Warnings against an antichrist

18 My children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist was coming; and many antichrists have already arisen. This is why we know that this is the last hour. 19 These people come from our ranks, but they were never truly part of us – if they had been then they would have stayed with us. They left so it would be clear that none of them really belonged to us. 20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth. 21 I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie can come from the truth.

22 Who is a liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? That person is the antichrist – one who rejects the Father and the Son. 23 No one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also. 24 As for you, you must let what you have heard from the beginning continue to live in you. If what you heard from the beginning dwells in you, you will remain both in the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what he himself promised us – eternal life!

26 In writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains with you. You do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything. What it teaches you is true, it is not a lie. Do what it has taught you: abide in him. 28 Yes, my children, remain in him, so that when he appears our confidence doesn’t fail us, and we are not ashamed to meet him at his coming. 29 Since you know he is righteous, you realise that everyone who does what is right is his child.