Healthy, Growing Churches (4)

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went outthat they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 1 John 2.18, 19

Commentary on 1 John
Oecumenius (sixth century)
“Some people will ask where the antichrists have come from, and the sad answer is that they have come from our midst. That way they can pretend to have all the credibility of true disciples and stand a better chance of seducing the unwary. They became disciples themselves at first but then departed from the truth and invented their own blasphemies to replace it.”

Besides unity in what we believe and profess, and the practical unity by which we express our love for other members of Christ’s Body, there is what Paul refers to as the “unity of the Son of God.” This is true unity, indeed, for by it we are bonded to Christ, united in Him, and filled together with His Spirit, so that we are inseparable from Him and His truth, and from one another. This was not the case in Ephesus in John’s day. Some who seemed to be true disciples had turned away from the teaching of the apostles and gone out on their own. While they appeared to be one with the Body of Christ, they were in fact His enemies, for they had never realized that participation in Jesus that leads to perseverance and fruitfulness. Peter exhorted all believers to work hard to make their calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1.10, 11), lest, despite every appearance of believing and belonging to Christ, they should fall away, and be exposed as never having known Him at all. This is good counsel now, as always. Those who achieve this unity, and grow in it, will continue to grow in the Lord Jesus, and will contribute to the maturing of His Body as a healthy, growing church.

How would you counsel a new believer to make his calling and election sure, so that he knows true unity of the Son of God?

T. M. Moore

Healthy, Growing Churches
Our assessment tool, Twelve Questions that Could Change Your Church, can help you discover the extent to which you are building the Lord’s church as He intends. Use this tool with your church leaders to discern the health of your church, then to plan the next phase of your growth as the Body of Christ. You can download Twelve Questionsfor free by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotations from Church Fathers are from the Ancient Christian Commentary Series, published by InterVarsity Press.