1 John 2:19 - They went out from us?
Does 1 John 2:19 have conditions?
1 John 2:19: "THEY-WENT-OUT FROM US, but they-were not of US. For if they-had-been of US, they-would-have-remained with US. But (they went out) in-order-that they-may-be-made-evident that they-are all not of US."
They went out from "us":
John wrote: "THEY-WENT-OUT FROM US, but they-were not of US. For if they-had-been of US, they-would-have-remained with US. But (they went out) in-order-that they-may-be-made-evident that they-are all not of US" (1 John 2:19).
In the 1st chapter of 1 John, John wrote: "so-that YOU also may-have fellowship with US" (1 John 1:3), "US" being the apostles including John, in contrast with "YOU" being John's audience.
In the 2nd chapter of 1 John, John wrote regarding "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18) that "THEY-WENT-OUT FROM US" (1 John 2:19), that is, from the apostles including John, and were now "deceiving YOU" (1 John 2:26), that is, John's audience.
A similar wording can be found in Acts when "the apostles and the elders" (Acts 15:23) heard "that some HAVING-GONE-OUT FROM US disturbed YOU (with) words, unsettling your souls — (to) whom we-did not give-orders" (Acts 15:24). The issue here was that those who WENT OUT were not given orders.
They "went out":
Indeed, people who "WENT-OUT" would not have been an issue by itself, as long as they would be given orders to be sent, as for example, John also wrote in another epistle about some that "THEY-WENT-OUT for the Name, taking nothing from the Gentiles" (3 John 1:7), "(as to) whom you-will-do well having-sent(-them)-forward worthily (of) God" (3 John 1:6).
The issue would have been that these people would not have remained with the apostles in order to first be given orders to be sent by them before GOING OUT FROM them, and now they were deceiving John's audience.
Many antichrists?
These "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18) could have been the same false prophets that John described later. False prophets are also not given orders to be sent by the LORD. John actually used only one other time in 1 John the Greek word for "THEY-WENT-OUT" (1 John 2:19) two chapters later, warning that "many false-prophets HAVE-GONE-OUT into the world" (1 John 4:1). John even added 2 verses later that these would have been antichrists, as he added: "every spirit that is not confessing Jesus Christ has-come in (the) flesh is not out-of God. And this is the (spirit of) the Antichrist — which, you-have-heard that is-coming, and now is already in the world" (1 John 4:3). Thus John warned his audience that "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18) in chapter 2 and "many false-prophets" (1 John 4:1) described as antichrists in chapter 4 would have been described as GOING OUT, but without describing that they would have been given orders to be sent first.
The fact that the "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18) would not have remained in order to first be given orders to be sent by the apostles before GOING OUT FROM them would have made evident that these would not be of the apostles.
As a consequence, John's audience would not have to hear what these people would say. Instead, John would have exhorted them 5 verses later to "Let what you-heard from (the) beginning be-abiding in YOU. If what you-heard from (the) beginning abides in YOU, YOU also will-abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which He promised (to) us: eternal life. I-wrote these (things to) you concerning the (ones) deceiving YOU" (1 John 2:24-26).
Tense:
We also need to notice that John wrote that "THEY-WENT-OUT FROM US, but they-were not of US" (1 John 2:19). John wrote that at that very point in time, these people were not of them. John did not indicate that these people could have never been of them in the past, but simply that at that very point in time they were not of them. So these people WENT OUT FROM them at that point in time, but they were not of them at that point in time.
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