Jesus was the subject of the greatest lie

JESUS WAS THE SUBJECT OF THE GREATEST LIE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 John 2:22 22Whois the liar? It is whoever denies
that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the
antichrist-denyingthe Father and the Son.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Unction From The Holy One
1 John 2:20, 27
W. Jones
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things But the
anointing which ye have received, etc.
I. THE NATURE OF THIS BLESSING. "Ye have an anointing from the Holy
One." The "unction," or "anointing," does not signify the actof anointing,
but the material which is used in the anointing - the oil, or ointment, or
unguent. Here it denotes the Holy Spirit, whom the Christians to whom St.
John was writing had received. Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed,
and Christians are spokenof in the New Testamentas "kings and priests"
(Revelation1:6); but we cannot see in our text any reference to either of these
aspects ofChristian characterand life. The apostle is rather contrasting his
readers, who had receivedthe anointing from the Holy One, with the
antichrists, who were opposedto the Anointed. As Alford expresses it, "The

apostle sets his readers, as χριστούς, anointedof God, over againstthe
ἀντίχριστοι." Theypossessedthe Holy Spirit. He was within them as their
Teacher, Comforter, Sanctifier. This blessing is of unspeakable and
inestimable worth.
II. THE SOURCE OF THIS BLESSING. "Ye have an anointing from the
Holy One;" i.e., Jesus Christ. In verse 1 St. John speaks ofhim as "the
Righteous." In 1 John 3:3 he says that "he is pure." St. Petersaid to him, "We
know that thou art the Holy One of God" (John 6:69). And he afterwards
spake of him as "the Holy and Righteous One" (Acts 3:14). And he spake of
himself to "his servant John" as "he that is holy, he that is true" (Revelation
3:7). He baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33). He sends the Holy Spirit
(John 15:26). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecostis
ascribedto him (Acts 2:33). Therefore we conclude that he, our Lord and
Saviour, is the Holy One from whom Christians receive the anointing; i.e., the
Holy Spirit.
III. THE EFFECT OF THIS BLESSING. "Ye know all things And ye need
not that any one teachyou." The "allthings" calmer, of course, meanall
things in science andart, in history and philosophy. An examination of the
context will lead us to the true meaning. In verse 20 St. John says, "Ye know
all things;" in verse 21 and the next sentence he says, "Ye know the truth;"
and in the following verse and the next sentence he shows whatthe truth of
which he had spokenis, viz. "that Jesus is the Christ." By the "all things,"
then, the apostle means "the truth... that Jesus is the Christ." All things in the
Christian system are comprisedin that one greatfact. "He who knows this
one thing," says Ebrard, "that Jesus is the Christ, knows alreadyin that one
thing all; there is no most distant height or depth of truth which is not
containedor involved in that simple proposition." This interpretation includes
other interpretations which are not so clearly drawn from the context; e.g.,
Alford, "All things needful for right actionin the matter under
consideration;" Barnes, "All things which it is essentialthat you should know
on the subject of religion;" and others, "All things necessaryto salvation."
These and others are comprised in the knowledge "thatJesus is the Christ."
This knowledge they attained by means of "an unction from the Holy One."
We do not understand that the Holy Spirit had communicated unto them new

truths, or directly revealedany truth to them. But by reasonof his influence
they saw the truths which they had received, more clearly, and graspedthem
more firmly. This is well illustrated by Dr. Chalmers: The Spirit "does not tell
us anything that is out of the record; but all that is within it he sends home
with clearness andeffectupon the mind. When a telescope is directed to some
distant landscape, it enables us to see what we could not otherwise have seen;
but it does not enable us to see anything which has not a real existence in the
prospectbefore us. The natural eye saw nothing but blue land stretching
along the distant horizon. By the aid of the glass there bursts upon it a
charming variety of fields, and woods, and spires, and villages. Yet who would
say that the glass added one feature to this assemblage?And so of the Spirit.
He does not add a single truth or a single characterto the book of revelation.
He enables the spiritual man to see what the natural man cannot see;but the
spectacle whichhe lays open is uniform and immutable. It is the Word of God
which is everthe same." So the Holy Spirit had brought into clearand
impressive light the things which they to whom this letter is addressedhad
learned from the sacredScriptures and from St. John and other Christian
teachers, andhad enabled them to realize their importance and power. And as
a matter of fact, in our own day we see persons whose educationaladvantages
have been of the slightest, whose powers andopportunities for study have
been must limited, who yet have a clearand comprehensive acquaintance with
the essentialtruths of the gospelof Jesus Christ. And the reasonof this is, they
"have an anointing from the Holy One," they are enlightened by the Holy
Spirit (cf. John 14:26;John 16:13, 14; 1 Corinthians 2:13-16). But St. John
writes further, "Ye need not that any one teachyou" - a statementon which
Alford remarks, "His assertions here are so many delicate exhortations, veiled
under the declarationof their true ideal state of unction with the Holy Spirit
who guides into all truth. If that unction were abiding in them in all its
fullness, they would have no need for his or any other teaching." The
reference is to their knowledge ofthe greatcomprehensive truth "that Jesus is
the Christ." They were not dependent upon any one for teaching concerning
this vital and fundamental fact. But generallyspeaking, "the Divine unction
does not supersede ministerial teaching, but surmounts it."

IV. THE OBLIGATION OF THIS BLESSING. More fully stated this is the
obligation which is inseparable from the possessionof this anointing from the
Holy One. "Abide in him," i.e., in Christ, as the context clearlyshows. The
person spokenof in verses 27 and 28 is evidently the Lord Jesus. The
exhortation to abide in him is basedon the assurance thatthe anointing which
they had receivedabode in them (verse 27). The "in him" must not be toned
down to his doctrine, or his system, or anything of that kind. "In him" by the
exercise ofthe faith of the heart, by the attachment of holy love, by intimate
and reverent communion with him, and by participation in his life and spirit.
Thus are we to abide in him (cf. John 15:4-7). From our subject we learn:
1. That the illumination of the Holy Spirit is indispensable to a clearand
correctapprehensionof the greattruths of Christianity. "Words and
syllables," says Cudworth, "which are but dead things, cannotpossibly
convey the living notions of heavenly truths to us. The secretmysteries of a
Divine life, of a new nature, of Christ formed in our hearts, they cannotbe
written or spoken;language and expressions cannotreachthem; neither can
they be ever truly understood, exceptthe soul itself be kindled from within,
and awakenedinto the life of them" (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:10-12).
2. That the "anointing from the Holy One" - the influence and presence ofthe
Holy Spirit within us - is a preservative againstthe seductions of error. "If
that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the
Son, and in the Father.... but the anointing which ye receivedof him abideth
in you," etc.
3. That the possessionofthis Divine preservative is not an encouragementto
presumption, but a reasonfor perseverance.Becausethe anointing which they
receivedof Christ abode in them, St. John exhorts his readers to "abide in
him." - W.J.

Biblical Illustrator
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye
know it
1 John 2:21-24
Knowledge favourable to further teaching
James Morgan, D. D.
I. WHY THE APOSTLE HAD WRITTEN (ver. 21). It does not follow that he
would not have written to those who were either ignorant of the truth or
opposedto it. To every sinner he would address the gospelof salvation, and
entreat him to become a possessorofits benefits. Indeed, he did so in other
writings. On the present occasion, however, he wrote to them that knew the
truth. He had specialreasons forwriting to them particularly. No doubt one
reasonwas the extreme jealousyof the apostle lestany of those who knew the
truth should actinconsistently with it. In another epistle he discovers the
spirit that animated him in this respect(2 John 4) How it must have distressed
him to have found some not walking in the truth. He therefore wrote to
instruct, and warn, and encourage them that they might walk worthy of their
high vocation. Nor canit be supposedthis was not needed. In the most
enlightened there is still much ignorance. In the most determined there is still
irresolution. In the most devoted there is still deficiency. But his greatreason
appears to have been his hope of successin writing to such. He declaredthe

truth to them, encouragedby the belief that there would be found in them a
readiness of mind to receive it. In this assumption of the apostle there is a
practicallessonof greatvalue. We are taught that the acceptanceorrejection
of the truth is chiefly dependent on the disposition of the heart towards it. It is
the perversity of the will that often blinds the understanding. Let that be
rightly disposed, and we are apt to see clearly.
II. WHAT, THEN, DID HE WRITE? The reply is in the next two verses. It is
observable that, in treating of truth and error, the whole subject of the apostle
is concerning Jesus Christ. He assumes that if our views of Him are correct, so
will be our apprehensionof the whole circle of truth. He therefore goes largely
into the subject. He presents the Saviour in various views of supreme
importance, in which it is vital to true godliness that we shall perceive the
truth and not fall into error.
1. The first is adverted to in the opening of verse 22. "Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" No doubt the generalsentiment here is the
rejectionof the claims of Jesus Christto be the Messiahpromisedin the
scriptures of the Old Testament. This was the sin of the Jewishnation. He was
the light, but they could not see it, because their eyes were blinded. This view,
however, does not express the full doctrine of the apostle. To receive or reject
Jesus as the Christ has respectto all His offices, and consequently to all the
blessings which we may obtain or forfeit by embracing or refusing Him in
them.
2. In the same verse the apostle gives another description, and says, "He is
antichrist that denies the Father and the Son." This cannot mean a denial of
the existence ofthe Fatherand the Sonas two distinct beings, the one dwelling
in heaven, and the other upon the earth. The reference is manifestly to some
union betweenthem which some might be disposedor tempted to deny. It is
that in which Christ is calledGod's "ownSon," His "only-begottenand well-
beloved Son." In this relation the Son is the equal of the Father. Let us give
Him the glory that is due by hearkening to His invitation, "Look unto Me and
be saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and beside Me there is no
Saviour."

