In his first epistle, John wrote to a community that was experiencing division. Some people had left them. John describes them as "antichrists"---opponents of Christ.
John recognized this kind of opposition as characteristic of the "last hour"---i.e., the time after Christ's resurrection and before his return(1 Jn 2:18). Jesus had predicted in his Olivet Discourse that such conflict would occur (Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21), and so the apostles were not surprised by it (e.g., 1 Ti 4:1; 2 Pe 3:3-7; Jude 18).
John describes some of the beliefs of those who are antichrists. They deny that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Anointed One or Messiah (2:22-23). In particular, they do not believe that Jesus is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:1-18; 1 Jn 4:2-3; 2 Jn 7).
Those who do believe in the Jesus the Messiah as portrayed in John's Gospel "have an anointing from the Holy One," John says (1 Jn 2:20). Believers are themselves "anointed ones." They have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides believers into all truth (Jn 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13), and so they have no need for some alleged "new truth" that their opponents might be offering.
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