As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
1 John 2:24 NET
Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
1 John 2:27 NET
In John 2:20, John told his readers they had received an anointing from the Holy One. This anointing was most likely the Holy Spirit given to them by Jesus, the Holy One (Acts 3:14; Rev 3:7).
Then, in John 2:24, John referred to what they had heard from the beginning. This would be the apostles’ teachings, which they had initially learned. These are teachings we find recorded in the pages of our New Testament today. John contrasted these teachings with those of false teachers or antichrists.
The word that the NET translates as remain and reside is the Greek word menō. It has the idea of staying in a given place or state. It refers to a permanent residency rather than a temporary stay.
John told them that if the things they had heard from the beginning remained (menō) in them, they would remain (menō) in the Son and the Father. And then he told them that if the anointing they had received (the Holy Spirit) resided (menō) in them, they would not need anyone to teach them because the Holy Spirit would be their teacher.
Does this mean that with the indwelling Holy Spirit, we do not need human teachers? John’s teaching in this letter demonstrates the need for human teachers. What they had heard from the beginning had come from human teachers. And one of the gifts of the Spirit is teachers.
So, if human teachers are important, what did John mean here? 1 Corinthians 2:12 can help us with this. In that passage, Paul said that we have received the Spirit of God so that we can understand what God has freely given us. The Holy Spirit illuminates the word of God, giving us an understanding of the truths of God’s word.
This spiritual understanding goes beyond the intellectual understanding human teachers can provide. This understanding grows as we hold tightly to God’s word and trust the Holy Spirit to illuminate it within our own spirits.