3. The apostle gives one other view of antichrist in verse 23, "Whosoever
denieth the Son," etc. There are two deeply important sentiments in these
words, which canonly he noticed. The one is that no one can have just views
of God unless He is known as He is revealedin the Son(Matthew 11:27). The
other sentiment is the result of the first. He only who knows God in His Son
can have fellowshipwith Him.
III. This will more fully appear while we notice THE OBJECT OF THE
APOSTLE IN WRITING AS HE HAD DONE. It is expressedin the 24th
verse. The three terms, "abide," "remain," "continue," are the same in the
original. The repetition is sufficient to show the extreme importance attached
to the thought by the apostle. What, then, is it? It is suggestedby a phrase
which he uses againand againthroughout the epistle, "The truth is not in us."
In order that the truth may have its due effect, it must be in us, not as a
speculationin the head, but a mighty practicalprinciple in the heart. It must
he in us as food is in the man whom it nourishes. But it is not merely the truth,
as a system, that must thus dwell in us. It is as the casketthatcontains the
jewel;and that jewelis Christ.
(James Morgan, D. D.)
The guileless spirit
R. S. Candlish, D. D.
I. HOW IS A DENIAL THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST EQUIVALENT TO A
DENIAL OF THE SON?
1. The official designation, Christ, or Messiah, orAnointed, marks not only a
certain relation to the JewishScriptures, but also and still more a certain
relation to God, whose Christ He is.
2. As the SonHe stands in a distinct and definite relation to the Father. He
must be owned in that relation if He is to be owned at all; otherwise He is to
all intents and purposes denied.

II. HOW IS IT THAT TO DENY THE SON IS TO DENY THE FATHER, so
that "whosoeverdenieth the Son the same hath not the Father; but he that
acknowledgeththe Sonhath the Fatheralso"?
1. In the exercise ofHis absolute sovereigntyGod is entitled to say upon what
terms and in what way any of His creatures shalthave Him, that is, as theirs;
have Him so as to have an interest in Him, and a bond of union with Him. He
may setforth anyone He pleases,and say, If you deny Him you cannothave
Me. In this case, however, He sets forth His Son, and therefore the
appointment must be allowedto be in the highest degree reasonableand fair.
The disowning of the Son cannot but be an offence to the Father;deeply
wounding and grieving His heart.
2. "But he that acknowledgeththe Sonhath the Fatheralso." He hath the
Father; how surely, how fully, may partly appear, if we consider, not only
what Jesus is to us, as our anointed Saviour, but also what He is to the Father
as His beloved Son. All through His humiliation, how has He the Father? The
Father's love He has; His love of boundless complacency, approval, delight.
He has the Father's gracious presencewith Him always. So He, as the Son,
had the Father when He was as you are. So he would have you, acknowledging
Him, to have the Father also. He shows you what it is to have the Father in the
state in which you now are; amid the trials of earth, the enmity of the world,
the very pains of hell. He shows you how even here you can have the Father
as, in a work and warfare infinitely harder than yours, He had the Father;
how you, in all your trial and tribulation, can restin the consciousnessofthe
Father's favour; and rejoice in the doing of the Father's will; and resign
yourself contentedly to the Father's disposal.
(R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
Deniers of Christ
J. T. Demarest, D. D.

1. Those who deny His eternalexistence and Godhead, and the union of the
Divine and human natures in His one person.
2. Those who deny the reality of His human nature.
3. Those who deny Him as Priest, and rejectas irrational His expiatory
sacrifice.
4. Those who deny Him as King and Judge, who scoffat His personaladvent
and reign on earth (2 Peter3), or who ridicule His solemnwarnings as to the
punishment of the wicked.
(J. T. Demarest, D. D.)
Antichrist
D. Thomas, D. D.
We have here two subjects of thought.
I. The greatestBEINGS in the universe.
1. The "Father." Who is He? The cause, the means, the end of all things in the
universe but sin.
2. The "Son." Who is the Son? His express Image, His Divine Equal, the one
grand object of His love. Before these two Beings, allsystems, all hierarchies,
all potentates, kingdoms, principalities, are less than a spark to the sun, a
drop to the ocean. Another subject of thought is —
II. The greatestCRIME in the universe. What is it?
1. PracticalAnti-theism. "Denieththe Father." Millions confess the Father,
who practically deny Him.
2. Practicalanti-Christism. "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ?" Practically, to deny Christ as the true Messiah, to live as if He never
existed, is anti-theism in another form. This is the crime of crimes. Living as if
no God the Father, no Christ the Sonever existed.CONCLUSION.

1. Antichrist is confined to no one Church.
2. Antichrist embraces all sin. Every man that does not love the Father
supremely, and acceptthe Son lovingly and loyally, is Antichrist.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Son and the Father
R. W. Dale, D. D.
These Words strike at the root of a prevailing error. They warn us of the peril
which we run by disparaging any of the centraltruths of the Christian Gospel
— the loss which we incur if we surrender them. Deny that Christ is the
eternal Sonof God, and we lose hold of God Himself as our Father. Before
looking at this startling sentence a little more closely, it is worth while to
considerthe factthat only where the Divine Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ
has been believed, have men thought of God with the joy and trust of children.
We may dismiss the greatpaganreligions. But take the two greatmonotheistic
religions — Judaism and Mohammedanism — and compare them with the
Christian faith. Judaism, of course, knew nothing of the incarnation. There
are certainelements in the Jewishfaith which, as we see, preparedthe life of
the race for this consummate glory; but that God could ever actually become
man could hardly, even in moments of clearestvision, have been made real to
Jewishprophets or saints. And hence, wonderful and varied as is the religious
life expressedin the Psalms and prophecies, it is not a religious life which has
its roots in the belief that God is in any true and deep sense the Fatherof men.
Take Mohammedanism;this greatfaith which still exerts authority over a
hundred or a hundred and fifty millions of men, and which still appears to
have the powerto inspire that heroic courage which a thousand years ago
made the Saracensmasters ofsome of the fairest regions of Europe, Africa,
and Asia — Mohammedanism denies the Incarnation, and therefore denies
the eternalSonship of Christ, and affirms the perfectsimplicity of the Divine
nature. As I have said, it is a greatfaith. It exalts the majesty of God; God is
supreme; His will is irresistible; neither earth nor hell can stay His hand. The

God of Mohammedanism is a God to fear; a God to obey; a God to live for; a
God to die for; but He is not a Father; and the devout Mohammedan is a
servant of God — a slave, not a child. And in the history of the Christian
Church I find that whereverfaith in the Divine Sonship of Christ declines,
there soondeclines with it, as a rule, the joy and exultation that come from the
vision of the infinite love of God, and from the consciousnessofour own
kinship with Him. A flowerseveredfrom its root will retain its colourand its
perfume for a time; but it must perish sooneror later. A real faith in the
Divine Fatherhoodmay survive for a time after faith in the Divine Sonship of
Christ has died; but sooneror later, whosoeverdenieth the San, discovers that
in losing the Son he has lost the Father also. We may find fresh light on this
subject if we look at the words which immediately precede the text — words
which carry us back to speculations about the Lord Jesus Christ which have
long vanished. Among the earliestforms of heresy was one which maintained
that Jesus — Jesus, the son of Mary — was a man and nothing more; but that
before His public ministry began, a greatand mighty emanation from the
Eternal descendedupon Him. This emanation was called"The Christ." It was
in the powerof the Divine Christ, according to this theory, that Jesus did all
His wonderful works;and it was the illumination of the Divine Christ that
enabled Him to speak all His wonderful words. "The Christ" took possession
of Jesus when Jesus had reachedmanhood; but Jesus Himself, according to
this doctrine, was not Divine. "Who is the liar?" asks John, "but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" — that is who, being askedto confess it,
refuses. Johnmeant by a liar a man whose whole conceptionof God, and the
world, and the human race was false;whose whole theory of life therefore
restedon a false foundation, was rooted in falsehood. It was not merely the
man's words that were untrue to his thought, but his thought was untrue to
the fact, did not correspondto the reality of things. The falsehoodwas a grave
one. It did not touch the mere details of the order of the world, but the
fundamental relations of man and of the whole world to God. The heresy
which denied that Jesus was the Christ was therefore fatal to all truth. The
ancient Gnostic heresyhas passedaway, but the false conceptionofGod and
the world, which was the root of it, still survives. The distance betweenthe
Eternal and man seems so immense that it seems impossible that the Eternal
Son of God ever became man, and that He remains man. In other words,

human unbelief severs the human from the Divine. But when once we
recognise in Christ the Divine glory, we see that God, instead of being remote
from us, is near, that the greatglories of the Divine nature are not
onmipotence and omniscience, but righteousness,love, pity, grace. These
glories we may share with the Eternal. In our own moral freedom we discover
that which corresponds to the Divine sovereigntyover nature; in our moral
perfection that which may be the expressionof the ethical life of God. We
listen to Christ, we watchHim, we discoverthat He is God, and yet Son of
God. He was eternally with the Father;He has come to share the conditions of
our earthly life. This is a new discoveryconcerning God Himself, and not
merely concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a discoverythat God has
always been the Father; that the Eternal Son, sharing His life, sharing His
glory, is eternally one with Him, and yet eternally separate from Him, and has
eternally rejoicedin His love. This EternalSon has sharedour life that we
may share His life, and might be really and truly sons of God. For this we
were made, and only as this is achievedin us do we fulfil the thought and
purpose of God. And now, dismissing these high discussions, andreturning to
the practicalaspects ofthis subject, let me saysomething to those of you who,
while you speak of the Divine Fatherhood, are very conscious,whenyou come
to think of it, and to deal with yourselves fairly, that it gives you little peace,
little courage, little joy, little power;that it is no greatrestraint on sin, no
powerful support to righteousness;that it is a thing to argue about rather
than to live upon. You do not exactlydeny — but the Sonship of Christ, His
eternal Sonship, is not real to you; the wonderand the glory of it do not
possessand awe you. Is that the reasonyou have never entered fully into the
consciousnessofsonship? Try to dwell on the greatfact that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the eternalWord, the eternal Sonof God, became flesh. Remember
that through sixty Christian generations that truth, with the correlative
truths, has been the substance of the very life of Christian people; that in the
powerof it they have trusted God, and have done the will of God.
(R. W. Dale, D. D.)
Whosoeverdenieth the Son, the same hath not the Father

