Passage Read: 1 John 1-2
Meditation Verse: 2:21
Thought
This makes perfect sense, but at first pass seems an odd thing to say. I'd normally think it's not those who know the truth who need to be taught, but those who don't know the truth. But in reality, if someone doesn't know or believe the truth, then they won't be helped by the things John is writing. His instructions and insights and warnings are for believers, which means I need to pay careful attention to them. He's not writing to rescue unbelievers, but to put believers on guard and to help them understand what real faith looks like, so that they can guard against false belief and false believers. In truth, it is only true believers who care what John has to say, which is also how I can know that I belong to the truth.
Application
This is especially significant in light of the previous verses: Many antichrists have already gone out into the world, and they went out from John. They originally started as faithful students of the truth, but at some point decided John wasn't right, so they left him to teach what they thought was right. There's no helping such people. They've denied one who belongs to the truth, who walked and talked and touched the Truth; they think they know God better than John. There's little hope of returning from such arrogance, especially when they deliberately go out to deny and contradict John's teachings. If I do not submit to, trust and believe all John teaches, if I do not submit fully to his teachings, what hope is there for me? Unless I believe and obey the teachings of John, I have no reason to believe I'm saved. And if I publicly debate and deny what John has taught, I am an antichrist. John knows Christ to a depth I can only hope to attain in eternity; if I want to know Christ and have fellowship with Him, I need to trust and fully accept John's testimony and teaching.