have no place there.

This is exactly what Paul says as he expounds upon the “Great Mystery” of Christ and His Bride, the Church:

Ephesians 5:31-32 (quoting Genesis 1:24)
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

The couple must navigate and design their union and communion together within the marriage covenant.

Paul explained that, in his jealousy and zeal over the church, he was extremely diligent to teach, train, warn, and protect her:

2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Colossians 1:28-29
Him [Christ] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

However, Paul totally understood that the real inner work of being prepared as a Bride could only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit and no one else.

1 Corinthians 3:5-6
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD GAVE THE INCREASE.

Esther’s Two Teachers

As I explained earlier, when we search God’s Book, we find that no Scripture ever lacks a “mate” that the Holy Spirit will use to shed greater light upon God’s Word. In the Old Testament, there are many types and shadows that wonderfully confirm New Testament Truths. Two fantastic technicolor and amazingly detailed illustrations of this are Israel’s journey out of Egypt into the Promised Land and also Moses’s Tabernacle. To understand just how important those two types and shadows are, consider how many chapters of the Old Testament are dedicated to those two stories!

Another beautiful Old Testament type and shadow of New Testament Truth is found in Esther chapter two. In this beautiful story, we discover that Esther actually has two very distinct “teachers”:

  1. Mordecai, the older cousin of Esther, who raised her from a child after her parents died.
  2. Hegai, the Persian king’s chamberlain, was the keeper and trainer of the women brought into Sushan the palace as contestants in this unique beauty pageant and quest to be the king’s wife.

What did Mordecai teach Esther? How to dress? How to fix her hair? What perfume to wear?

No way!

What Mordecai taught Esther is evidenced by her choices once she was taken into Hegai’s custody at the palace. Look at what we are told:

Esther 2:15
When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go into the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the harem, SUGGESTED. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.

All the other women were given whatever they desired (Esther 2:13). Each one had their pick of clothing, jewelry, hairstyle, perfume, etc. But Esther had been well instructed to listen carefully to Hegai’s every word and even his slightest “suggestions” – i.e., to be persuaded and led by Hegai! Consider just how wise a choice that was! For who knew the exact likes and dislikes of the King better than Hegai? And what were the results? Esther “obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her,” and she was chosen to be the king’s bride!

Now, Mordecai is a type and shadow of Apostolic ministry in the New Testament. Hegai is a type of the Holy Spirit. And Esther, of course, is a type and shadow of the Bride being prepared by the Holy Spirit for King Jesus!

Sadly, some ministries, either consciously or unconsciously, feel it is their sole responsibility to not merely instruct the church in the Word but to also teach the church members what the likes and dislikes of King Jesus. What would have happened if Mordecai had given his own rules and instructions to Esther about what he thought the king liked. There’s no doubt that Esther would never have been chosen!

Ministers of Christ do well to remember that only the Holy Spirit knows how to prepare the Bride to win King Jesus’ heart! The proper posture for ministers is to faithfully teach and preach the Word to the church from “in front of the court,” and daily checking on its progress:

Esther 2:11 (ESV)
And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

The goal of all ministry is that each believer would abide in Christ, learning to hear and obey even the “suggestions” and softest whispers of the ultimate Teacher, the Holy Spirit, who knows the “deep things” in the heart of the King.

Isa 30:21
…your eyes shall see your teachers.
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

Built on Better Promises

The New Covenant is founded upon “better promises.” But what promises?

A major part of these “better promises” is the “Promise of the Father” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 2:33, Acts 2:38-39) which is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – the experience by which the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the believer (John 14:16-20).

Consider all that the Promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, does within us. He is an excellent Teacher!

  • He writes God’s Laws upon our hearts and mind (Heb 8:10; Jer 31:33).
  • He reminds of Jesus Words (John 14:26).
  • He sensitizes our conscience with conviction and reveals Jesus to us (John 16:7-13).
  • He enables the “spirit of faith” within us to believe and trust Christ (2 Cor 4:13).
  • He empowers us from within (Luke 24:49; Eph 1:19; Eph 3:16; Col 1:11).
  • He enlightens the eyes of our understanding to see Jesus (Eph 1:16-19).
  • He unfolds the Word and “teaches” the “deep things of God” which “God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:10-16).
  • He sanctifies and transforms us “from glory to glory” to be like Christ (2 Cor 3:18).
  • He causes us to “walk” in God’s “statutes” (Eze 36:26-27).
  • He works in us “both to will and to do” for God’s good pleasure! (Phil 2:13).

And what else does the New Covenant tell us?

Hebrews 8:11 (quoting from Jeremiah 31:34)
None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

Uh-oh, here it is again! No need for teaching?

That’s right! Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit teaches what no human could ever teach us! He teaches us to ABIDE in Christ – to believe, trust, and surrender our all to Christ and “to be found in Him” and to “KNOW Him” – the “excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:8-10). Abiding in Christ and the union and communion with Jesus our Beloved can only be taught by the Spirit!

The Body – Interdependence, Not Independence

Esther needed both Mordecai and Hegai. Likewise, the church needs both the teaching of the Holy Spirit and the ministry office of teaching.

Remember that we are “members one of another” and baptized by one Spirit into the Body of Christ! This is why, once Christ had “ascended on high” to the Right Hand of God, “He gave gifts to men.” Those gifts are the 5 Ministry Gifts: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers (Eph 4:8-12). In addition to that, the Holy Spirit takes His 9 Gifts and distributes them “to each [believer] individually as He wills” (1 Cor 12:11).

God has so designed the Body of Christ that, for His will and eternal purpose to be accomplished, we must be absolutely interdependent upon one another. Christ’s five ministry gifts of grace prove this very fact! We need each other.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
Romans 12:5-6
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching.

For a pastor or teacher to tread into that Holy Spirit-only realm creates nothing but confusion, legalism, and bondage. Without the anointing for ministry, the best we can do is give the “letter” that “kills.” However, “the Spirit gives life,” and when a minister depends entirely upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he will find himself only supporting what the Holy Spirit has already been at work doing within the believer to whom he is ministering. This is what Jesus said:

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Even though Paul was mightily used as an apostle, pastor, and teacher, he knew that only the Holy Spirit could equip him for that work:

2 Corinthians 3:5-6
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

God has marvelously designed the Body to create an interdependence with oneness and harmony that would put God’s love on display for the whole world to see and believe. Remember that Jesus’ last prayer had everything to do with loving one another and being one in Him and in the Father:

John 17:21,23
That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…
I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

This is how we can be “fitted together” to grow “into a holy temple in the Lord” – and “built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:21-22).

Summing It All Up

It is the “anointing” of the Holy Spirit that teaches us what no man could ever teach us:

To abide in Christ!

Abiding in Christ the True Vine can only be taught to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit! He is that Voice behind us saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isa 30:21).

We do need teachers!
We do need the anointing!
We do need each other in the Body of Christ!

And, if we do abide in Christ as the Holy Spirit teaches us, then we will be in the right place when Christ returns for His Bride just as John continued teaching in this passage:

1 John 1:28
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
Rev 22:17,20
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!”
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Amen!

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