The antagonismbetweentruth and falsehood
J. J. Lias, M. A.
I. ALL ERROR IS DEADLY.
1. It were a ludicrous absurdity to say that a wrong faith can save a man.
Either, then, a right faith is necessary, orno faith at all is (John 3:15, 16; John
6:40; John 11:25, etc.; Acts 20:21; Romans 1:17; Romans 3:30; Galatians 5:6;
2 Thessalonians 2:13;Hebrews 11:6).
2. A wrong faith must necessarilyproduce a wrong practice. We may see this
in the affairs of this world.
3. Tendencies do not always produce their full results. A wrong faith on some
points has been in some degree compensatedfor by a right faith on others.
4. It is a matter of importance to believe the truth. All the misery and distress
in the world is due to wrong beliefs.
5. How is a right faith to be attained? In answerto this we must
(a)dismiss the idea that any man, while in the flesh, can possibly attain to
infallible certainty on all points whatsoever. For
(b)our condition here is progressive.
II. ALL ERROR IS BASED UPON THE DENIAL THAT JESUS IS THE
CHRIST.
1. Revelationis necessary. Forotherwise we do not know
(1)whether there be a God,
(2)whether man is immortal or not,
(3)in what the foundation of morals consists.
2. The only revelation is that made by Jesus Christ.

3. The essentialfeature of revelationis that it was made by one Anointed, i.e.,
commissionedto declare God's will. Thus we are forbidden, on any point on
which God's will is clearlydeclared, to question it.
4. How, then, do unbelievers in Christ lead moral and admirable lives? They
can do so only so far as they believe what Christ tells them.
5. Continuance in the Son and in the Father the only possible means of
salvation. The denial of this truth leads directly to the destruction of all moral
principle whatever. The moral lives of unbelievers are due to their acceptance
of the moral principles of their age. These moralprinciples are Christian
principles. But Christian moral law without its Lawgiveris a superstructure
without a foundation. Thus continuance in the Sonand in the Father is the
only means whereby(1) error, the source ofall evil, can be gradually dispelled,
and(2) truth, the source of all holiness and goodness, enabledto take full
possessionofthe heart.
(J. J. Lias, M. A.)
Our estimate of Christ the measure of God's estimate of us
I have seena perfect strangerheartily welcomedin an English home and
treated with a deference, a tenderness, and a generous hospitality that did one
goodto witness, and I understood it all when informed that that stranger,
though never seenbefore, had at one time shownkindness to a wandering,
long-absentson in a certain town in the distant Australias. The parents
governedtheir estimate of the strangerby this kindly treatment of their boy.
And does not our Heavenly Fatherto some extent deal similarly with us? He
views and estimates us according to our treatment of His beloved Son. If our
estimate of Jesus is vague, or erroneous, orwilfully depreciatory, we suffer to
that extent in the Divine estimation.
COMMENTARIES

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:18-23 Every man is an antichrist, who denies the Person, orany of the
offices of Christ; and in denying the Son, he denies the Fatheralso, and has no
part in his favour while he rejects his greatsalvation. Let this prophecy that
seducers would rise in the Christian world, keepus from being seduced. The
church knows not well who are its true members, and who are not, but thus
true Christians were proved, and rendered more watchful and humble. True
Christians are anointed ones; their names expresses this:they are anointed
with grace, with gifts and spiritual privileges, by the Holy Spirit of grace. The
greatand most hurtful lies that the father of lies spreads in the world, usually
are falsehoods anderrors relating to the person of Christ. The unction from
the Holy One, alone can keepus from delusions. While we judge favourably of
all who trust in Christ as the Divine Saviour, and obey his word, and seek to
live in union with them, let us pity and pray for those who deny the Godhead
of Christ, or his atonement, and the new-creating work of the Holy Ghost. Let
us protest againstsuch antichristian doctrine, and keepfrom them as much as
we may.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Who is a liar - That is, who is false;who maintains an erroneous doctrine;
who is an impostor, if he is not? The objectof the apostle is to specify one of
the prevailing forms of error, and to show that, howeverplausible the
arguments might be by which it was defended, it was impossible that it should
be true. Their own knowledge ofthe nature of religion must convince them at
once that this opinion was false.
That denieth that Jesus is the Christ - It would seemthat the apostle referred
to a class who admitted that Jesus lived, but who denied that he was the true
Messiah. Onwhat grounds they did this is unknown; but to maintain this was,
of course, the same as to maintain that he was an impostor. The ground taken
may have been that he had not the characteristicsascribedto the Messiahin
the prophets; or that he did not furnish evidence that he was sentfrom God;
or that he was an enthusiast. Or perhaps some specialform of error may be

referred to, like that which is said to have been held by Corinthus, who in his
doctrine separatedJesus from Christ, maintaining them to be two distinct
persons. - "Doddridge."
He is antichrist - (See the notes at 1 John 2:18). He has all the characteristics
and attributes of antichrist; or, a doctrine which practicallyinvolves the
denial of both the Father and the Son, must be that of antichrist.
That denieth the Father and the Son - That denies the specialtruths
pertaining to God the Father, and to the Son of God. The charge here is not
that they entertained incorrectviews of God "as such" - as almighty, eternal,
most wise, and good; but that they denied the doctrines which religion taught
respecting God as Fatherand Son. Their opinions tended to a denial of what
was revealedrespecting Godas a Father - not in the generalsense ofbeing the
"Father" of the universe, but in the particular sense ofhis relation to the Son.
It cannot be supposed that they denied the existence and perfections of God as
such, nor that they denied that Godis a "Father" in the relation which he
sustains to the universe; but the meaning must be that what they held went to
a practicaldenial of that which is specialto the true God, consideredas
sustaining the relation of a Father to his SonJesus Christ. Correctviews of
the Fathercould not be held without correctviews of the Son; correctviews of
the Soncould not be held without correctviews of the Father. The doctrines
respecting the Father and the Son were so connectedthat one could not be
held without holding the other, and one could not be denied without denying
the other. Compare the Matthew 11:27 note; John 5:23 note. No man can have
just views of God the Fatherwho has not right apprehensions of the Son. As a
matter of fact in the world, people have right apprehensions of God only when
they have correctviews of the characterofthe Lord Jesus Christ.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
22. a liar—Greek, "Who is the liar?" namely, guilty of the lie just mentioned
(1Jo 2:21).
that Jesus is the Christ—the grand central truth.

He is Antichrist—Greek, "the Antichrist"; not howeverhere personal, but in
the abstract;the ideal of Antichrist is "he that denieth the Father and the
Son." To deny the latter is virtually to deny the former. Again, the truth as to
the Sonmust be held in its integrity; to deny that Jesus is the Christ, or that
He is the Son of God, or that He came in the flesh, invalidates the whole (Mt
11:27).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Especiallymay the ill accordbe discerned betweenDivine truth and a lie,
when the lie is so directly levelled againstthe foundations upon which the
whole fabric is built, as the denying Jesus to be the Christ strikes at all. And
though he that doth so, seems not only an
antichrist as directing his opposition but againstChrist, he really as much
denieth the Father, who testifiedof him.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?.... Or that very
Christ, and true Messiah, who was spokenofby all the prophets, since the
beginning of the world, and so much, and so long desired by the Old
Testamentsaints:he that denies that Jesus ofNazarethis the Messiahofthe
prophets, is not indeed the only liar in the world, but he is the greatestofliars;
this is a consummate lie, being opposedto a glaring truth, to a factclearan
indisputable; and which rests not merely on the testimony of Jesus, who is
truth itself, and who, in express words, more than once, declaredand asserted
himself to be the Christ; but all the characters ofthe Messiah, everything that
is said of him in the Prophets, meet in Jesus, and the miracles which were
done by him are flagrant proofs and undeniable evidences of his being the
Christ of God; and all the apostles believed, and were sure that he was Christ,
the Sonof the living God: to which may be added the testimony of John, who
was sent, and came to bear witness of him, and did; and who was a prophet,

and a man of greatprobity and integrity. But there was a greaterwitness than
he; even Godhimself, by a voice from heaven, bore a testimony to him; and
angels, athis incarnation, declaredhim to be the Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord; yea, the devil himself, who is a liar, and the father of ties in other
things, knew and owned Jesus to be the Christ; so that those that deny him
are the worstof liars, even worse than the devil himself. This may have regard
not only to the Jews, that deny Jesus to be the Messiah, but chiefly to such
who went by the name of Christians; who denied either his proper deity, or
real humanity, as Ebion and Cerinthus, which was denying him to be the God-
man, the Mediator, and Messiah;and is true of all such that deny him in any
of his offices, orin things relating to them, as his Gospel, and any of the
peculiar doctrines of it, delivered by him, and so deny his prophetic office;or
any of his ordinances, institutions, and appointments, as lawgiverin his house,
and King of saints, and so deny him in his kingly office; or rejecthim as the
alone Saviour, joining their ownworks with him, in the business of salvation,
and oppose his sacrifice and satisfaction, anddespise his imputed
righteousness, andso deny him in his priestly office. Now these are some of
the liars, and these some of the doctrinal lies, which are not of the truth, as in
1Jo_2:21.
He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son: that denies the Father of
Christ to be the Creatorof the world, but asserts thatit was made by angels,
as some ancient heretics did; or that the Fatherof Christ is not the God of the
Old Testament, as Marcion;or that denies that God is the Fatherof Christ,
and that Christ is the Son of God; who will not allow that there is any such
relation in nature betweenthem; who affirm that Christ is only the Son of
God by adoption, or because ofhis love to him, or because ofhis incarnation
and resurrectionfrom the dead; or that he is not his true and proper Son,
only in a figurative and metaphorical sense;that he is not the natural and
eternally begottenSon of God, only by office, and as Mediator, and that God
is only his Father, as having installed him into an office;or he that denies that
these two are distinct from eachother, but affirms that Father is the Son, and
the Sonis the Father, and so confounds them both, and, by confounding both,
denies that there are either Father or Son; and all such persons are
antichrists, or opposers ofChrist.

