What Does It Mean That “They Went Out from Us, But They Were Not of Us”?

Who are the people who departed from the church in 1 John 2:19? Is the Apostle John writing about Christians who abandoned their faith? Today, Matthew Dudreck provides insight into this passage.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM:  I’m joined by the associate professor of New Testament at Reformation Bible College, Dr. Matthew Dudreck. Dr. Dudreck, what does John mean when he says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us”?

DR. MATTHEW DUDRECK: Well, here John, I think, clearly is talking about that there’s a distinction in the visible church community between those who are truly united to Christ through faith and those who are part of the body but really merely only externally part of the body—that there is a real distinction between the invisible and the visible church.

And in this context, John was speaking about that there are antichrists, that many antichrists have come, that they have denied the reality and the truth about who Jesus is. And because of that reason, they have parted fellowship with John’s church communities. And they have, in a sense, perhaps set up their own communities on a different basis of understanding of who Jesus was.

And what John is helping his readers understand is that they went out from us, they departed from us, because they deny the gospel, the good news about who Jesus is. And that, because even though they are among us for a certain time, they were never truly part of the invisible church, that which is truly united to Christ through faith. But merely they were external participants, enjoyments of perhaps the external life of the church, even perhaps some of its benefits and blessings, but not in a redemptive or salvific way. And so, because they were not part of Christ at all to begin with, they’ve made that clear in their denial of who He is and breaking their fellowship with them.