These things have I written unto you The apostle excuses himself again for having admonished them who were well endued with knowledge and judgment. But he did this, that they might apply for the guidance of the Spirit, lest his admonition should be in vain; as though he had said, "I indeed do my part, but still it is necessary that the Spirit of God should direct you in all things; for in vain shall I, by the sound of my voice, beat your ears, or rather the air, unless he speaks within you." When we hear that he wrote concerning seducers, we ought always to bear in mind, that it is the duty of a good and diligent pastor not only to gather a flock, but also to drive away wolves' for what will it avail to proclaim the pure gospel, if we connive at the impostures of Satan? No one, then, can faithfully teach the Church, except he is diligent in banishing errors whenever he finds them spread by seducers. What he says of the unction having been received from him, I refer to Christ.

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you - Respecting their character, and in order to guard you against their arts. The word "seduce" means to lead astray; and it here refers to those who would seduce them "from the truth," or lead them into dangerous error. The apostle does not mean that they had actually seduced them, for he states in the following verse that they were yet safe; but he refers to the fact that there was danger that they might be led into error.

These things have I written - Either meaning the whole epistle, or what is contained in the preceding verses, from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 25th.
Them that seduce you - Περι των πλανωντων ὑμας· That is, the deceivers that were among them, and who were labouring to pervert the followers of Christ.

(25) These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
(25) The same Spirit who endues the elect with the knowledge of the truth and sanctifies them, gives them the gift of perseverance, to continue to the end.

These things have I written unto you,.... The little children, who were most likely to be imposed upon by antichrists and deceivers:
concerning them that seduce you. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, "for them that seduce you"; not that they were actually seduced and carried away with the error of the wicked; for though God's elect may be staggered and waver, and be tossed to and fro by false teachers, and their doctrines, yet they cannot be totally and finally deceived: but the sense is, these men endeavoured to seduce them: they lay in wait to deceive, and attempted to deceive them, by walking in craftiness, and handling the word of God deceitfully; and therefore that they might be known, and so shunned and avoided, the apostle points them out, and shows who they are; that they are such who deny that Jesus is the Christ, and do not own neither the Father nor the Son; in doing which he acted the part of a tender Father, a faithful shepherd, and a careful monitor.

These things-- (1-John 2:18-25).
have I written--resumed from 1-John 2:21 and 1-John 2:14.
seduce you--that is, are trying to seduce or lead you into error.

These things have I written, etc. All these words about Anti-Christ; all from 1-John 2:18 to the end of the chapter is to put them on their guard against false teachers.
But the anointing which ye have received. See 1-John 2:20. This anointing is spoken of because it furnishes them a means of guarding against the false teachers and seducers. The passage does not teach a continuous revelation, or that we are to be led by the inner light, but that God has given us means of knowing whether men speak the truth.
Ye need not that any man should teach you. There is another fountain of knowledge so that ye need not the aid of these opposing teachers.
As the same anointing teacheth you all things. The Holy Spirit bestowed upon you. It was the promise of Christ that the Spirit should guide you into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit was thus imparted to the apostles and through them spiritual gifts were imparted everywhere in the early church. Among these gifts were wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, and discerning of spirits. These extraordinary gifts continued until the Holy Spirit had prepared the New Testament to guide the church (1-Corinthians 13:8). Now we have the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit has given us, and the presence of the Spirit with us to fit us for understanding. The word and the unction still "teach us all things."
Abide in him. By continuing in the truth taught of God.
If ye know that he is righteous. A life of righteousness shows that we have the life of Christ, and hence is proof that we have been born of him.

These things - From 1-John 2:21. I have written to you - St. John, according to his custom, begins and ends with the same form, and having finished a kind of parenthesis, 1-John 2:20-26, continues, 1-John 2:27, what he said in 1-John 2:20, concerning them that would seduce you.