Geneva Study Bible
{23} Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the {r} Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
(23) He shows now plainly the false doctrine of the antichrist's, that is, that
either they fight againstthe personof Christ, or his office, or both together
and at once. They who do so, boastand brag of God in vain, for in denying the
Son, the Father also is denied.
(r) Is the true Messiah.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 John 2:22-23. The existence of the antichrists and their relationship to the
Christian Church having been previously stated, there follows now the more
particular definition of the antichristian lie.
τίς ἐστιν ὁ ψεύστης;] The interrogative form, with which John addresses his
readers who know the truth, is explained by the vividness of the feeling with
which the apostle is writing; similarly in chap. 1 John 5:5. He passes fromthe
abstract(πᾶν ψεῦδος)directly to the concrete (ψεύστης). The definite article:
ὁ ψεύστης (Luther incorrectly: a liar), brings out the idea in clearer
distinctness:the liar κατʼ ἐξοχήν, i.e. he in whom the lie appears in concrete
personality (so also Braune), identical with ὁ ἀντίχριστος, whichis denied by
Jachmann through mistake of John’s idea. The thought is weakenedby the
supposition that the apostle is speaking here comparatively (Grotius: quis
potestmajor esse impostor?). Noris Bengel’s interpretation satisfactory:quis
estillius mendacii imposturaeque reus? with which Düsterdieck agrees, when
he paraphrases:“Whatsort of a lie I mean, ye know very well. Who are the
liars? Are they not those who deny, etc.?” The apostle certainly has the
particular lie of the antichrists of his time in view, but this he regards as the
one chief and fundamental lie “in which all ψεῦδος is comprised” (Lücke).
The explanation of Baumgarten-Crusius is plainly quite erroneous:“whatelse

is a false doctrine than, etc.?” noris that of Ebrard less so, as he finds in this
catechetical(!) question intended for children this meaning: “on whose side is
the lie?” with which he then supplies the corresponding question: “and on
whose side is the truth?”
εἰ μὴ ὁ ἀρνούμενος] εἰ μή, often after a negation, may also stand after a
question, as in this a negationis contained; comp. Luke 17:18; Romans 11:15;
1 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 2:2; 1 John 5:5; it corresponds to the
German: “als nur” (English: “but only,” “except”), and limits the general
thought to a particular one; the sense accordinglyis: No other is the liar but
he who, etc. According to Ebrard, εἰ μή must here only have the meaning of
“than,” because the question here is, which of the two dogmaticaltendencies
(!) belongs to the lie; that the apostle here has in view two parties, namely, the
antichrists and the believing Christians, and asks which of them is in
possessionofthe truth, is a pure fiction, for which there is not the slightest
evidence in the text. ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Χριστός] On the constructionof
the negative idea ἀρνεῖσθαι with the following οὐκ, by which the negationis
more strongly emphasized, see Kühner, II. p. 410.
The lie of the Antichrist consists in the denial that Jesus is ὁ Χριστός, i.e. in
the denial of the identity of Jesus and Christ, whereby is meant, according to 1
John 2:19 and chap. 1 John 4:3, not the Jewishunbelief, that Jesus is not the
promised Messiah, but the Gnostic heresy of the distinction betweenJesus and
Christ, which forms the sharpest contradictionto the apostle’s doctrine that
Jesus is the λόγος σὰρξ γενόμενος. It is erroneous to find here a reference to
two different kinds of heresy; on the one hand the denial of the divine, on the
other the denial of the human, nature of Jesus;[171]for John speaks onlyof
one lie.
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος]οὗτος refers back to ὁ ἀρνούμενος:the liar who
denies the identity of Jesus and Christ, he is the Antichrist. It is natural to

take ὁ ψεύστης and ὁ ἀντιχρ. here in generalsignification, and to find therein
a justification for Bengel’s conceptionof John’s idea of Antichrist; but as the
lie of the antichrists proceeds from the πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου, it may be
ascribedto the Antichrist himself; the individual antichrists are the mouth by
which he speaks.
ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱόν] is not to be connectedwith οὗτος, so
that the sense would be: this one, who denies the Fatherand the Son, is the
Antichrist; but as a clause ofmore particular definition subordinate to ὁ
ἀντίχριστος. “Johnhereby adds a new element which states the full unhappy
consequence ofthat Antichristian lie” (Düsterdieck;similarly Braune). The
apostle wants to bring out here that the denial that Jesus is ὁ Χριστός is in its
very essencea denial of the Father and of the Son. He who denies the identity
of Jesus and Christ, directly denies the Son, for the Son is no other than
Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός (neither an Aeon named Christ that did not become man,
nor Jesus who is not Christ, or, according to John 1:14, the Logos);[172]but
he who denies the Son denies also the Father, and not merely inasmuch as Son
and Fatherare logicallyinterchangeable ideas, but because the nature of the
Father is only manifestedin the Son, and all true knowledge ofthe Father is
conditioned by the knowledge ofthe Son, so that the God of those who deny
the Sonis not the true God, but a false image of their own thoughts—an
ΕἼΔΩΛΟΝ.[173]
[171]So Tertullian (de Praescript. c. 33):Joh. in ep. cos maxime antichristos
vocat, qui Christum negarentin carne venisse et qui non putarent Jesum esse
Filium Dei;illud Marcion, hoe Ebion vindicavit. Similarly Besser:“ThatJesus
was not the Christ, the Christ not Jesus. Eitherthe Word that was from the
beginning was separatedfrom this Jesus, orthe flesh was denied to the eternal
Word.” Comp. Introd. sec. 3.

[172]Weiss correctlybrings out the distinction betweenthe ideas Χριστός and
υἱός, when he observes that ὁ Χριστός is a historicalconceptionto the apostle,
and that it is enough for him that that proposition of the false teachers denies
the Messiahshipof Christ, from which all belief in Him must take its starting-
point, in order to arrive at the recognitionthat Jesus is the Son of God, and
thus in the Son to recognisethe Father.
[173]That such commentators as proceedon rationalistic assumptions have
not been able to interpret the thought of the apostle is quite natural. But even
others have got a more or less indistinct view of it by putting, as Düsterdieck
rightly says, “the ideas of John too directly into dogmatic forms (and, indeed,
into those defined by the Church);” or by ignoring the realism of the apostle,
and regarding what he consideredin an objectively real way as a mere
element of the subjective consideration;or, finally, by bringing out one-sided
references insteadof giving the ideas the due force of their entire
comprehension.
Expositor's Greek Testament
1 John 2:22. ψεύστης, cf. n. on 1 John 1:6. The Cerinthian distinction between
Jesus and the Christ was a denial of the possibility of the Incarnation, i.e., of
the filial relationof man to God. οὐκ in dependent clause after ἀρνεῖσθαι is a
common Gk. idiom, not unknown in English; cf. Shakespeare, Comedyof
Errors, iv. ii. 7: “He denied you had in him no right”.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
22. Who is a liar] More accurately, as R.V., Who is the liar: the A.V. here
againfollows the earlierEnglish Versions. But we must beware of
exaggerating the article in interpretation, although it is right to translate it. It
merely marks the passagefrom the abstractto the concrete:‘Every lie is
absolutely alien from the truth. Who then is the one who speaks lies? There
are no liars if he who denies that Jesus is the Christ is not one’. The exactly
parallel constructionin 1 John 5:4-5 shews that ‘the liar’ here does not mean
‘the greatestliarpossible’. Moreover, this would not be true. Is denying that

