“As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.”

1 John 2:27

We have the Word of God to teach us and guide us in all truth and the Spirit of the Lord who witnesses with our Spirit that we are Christ’s and Christ is true. The anointing is the inner means to understand the truth of God and every Christian has this. There is much error and counterfeit Christianity, especially in these times in which we live. It is all too easy to be taken in with the deceitfulness of sin, the lies of the evil one and the false witness of the charlatans.

The protection for the Christian is the whole council of God and the teaching of doctrine, as laid out in Holy Scripture. John is here teaching it, so that the young Christians will be thoroughly furnished for every good work, and will have the deep doctrines of the faith at their disposal. We judge all teaching and preaching from these principles.

If we imbibe the deep things of God and are full of the Holy Spirit, we will have the discernment necessary to stay on the right path in our minds and hearts, which will result in the good works of holy living. We will not heed any other teaching and will go on in the perfect way of Christ to live for Him and do great exploits.

As the Spirit of God teaches us and witnesses in us concerning all that we hear, we cannot fall into error, except we entertain the deathly presence of sin in our lives. If we listen to the teaching of error, we will know it is error and turn away. The teaching we have received from the Word of God is our protection, and certain guidance for the acceptance of truth. There is no other truth outside the Word of God, contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Scriptures. We really on them at all times and judge all things by the teaching of that Word.

Anyone who deviates is a false whiteness and an antichrist. We don’t listen, because we have been taught the doctrine of God by faithful witnesses who have kept to the Word and who themselves are taught of God through the Spirit.

We remain in Him as we receive and believe the doctrine of the Word and apply it to our lives and live it in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the way of truth. All teachers are judged by this criteria. Faithfulness to the Word of God and the fruits of holy living in their lives is the standard for recognition as a true teacher of the Word. This always presumes we know the Word, believe it and have the internal witness if the Spirit in our inner soul. We remain in Christ when we accept and believe the sound doctrine that is taught here, by John and in the rest of Holy writ.

There is no place for free wheeling or personal interpretation. The Spirit of God leads all the people of God into truth. There is no deviation from that truth, or inconsistency with its teaching, but there are counterfeits. We must be on our guard to ensure we are embracing truth and not the subtle errors of false teachers, hypocrites and those who are in the ministry for their own ends. They have their reward.

If we remain, there is peace of mind and heart and we will not be troubled by a bad conscience towards the Lord. He will witness to us that we belong to Him and strengthen us to study and love the Word of God, prizing it above all other things. This is the work of the Spirit within. The Spirit does not counteract the Word but is the witness to us that what we know is true. We know what is true because we have the Word of God. This is the anointing we receive and it leads us in all truth.

“.,, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you.”

John 16:13-15

The witness of the Spirit of God is the Word of Christ from the Father. He will declare the truth to the people of God and bring glory to Christ alone. This is the anointing of the people of God. As the Spirit declares Christ and His doctrines of truth, so also does the faithful witness to God and His Word.

“We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

1 John 4:6

We listen to the inerrant Word of God written for us by the inspired writers of that Word, and this is our standard for truth and error. We are faithful to the anointing, when we trust in that Word and obey its precepts. So, we remain in Him…