In 1 John 2:27 the apostle tells his readers, “you have no need that anyone should teach you.” He says this because they have been “anointed by the Holy One”. As a result of this anointing they don’t need anyone to teach them.
What about us?
Is this an affirmation that if I have the “anointing of the Holy One” that I’m fine missing Sunday School? After all, if I’ve got God Almighty teaching my heart then, I don’t need nobody teachin’ me nuthin’.
What is the “anointing”?
In order to answer this question we first need to be clear on what this “anointing” is? I’ve heard some interpret this passage as if what John is saying is that some people receive direct revelations from the Spirit—and this is the anointing. And as a result, they don’t need teachers.
In actuality, such an interpretation would undercut John’s message. When we consider this verse in its context we see that John is likely dealing with a group of false teachers that are claiming special knowledge. They’ve abandoned the gospel. They haven’t “let what [they] heard from the beginning abide in [them]”.
Special messages that lead to a claim of special and/or secret knowledge from God is the very problem that John is facing. What John means when he says that they have been “anointed by the Holy One” is that they have been given the Holy Spirit. The consistent use of this word is “in relation to an anointing whose agent is God and whose medium is the Holy Spirit”. (Kruse, 103)
Because John’s readers have received the Holy Spirit they have within them all the knowledge they need. They don’t need something new or special. They simply need to remain faithful to the gospel that they’ve already received.
If I have the Spirit do I need teachers?
Why, then, does John say that his readers do not need anyone to teach them?
Again context is key. In verse 26 John says that he is writing these things “about those who are trying to deceive you”. It is contrast to these deceivers that John writes verse 27. His point, then, is that they already have what they need. So, when John says they do not need anyone to teach them the “anyone” is speaking of those giving new revelations.
We have the Spirit and we have gospel…we don’t need new stuff. So does this mean we don’t need teachers?
Absolutely not. It is the same Christ who gave the Spirit that also gave some to be teachers (Ephesians 4:11). It is hard to imagine that Christ would have gifted the church with teachers that we do not need.
In fact John is teaching them through his letter. But what ought to be noted is the way in which John is teaching them. This help us to see the function that teachers of the gospel are to have.
Gospel teachers aren’t new truth dispensers. We are dispensers of the very old truth. All believers are given the Spirit (that is John’s point) and when the gospel is proclaimed by teachers the Spirit within them affirms what is being taught.
And so this tells us how teachers ought to be teaching. Our goal is to lead people to a further grasp of the gospel. That’s it. You start teaching new and special things then nobody needs you as a teacher. But if you are a teacher that is laboring to help people grab hold of Jesus and apply the gospel then you are much needed in the kingdom.
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