Jesus is the Christ a greaterlie than denying the existence ofthe Son, or of
God?
The abruptness of the question is startling. Throughout these verses (22–24)
“clause stands by clause in stern solemnity without any connecting particles.”
but he that denieth] These Gnostic teachers, who profess to be in possessionof
the higher truth, are really possessedby one of the worstof lies.—Forthe way
in which the Gnostics denied the fundamental Christian truth of the
Incarnation see the Introduction, p. 19.
He is Antichrist] Better, as R.V., This is the antichrist, or The antichrist is this
man: ‘this’, as in 1 John 2:25 and 1 John 1:5, may be the predicate. The
article before ‘antichrist’, almostcertainly spurious in 1 John 2:18, is
certainly genuine here, 1 John 4:3, and 2 John 1:7. But ‘the antichrist’ here
probably does not mean the greatpersonalrival of Christ, but the
antichristian teacherwho is like him and in this matter acts as his mouth-
piece.
that denieth the Father and the Son] This clause is substituted for ‘that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ’. By this substitution, which is quite in S.
John’s manner, he leads us on to see that to deny the one is to deny the other.
Jesus is the Christ, and the Christ is the Sonof God; therefore to deny that
Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Son. And to deny the Sonis to deny the
Father; not merely because Sonand Fatherare correlatives andmutually
imply one another, but because the Son is the revelation of the Father, without
whom the Father cannotbe known. ‘Neither doth any know the Father, save
the Son, and he to whomsoeverthe Son willeth to revealHim’ (Matthew
11:27). ‘No one comethunto the Fatherbut by Me’ (John 14:6). Comp. John
5:23; John 15:23. Some would put a full stop at ‘antichrist,’ and connectwhat

follows with 1 John 2:23, thus; This is the antichrist. He that denieth the
Father (denieth) the Son also:every one that denieth the Son hath not the
Father either.
Bengel's Gnomen
1 John 2:22. Τίς; who?)Thus, who? ch. 1 John 5:5.—ὁ ψεύστης)ὁ has a force
relative to the abstract, a lie, 1 John 2:21; that is, who is guilty of that lie and
imposture?—ὅτι, that) The chief truth is, that Jesus is the Christ: John 20:31.
In the Acts, Paul continually demonstrated this main point; and in his Epistles
he presupposed it. John often makes mention of this main point in his Gospel,
and in this and the following Epistle. From which it may be inferred that these
books were not written by him altogetherat the close of his life.—ὁ
ἀντίχριστος, antichrist) 1 John 2:18. The truth respecting Jesus, that He is the
Christ, that He is the Son of God and is come in the flesh, must be held in its
integrity. He who denies one part respecting Jesus, does nothold both Him, in
His completeness, and the Father at the same time. The spirit of antichrist,
and antichrist has done and does this.—τὸνΠατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, the Father
and the Son) that is, the Son, and therefore the Father.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 22. - Who is the liar, but he that denieth, etc.? Fromthe lie St. John
passes onto the utterer of it. "Ye readily distinguish any lie from the truth.
Who, then, is the liar?" "The liar" does not mean the liar κατ ἐξοχήν, as if
this denial constituted the very acme of falsehood. To deny the very existence
of God is surely a worse lie. Still less canwe saythat "the context leaves no
doubt that 'the liar' is the same with 'the antichrist.'" The article ὁ ψεύστης
refers to the preceding ψεῦδος, just as in 1 John 5:4, 5 ὁ νικῶν refers to the
preceding νίκη. The very form of sentence is the same:τίς ἐστιν ὁ νικῶν... εἰ
μὴ ὁ κ.τ.λ. and there ὁ νικῶν cannotmean the victor, κατ ἐξοχήν, who is
Christ, and not the believer. So that the Authorized Version is not so very
inaccurate in rendering ὁ ψεύστης "a liar." "Who tells lies, if not he who
denies (and says) that Jesus is not the Christ?" This was the great Gnostic lie
to which St. John's Gospeland Epistle give the answer. The antichrist is this,
he who denieth the Fatherand the Son. "The antichrist" here is not the great

adversary, but one having similar characteristics. He denies the Messiahship
of Jesus, and thus virtually denies both the Father and Son (comp. 2
Thessalonians 2:4). This truth St. John proceeds to restate and develop.
Vincent's Word Studies
A liar (ὁ ψεύστης)
Rev., correctly, "the liar." Fora similar interrogative phrase see 1 John 5:5. It
marks the lively feeling with which the apostle writes. By the definite article,
the liar, the lie is setforth in its concrete personality:the one who
impersonates all that is false, as antichrist represents every form of hostility
and oppositionto Christ. The denial that Jesus is the Christ is the
representative falsehood. He that denies is the representative liar.
He that denieth (ὁ ἀρνούμενος)
The article with the participle denotes the habitual denial. Lit., the one
denying, the one who habitually represents this attitude towards Christ. The
words are aimed at the heresy of Cerinthus, a man of Jewishdecent and
educatedat Alexandria. He denied the miraculous conceptionof Jesus, and
taught that, after His baptism, the Christ descendedupon Him in the form of
a dove, and that He then announced the unknown Fatherand wrought
miracles;but that, towards the end of His ministry, the Christ departed again
from Jesus, and Jesus sufferedand rose from the dead, while the Christ
remained impassible (incapable of suffering) as a spiritual being.
The Father
The title the Father occurs always in its simple form in the Epistle. Never his
or our Father, or the Father in heaven.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES

BRUCEHURT MD
1John2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. (NASB:
Lockman)
Greek:τις εστιν ο ψευστης ει μη ο αρνουμενος οτι ιησους ουκ εστιν ο χριστος
ουτος εστιν ο αντιχριστος ο αρνουμενος τον πατερα και τον υιον
Amplified: Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the
Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonistof Christ), who [habitually]
denies and refuses to acknowledgethe Father and the Son. (Lockman)
Barclay:Who is the liar but the man who denies that Jesus is the Anointed
One of God? Antichrist is he who denies the Father and the Son. (Barclay's
Daily Study Bible).
Berkley(Modern Language):Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies
that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist who denies the Father and the
Son.
ESV: Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the
antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
HCSB: Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah?
This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
NET:Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This
one is the Antichrist: the personwho denies the Father and the Son.
NIV: Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a
man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.
NLT: And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone
who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.

Phillips: And what, I ask you, is the crowning lie? Surely the denial that Jesus
is God's anointed one, his Christ. I say, therefore, that any man who refuses to
acknowledge the Father and the Son is an anti-christ.
TLB: And who is the greatestliar? The one who says that Jesus is not Christ.
Such a person is antichrist, for he does not believe in God the Fatherand in
his Son.
Weymouth: Who is a liar comparedwith him who denies that Jesus is the
Christ? He who disowns the Fatherand the Sonis the anti-Christ.
Wuest: Who is the liar if not the one who is denying that Jesus is the Christ?
This one is the antichrist, the one who is denying the Father and the Son.
Young's Literal: Who is the liar, except he who is denying that Jesus is the
Christ? this one is the antichrist who is denying the Father and the Son;
KJV = Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Who 1Jn 2:4; 1:6; 4:20; John 8:44; Revelation3:9
he that 1Jn 2:23; 4:3; 1 Corinthians 12:2,3;2 John 1:7; Jude 1:4
He is 1Jn2:18
ReciprocalReferences:, Matthew 10:40 - and he that Matthew 16:20 - Jesus
John 8:55 - shall 2 Timothy 2:12 - if we deny 1 John 5:1 - believeth 2 John 1:9
- abideth not Revelation2:2 - thou hastRevelation3:8 - and hast not
Revelation21:8 - and all
THE MARK
OF THE LIAR
Who is the liar - This is a rhetorical question because Johnimmediately gives
a description of the liar.

Steven Cole - The March, 2006, issue ofReader’s Digestfeatures a coverstory
on ten money scams to beware of. It seems that the Internet and other modern
technologies have openedmany doors of opportunity for con artists who are
after your money. To avoid being ripped off you must stay alert. It’s
traumatic when thieves stealyour identity and your money, but there is
something far more traumatic and tragic, namely, when spiritual con artists,
who claim to be Christian, deceive the unsuspecting. The stakes are much
higher than someone’slife savings. The eternal destiny of souls is at risk!
Since the days of the New Testament, Satanhas planted these deceivers in
Christian churches, where they prey on the untaught or on those who are
disgruntled. To avoid spiritual deception, you must develop biblical
discernment and be vigilant at all times. But we live in a day when the whole
idea of spiritual discernment is minimized because spiritual truth is
minimized. The sloganis, “Doctrine divides. Let’s set aside our doctrinal
differences and come togetheron the areas where we agree.”Another popular
mantra is, “Jesussaidthat they will know that we are His disciples by our
love, not by our doctrine.” The implication is, “Setaside your doctrinal views
and acceptanyone who says that he believes in Jesus.” Tolerance, unity, and
love are viewed as much more important than doctrinal truth, which often
smacks ofpride. (Avoiding Spiritual Deception, Part1 - 1John2-18-23)
Vincent on "the liar" - By the definite article ("the"), the liar, the lie is set
forth in its concrete personality:the one who impersonates all that is false, as
antichrist represents every form of hostility and opposition to Christ. The
denial that Jesus is the Christ is the representative falsehood. He that denies is
the representative liar.
Liar (5583)(pseustesfrom pseudomai = to lie) is one who speaks falsehood,
untruth, and so attempts to deceive. Thayeradds that pseustes describes "one
who breaks faith, a false or faithless man."
Webster's 1828 Dictionary - A person who knowingly utters falsehood;one
who declares to another as a fact what he knows to be not true, and with an
intention to deceive him. The uttering of falsehoodby mistake, and without an
intention to deceive, does not constitute one a liar.

Pseustes- 10x in 10v in NAS - John 8:44, 55; Rom 3:4; 1 Tim 1:10; Titus 1:12;
1 John 1:10; 2:4, 22; 4:20; 5:10
Kistemaker- He is not addressing a person who occasionallymisrepresents
the truth, but one who strikes atthe heart of the gospelof Jesus Christ. John
confronts the person who is bent on turning the truth of Jesus' humanity into
a lie. The heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus is perfectGod and perfect
man. In the Athanasian Creedof the fourth century this doctrine is carefully
formulated in articles 30-32:"Forthe right faith is that we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sonof God, is God and man. God of the
substance of the Father, begottenbefore the worlds; and man of the substance
of his mother, born in the world. PerfectGod and perfect man."… (Ibid)
DENIAL THAT
JESUS IS THE CHRIST
But the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? - John identifies "the liar" as
one who denies that Jesus is the long awaited, prophesiedMessiah. Johnhas
alluded to these individuals in 1Jn 1:8, 10, 1Jn 2:6, 1Jn 2:9, but now he
identifies their unsound doctrine, the denial of Jesus as the Christ. Note, that
they this is not simply denial that Jesus was the Messiahaboutwhich the OT
prophesied. They denied that Jesus was Godincarnate, God in the flesh.
David Guzik - In other words, someone could say, “I believe Jesus is the
Christ … as I define “Christ.” But we must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah, as the Bible defines Christ - the Messiah, who is fully God and fully
man; who perfectly revealedGod the Fatherto us. (1 John 2 - David Guzik
Commentary on the Bible)
John Stott - "The antichrists probably taught (as some later Gnostics
certainly taught) that Jesus was born and died a man, and that ‘the Christ’,
by which they meant a divine emanation, was within him only during his
public ministry, descending upon him at his baptism and leaving him before
the cross. Theythus denied that Jesus was oris (estin, 1Jn 2:22) the Christ or
the Son. They made Him a mere man who for a brief period was invested with
divine powers or even adopted into the Godhead, but they denied that the

Man Jesus and the eternalSon were and are the same Person, possessingtwo
perfect natures, Human and Divine. In a word, they denied the incarnation.
John’s black and white contrasts are healthily clear-sighted. Opposing views
are not to him ‘complementary insights’ but ‘truth and error’ (cf. 1Jn 2:21,
27). If we claim to enjoy fellowshipwith God while we walk in darkness, ‘we
lie’ (1Jn 1:6). He who says he knows Godbut disobeys his commands ‘is a
liar’ (pseustēs, 1Jn2:4). So is the person who claims to love God but hates his
brother (1Jn 4:20). But what shall be said of him who denies that Jesus is the
Christ? We must pronounce him ‘the’ liar (ho pseustēs, 1Jn2:22, rv, rsv, neb,
niv), the liar par excellence. Indeed, you cantell that this is the arch-lie,
because he who perpetrates it is none other than the antichrist, not the
personalantichrist who is still to come (see 1Jn2:18), but a living embodiment
of the spirit of antichrist (1Jn 4:3; cf. 2 John 1:7). The heretics’theologyis not
just defective;it is diabolical. The fundamental doctrinal test of the professing
Christian concerns his view of the Personof Jesus. If he is a Unitarian, or a
member of a sectdenying the Deity of Jesus, he is not a Christian. Many
strange cults which have a popular appeal today can be easilyjudged and
quickly repudiated by this test. The extreme seriousnessofthe lie is that a
seconddenial is implicit in the first: he denies the Father and the Son. (Ibid)
Steven Cole - His point is that if you deny cardinal truth about Jesus Christ
and yet claim to know God, you are deceiving yourself. This is not to saythat
a new believer must be able to give preciselycorrecttheologicalstatements
about the trinity or the two natures of Christ in order to be truly saved. But it
is to say that if someone knowinglymakes hereticalstatements aboutChrist
and is not open to correction, his salvationis suspect. Sound doctrine
(hugiaino = "healthy, wholesome"+ didaskalia = what is taught) necessarily
goes along with a genuine personalrelationship with God. Mostheresies go
astraywith regard to the personor work of Jesus Christ. John Calvin pointed
out that since Christ is the sum of the gospel, heretics especiallyaim their
arrows at Him. The only way that we can know the Fatheris through the Son
(John 14:6). These false teachers were denying that Jesus is the Christ (1Jn
2:22). This probably was more than a denial that Jesus was the Old Testament
Messiah. The contexthere, which refers to Jesus as the Son of God and which
closelylinks the Father and the Son, indicates that these false teachers denied

the full deity of Jesus Christ. They denied the incarnation, that God took on
human flesh in the virgin birth of Jesus. Theytaught that “the Christ” came
upon the human Jesus at His baptism and departed at His crucifixion. John
says that they denied both the Fatherand the Son.The modern cults all go
astrayon the person and work of Jesus Christ. They deny His deity and His
substitutionary death on the cross. Theydeny the trinity. Some of them speak
in Gnostic fashion of “the Christ within us all.” By denying the Son of God,
they do not have the Father. In the words of this apostle of love, they are liars,
deceivers, and antichrists. (Avoiding Spiritual Deception, Part1 - 1 John 2:18-
23)
Hiebert - Anyone characterizedby this crucial denial cannot escape justly
being branded as “the liar.” If he is not “the liar,” then no one is. He is the liar
par excellence.He is identified by his characteristic denial, “the one who
denies (present tense = continually) that Jesus is the Christ… It is not a matter
of doubt but of an open refusal to acceptthis basic Christian doctrine. He
openly rejects the apostolic teaching ofthe Incarnation (cf. John 1:14, 18-note;
1John1:1-3-note). It is not merely a Jewishrejectionof Jesus of Nazarethas
the personalMessiah, since Johnidentified Him as “the Son.” It is the denial
that in Jesus of NazarethGod and man are indissolubly united… Docetic
Gnosticismheld that the divine Christ-spirit was too holy to have been united
with human nature. Cerinthian Gnosticismheld that the aeon-Christcame on
the man Jesus atHis baptism and empoweredHis ministry but left Him
before His crucifixion, and only a man died on the cross. (1 John 2:19-24
Exposition)
Subsequent centuries saw frequent attacks onthe nature of Jesus Christ - e.g.,
Arianism (circa 320 AD)
While Muslims acknowledgeJesus, they deny the truth about Him for
according to the Koran (Quran) Jesus did not die on the Cross, but was taken
to heaven, leaving someone to be crucified in His place! See Whatdoes the
Quran sayabout Jesus?
Below is Dr Wayne Grudem's Outline of some of the Heresies Relatedto Jesus
Christ (Note that the outline and lectures correspondto Chapter 26 in his

book Systematic Theology-An Introduction to BiblicalDoctrine, which I
would highly recommend as a reference.
You might also want to listen to Dr Grudem's 3 lectures on the Personof
Christ (about one hour for eachmessage) -it will greatly enhance your
comprehensionof this crucial doctrine…
The Personof Christ: Part 1 - The Humanity of Jesus Christ
The Personof Christ: Part 2 - The Deity of Jesus Christ
The Personof Christ: Part 3 - How Can Jesus Be God and Man in One
Person?
The Incarnation: deity and humanity in the one person of Christ. "Jesus
Christ was fully God and fully Man in one Person, and will be so forever."
(Systematic Theology, page 529)
1. Three inadequate views of the Personof Christ
a. Apollinarianism (Apollinaris of Laodicea became bishop in Laodicea about
A.D. 361)
(1) Christ had a human body only
(2) mind and spirit of Christ were from divine nature
(3) example: meeting “MickeyMouse”atDisney World
(4) Problem: our minds and spirits need salvationtoo! (such a Christ: not
really true man to represent us)
(5) Christ had human mind, spirit: Lk 2:52; Jn 12:27;13:31; Heb 4:15; Heb
5:7, etc.
(6) Rejectedby severalchurch councils (362-381)
b. Nestorianism(Nestorius was a popular preacherat Antioch; after 428:
bishop of Constantinople)

(1) Christ was 2 distinct persons in one body: (a) the human person; (b) the
divine person
(2) Example: circus “horse”
(3) Problem: Gospels show Jesusas “I” not “we” -- never seenas two persons
in Gospels
(4) Nestorius probably never taught the hereticalview that goes by his name
c. Monophysitism (Eutychianism) (Greek monos, “one”, and physis, “nature”)
(Eutyches [378-454]was the leader of a monastery at Constantinople)
(1) Human nature absorbedinto divine nature
(2) Something entirely new resulted (greaterthan human, less than divine)
(3) Example: drop of ink in water
(4) Problem: both humanity and deity are lost!
2. Solution to the controversy:ChalcedonianCreed(451)(Chalcedon:a city
near Constantinople)Affirmed by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant
churches ever since
3. Combining specific texts on Christ’s deity and humanity
a. One nature does some things that the other nature does not do (“the
property of eachnature is preserved” … ChalcedonianCreed)
(1) Jesus’human nature ascendedto heavenand is no longerin the world, but
His divine nature is everywhere present. (John 16:28;17:11;Acts 1:9-11;
Matt. 28:20;John 14:23)
(2) Jesus was 30 years old (Luke 3:23), but also eternally existed (John 1:1-2;
8:58)

(3) Jesus was weak andtired in his human nature (Matt. 4:2; 8:24; Mark
15:21;John 4:6), but his divine nature was omnipotent (Matt. 8:26-27, Col.
1:17; Heb. 1:3)
(4) While Jesus was a sleepin the boat (Matt. 8:24) he was also “continually
carrying along all things by his word of power” (Heb. 1:3).
(5) Jesus’human nature died (Luke 23:46;1 Cor. 15:3), but his divine nature
did not die, but was able to raise himself from the dead (John 2:19; 10:17-18;
Heb. 7:16)
b. To preserve the reality of Jesus’human nature, we must saythat Jesus had
two wills (a human will and a divine will) and two centers of consciousness
(human and divine)
(1) Jesus’human consciousness did not know the time of his return (Mark
13:32), but his divine consciousness knew allthings (John 16:30)
(2) Jesus’human will was tempted (Heb. 4:15) but his divine will could not be
tempted (James 1:13)
4. Anything either nature does, the person of Christ does
Jn 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I am”
Jn 16:28 “I am leaving the world”
Matt 28:20 “I am with you always”
1 Cor. 15:3 “Christ died for our sins”
THE CHALCEDONIAN CREED (451 A.D.)
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teachmen to
confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in
Godheadand also perfect in manhood; truly Godand truly man, of a
reasonable souland body; consubstantial[homoousios--“same nature”]with
the Fatheraccording to the Godhead, and consubstantialwith us according to
the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begottenbefore all ages of
the Fatheraccording to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for

our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Motherof God, according to the
Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be
acknowledgedin two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly,
inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means takenaway by the
union, but rather the property of eachnature being preserved, and
concurring in one Personand one Subsistence, notparted or divided into two
persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, Godthe Word, the
Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared
concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the
Creedof the holy Fathers has handed down to us. (Outline)
See relatedbooklets:
10 Reasons to Believe GodBecame A Man - DiscoverySeries (RBC)
Who is This Man Who Says He is God? - DiscoverySeries (RBC)
Denies (720)(arneomaifrom "a" = negation+ rheo = say)literally means "to
say no", to say one does not know about or is in any way related to some
person. Webstersays that to deny implies a firm refusal to acceptas true or to
acknowledge the existence ofsomething. In short, deny is a strong verb! In
other words, this one is refusing to acceptor acknowledge orconcede the
truth about Jesus Christas fully God and fully Man. John goes onto describe
more details relatedto Jesus…
(1John 4:2-3) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does
not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which
you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
(1John 4:15) Whoeverconfesses thatJesus is the Son of God, God abides in
him, and he in God.
(1John 5:1) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and
whoeverloves the Fatherloves the child born of Him.

Arneomai carries the idea of a conscious,purposeful actionof the will and in
essencemeans to say "no," in the presentcontext to deny that Jesus was fully
God and at the same time fully Man.
John uses the presenttense which denotes the habitual denial. Denies is also in
the middle voice which is reflexive ("reflexive" as relating to, or constituting
an action directed back on the subject as in “he perjured himself”) and
indicates that these individual initiate the action of denying and then
experience participating in results of that action.
Vincent - Literally, the one denying, the one who habitually represents this
attitude towards Christ. The words are aimed at the heresy of Cerinthus, a
man of Jewishdescentand educated at Alexandria. He denied the miraculous
conceptionof Jesus, and taught that, after His baptism, the Christ descended
upon Him in the form of a dove, and that He then announced the unknown
Father and wrought miracles; but that, towards the end of His ministry, the
Christ departed againfrom Jesus, and Jesus sufferedand rose from the dead,
while the Christ remained impassible (incapable of suffering) as a spiritual
being.
Cerinthus lived in the last days of John the and in addition to denying the
deity of Christ, taught other heresies suchas the belief that God did not create
the world. The heresies of Cerinthus can be detectedin the teachings of
Jehovah's Witnesses, ChristianScience, andMormonism. Cerinthus also
propounded a fleshly doctrine of the Millennium, teaching that at His coming
Jesus would introduce 1,000 years ofsensuous pleasure, an absurd statement
which is no where taught in Scripture!
Calvin - 'Everyone who denies the Son, has not the Father either' (1John 4:2-
3); 'inasmuch as God hath given Himself to us wholly to be enjoyed in Christ.'
Jude warned that "certainpersons have crept in unnoticed (secretly,
stealthily, subtly insinuating themselves), those who were long beforehand
marked out for this condemnation, ungodly (corrupt in doctrine, depraved in
conduct) persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness
(unrestrained vice, gross immorality) and deny our only Masterand Lord,
Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4)

Paul describedindividuals in Crete who "(continually) profess to know God,
but by their deeds they deny (present tense = the habit of their life, continually
disown and renounce)Him (by their actions), being detestable (loathsome,
root word means to "stink"!) and disobedient, and worthless (unable to do
anything that pleases God)for any gooddeed." (Titus 1:16-note)
Guy King (Ibid) summarizes what antichrists deny about Jesus - Movements
and teaching professing to be Christian who yet "[deny] the Son" (1Jn 2:23)
- some deny His Deity,
- some deny His miracles,
- some deny His virgin birth,
- some deny His Word,
- some deny His atoning death,
- some deny His bodily resurrection,
- some deny His personalreturn.
This is the antichrist - John specificallyidentifies the liar as the antichrist
(antichristos), the one who claims that Jesus is not the Christ.
The one who denies the Father and the Son - John againuses denies
(arneomai) in the presenttense denoting that they habitually deny both
Persons ofthe Godhead. To deny Jesus is to deny His Father. Clearly these
individuals are not genuine believers.
Hiebert - Whatevermay have been their teaching about God, John declared
that these anti-Christian heretics had no personalrelationship with God as
“Father” because theirdenial of “the Son” inevitably involved a denial of the
Father, who revealedHimself in the incarnate Son. This absolute designation
“the Son” occurs here for the first time in the epistle. In the first part of this
verse Jesus is acceptedas “the Christ”; now He is called “the Son.” The two
designations relate to one Person. (1 John 2:19-24 Exposition)

Kistemaker- "If there is no Son, there is no Father. In his epistle, John
teaches that the Father and Sonare intimately related (1Jn 1:2, 3; 2:1, 23, 24;
4:3, 14, 15; 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 20). John reveals the heart of the gospel:God the
Father has sent his SonJesus Christ to redeem sinners. If a personrejects
Jesus Christ, he also rejects Godthe Fatherand nullifies the message ofthe
gospelof Christ. Such a person, writes John, is the antichrist." (Ibid)
Steven Cole - A popular sentimental, syrupy view goes, “Itdoesn’t matter
what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” When you share Christ with
someone who buys into this thinking, he will respond, “It’s nice that you
believe that, but I have my own beliefs.” According to this view, sincerity is
the main thing; truth doesn’t matter. That is utter nonsense!You can
sincerelydrink poison, believing that it is medicine, but it will kill you just the
same. Sound doctrine (hugiaino = "healthy, wholesome" + didaskalia = what
is taught) really matters! (Avoiding Spiritual Deception, Part1 - 1 John 2:18-
23)
1John2:23 Whoever denies the Sondoes not have the Father;the one who
confesses the Son has the Fatheralso. (NASB: Lockman)
Greek:πας ο αρνουμενος τονυιον ουδε τον πατερα εχει ο ομολογωντονυιον
και τον πατερα εχει
Amplified: No one who [habitually] denies (disowns) the Son even has the
Father. Whoever confesses(acknowledgesandhas) the Son has the Father
also. (Lockman)
Berkley(Modern Language):No one who denies the Son has the Father.
Whoeveracknowledgesthe Son has the Father as well.
ESV: No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoeverconfessesthe Son
has the Father also.
HCSB: No one who denies the Son canhave the Father; he who confesses the
Son has the Father as well.
NET:Everyone who denies the Sondoes not have the Fathereither. The
person who confessesthe Son has the Father also.

NIV: No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoeveracknowledgesthe
Son has the Father also.
NLT: Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone
who acknowledgesthe Son has the Father also.
Phillips: The man who will not recognise the Son cannotpossibly know the
Father; yet the man who believes in the Son will find that he knows the Father
as well.
TLB: For a person who doesn’t believe in Christ, God’s Son, can’t have God
the Fathereither. But he who has Christ, God’s Son, has God the Father also.
Weymouth: Everyone who denies the Son, not even does he have the Father.
The one who confessesthe Son also has the Father.
Young's Literal: every one who is denying the Son, neither hath he the Father,
he who is confessing the Sonhath the Fatheralso.
KJV = Whosoeverdenieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he
that acknowledgeththe Son hath the Fatheralso.
denies 1Jn 2:22; 4:15; Matthew 11:27;Luke 10:22; John 5:23; 8:19; 10:30;
14:9,10;15:23,24;2 John 1:9-11
ReciprocalReferences:, Job31:28 - for Matthew 10:33 - deny me Matthew
10:40 - and he that Mark 8:38 - ashamedLuke 12:8 - WhosoeverLuke 12:9 -
shall John 1:34 - this John 14:6 - no John 20:31 - believing Colossians 3:17 -
God 2 Timothy 2:12 - if we deny Titus 1:1 - the acknowledging 1 John 1:3 -
our fellowship1 John 5:1 - believeth 1 John 5:12 - that hath the 2 John 1:3 -
the SonRevelation3:8 - and hast not
TWO OPTIONS REGARDINGJESUS:
CONFESSHIM OR DENYHIM
Whoever- Whoeveris literally "all" (Greek wordpas means all without
exception). This is a universal, incontrovertible truth! John had just explained

that this man is the antichrist because he denies that Jesus is the Christ (1Jn
2:22). Presumably some of these antichrists were professing reference for the
Father while rejecting the Son, something which John says is impossible. If
you don't love Jesus, youdon't love His Father, for in Jn 10:30 John states
Jesus and "the Father are one” or one in unity and one in their very essence.
Thus you cannot deny one without denying the other. Notice also that while
Jesus and Father indicate there is more than one Personin the Godhead, the
verb "are one" indicates that God is one being. Mysterious? Absolutely!
Humanly explicable? Absolutely not! See Dr Wayne Grudem's four lectures
on the Trinity (Referto Chapter 14) and his corresponding outline - God in
Three Persons:The Trinity.
Whoeverdenies the Son does not have the Father - In other words every
person (no exceptions)who denies Jesus does not know Godthe Father and
thus is not a child of God. They have no personalrelationship with God the
Father! They have no share in God the Father. The only one who is a child of
God is the one who receives (believes in) the Son, John writing that "as many
as receivedHim (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God
(cp 1Jn3:1), even to those who believe in His Name (Jesus, cpActs 4:12)."
To fail to confess (receive, believe in) Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, is to
lose the Father's Presence, Protection, Promises, Provisionand Paradise!Oh,
how greatwill be the loss of these antichrists!
Guzik - Often times it is said, “We all worship the same God. You have one
name for Him and I have another. But that doesn’tmatter. We are just
talking about different roads to the same God, because we all have the same
God.” Here is the question to ask in response:“Was your God perfectly
revealedin Jesus Christ?” If their God was, then you have the same God. If
their God wasn’t perfectly revealedin Jesus, then they do not have the same
God as the Bible. There are many people who seemrather spiritual or
religious, yet reject Jesus Christ. While their religion or spirituality may do
them much goodin this life - giving them a basis for morality and good
behavior - it does them nothing before God, because in rejecting Jesus they
rejectGod. (1 John 2 - David Guzik Commentary on the Bible)

Paul wrote "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He
also will deny us." (2Ti 2:12-note)
Peterdescribed false teachers who denied Christ - "But false prophets also
arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you,
who will secretlyintroduce destructive heresies, evendenying (present tense
describes continual denial.) the Masterwho bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves." (2Pet2:1-note)
Hiebert - By their denial of the Son “they ipso facto excommunicate
themselves from the great Christian family in which Christ is the Brother, and
God is the Father, of all believers.” (1 John 2:19-24 Exposition)
I H Marshall - If the heretics thought that they could “have” Godwithout
believing in Jesus, theywere completely mistaken. It is only through the Son
that we know that God is Father, and it is only through the Son and his
propitiatory death that we canhave accessto God as Father. Thus to deny
that Jesus is the Son is to deny the Christian doctrine of God, or at leastto
deprive it of its essentialbasis. The Christian doctrine of a personal, fatherly
God is dependent on the revelationof God given in Jesus. (The Epistles of
John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament).
I have heard believers saythat "I denied Jesus atthe workplace whenI
should have spokenup for Him." If we are honest, all of us have had times
when we in effect"denied" Jesus. I think of times when I have heard someone
casuallyuse the Name of "Jesus"as a curse word and yet I stand by mute,
passive, and, if truth be told, even somewhatembarrassedto speak up and
defend His Name. So yes, we all "deny" the Son from time to time, and we are
sad when find ourselves in such situations (E.g., Peter - Mk 14:30-31, Mk
14:66-72 but compare a Spirit filled, emboldened by the Spirit Peterin Acts
2:14, 36). The goodnews is that John uses the present tense which describes
not an isolatedepisode of denial but a lifestyle of denial. Those who
continually deny the Sonare not believers. Believers have the indwelling
Spirit of Christ and one of His purposes is to testify and glorify the Name
above all names (Jn 15:16, 16:14).

The one who confessesthe Son has the Father also - (Literally, "the one
confessing")The verb confesses is singularindicating this is a personal(not a
corporate)confession(cp Ro 10:9-10-note). To confess means "To own, avow
or acknowledge;publicly to declare a belief in and adherence to." (Webster's
1828 Definition).
Confessionis the antithesis of denial. Instead of denying Jesus, he confesses
Jesus and in context openly, unashamedly agrees withthe truth revealedin
Scripture that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man.
Stott - John has in mind more than a private belief and disbelief. As when the
same verbs are used by Jesus, a public confessionand denial of him ‘before
men’ are implied (cf. Mt. 10:32-33;Jn 12:42;Ro 10:9-10). On such a
confessionordenial depends not just our conceptionof, but our possessionof,
the Father. (Ibid)
Kistemaker- Some twenty years after John wrote this epistle, observes Bruce,
John's disciple Polycarp, then bishop of the church in Smyrna, sent a letter to
the Christians in Philippi and said: "Foreveryone who does not confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an anti-Christ"; and whosoeverdoes not
confess the testimony of the Cross is of the devil: and whosoeverperverts the
oracles ofthe Lord for his own lusts, and says that there is neither
resurrectionnor judgment—this man is the firstborn of Satan." The believer
anointed with the Holy Spirit is able to discern truth from error, oppose
heresy, and withstand the attacks ofSatan. Whenever someone comes to you
with religious teachings that either add to the Bible or take the place of the
Bible, beware. (cp 2Jn 1:10-11)(Ibid)
Jesus spoke oftenabout His relationship to His Father…
(Matt 11:27) “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no
one knows the Son exceptthe Father;nor does anyone know the Fatherexcept
the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to revealHim.
(John 1:18-note) No one has seenGod (the Father) at any time; the only
begottenGod (Jesus)Who is in the bosomof the Father, He has explained
Him.

(John 5:23) so that all will honor the Soneven as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Fatherwho sent Him.
(John 8:19) So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus
answered, “Youknow neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would
know My Fatheralso.”
(John 8:42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me,
for I proceededforth and have come from God, for I have not even come on
My own initiative, but He sentMe.
Comment: This passageis especiallyinteresting as Jesus is addressing an
audience of Jews who have professedto believe in Him (Jn 8:30-31). Jesus
proceeds to demonstrate that their so-calledbelief(faith, trust) was nothing
more than intellectual belief. In other words, their faith was not authentic
saving faith, and thus their claim that God was their Father(Jn 8:41) was
erroneous. In a sense, theydenied Jesus and so the denied His Father just as
John explains in the present section!Jesus wenton to saythat if they really
knew His Father, they would love the Father's Son! Instead, as their
subsequent actions proved, not only did they not love the Son, but they even
sought to kill the Son! (See Jn 8:40 and compare with Jn 8:58 -- For the full
context read John 8:30-58).
(John 10:30) “I and the Father are one.”
(John 12:44-45)And Jesus criedout and said, “He who believes in Me, does
not believe in Me but in Him (God the Father)who sent Me. He who sees Me
sees the One (God the Father) Who sent Me.
(John 14:9) Jesus said to him (Jn 14:8), “Have I been so long with you, and yet
you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seenMe has seenthe
Father; how canyou say, ‘Show us the Father’?
(John 14:6-7) Jesus *saidto him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Fatherbut through Me. “If you had known Me, you would
have known My Father also;from now on you know Him, and have seen
Him.”

(John 14:9-10)Jesus *saidto him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you
have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seenMe has seenthe Father;
how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the
Father, and the Fatheris in Me? The words that I sayto you I do not speak on
My own initiative, but the Fatherabiding in Me does His works.
(John 15:23-24)“He who hates Me hates My Father also. “If I had not done
among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but
now they have both seenand hated Me and My Fatheras well.
(1Tim 2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator also betweenGod (the
Father) and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
(1Jn 2:1-2) My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous
Confesses(acknowledges)(3670)(homologeo fromhomos = one and the same
or togetherwith+ lego = to say) literally means to saythe same thing as
another. Five of the 26 uses of homologeo are in First John - 1John 1:9; 2:23;
4:2-3, 15. In the presentcontext, John is saying that this one acknowledgesthe
Biblical truth (the sound doctrine) about the nature of Jesus Christ. John uses
the presenttense which indicates their confessionis ongoing.
The verb homologeo means to confess orconcede that something is factualor
true, to admit.
To confess something is the opposite of to deny something as true. For
example, John records the testimony of John the Baptistwriting that "he
confessedand did not deny, but confessed, “Iam not the Christ.” (John 1:20)
(1John 5:1) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and
whoeverloves the Fatherloves the child born of Him.
(Mt 10:32-33)Jesus declared"Everyone therefore who shall confess Me
before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But
whoevershall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father
who is in heaven."

(Rev 3:8) ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door
which no one can shut, because youhave a little power, and have kept My
word, and have not denied My name.
Marshall - John’s thought is moving towardexhortation to his readers to hold
fast to their Christian confession, andnot to be swayedby the persuasions of
the heretics. (Ibid)
Vine notes that "not only does confessionof the Son, that is, confessionthat
Jesus is the Christ and all that is involved therein, carry with it the confession
of the Father, it involves, too, divine relationship and communion with the
Father. That is more than holding an article of faith or knowing the will of the
Father. ConfessionofChrist goes with possessionof Christ, and those who
receive Him become children of God (John 1:12, cp Ro 10:9-10). To
acknowledge the fatherhood of God and deny the deity of Christ is utterly
incompatible. For the associationofthe truth that Jesus is the Christ, with
that of His relationship with the Father see Peter’s confession(Mt. 16:16-17)."
(Ibid)
Warren Wiersbe illustrates the importance of believing in the real Jesus - It
makes no difference what you believe, just as long as you are sincere!" That
statementexpresses the personal philosophy of many people today, but it is
doubtful whether most of those who make it have really thought it through. Is
"sincerity" the magic ingredient that makes something true? If so, then you
ought to be able to apply it to any area of life, and not only to religion. A nurse
in a city hospital gives some medicine to a patient, and the patient becomes
violently ill. The nurse is sincere but the medicine is wrong, and the patient
almost dies. A man hears noises in the house one night and decides a burglar
is at work. He gets his gun and shoots the "burglar," who turns out to be his
daughter! Unable to sleep, she has gottenup for a bite to eat. She ends up the
victim of her father's "sincerity." It takes more than "sincerity" to make
something true. Faith in a lie will always cause serious consequences;faith in
the truth is never misplaced. It does make a difference what a man believes!If
a man wants to drive from Chicago to New York, no amount of sincerity will
get him there if the highway is taking him to Los Angeles. A person who is

real builds his life on truth, not superstition or lies. It is impossible to live a
real life by believing lies. (The Bible Exposition Commentary)
Steven Cole - We should be diligent to preserve the unity of the body of
Christ, but not at any cost. There is no room for compromise on the core
beliefs of Christian orthodoxy, especiallythe truths about the personof Christ
and the gospel. During World War Two, Neville Chamberlain of Britain tried
to keepthe peace by appeasing Adolf Hitler. After giving Poland to Hitler,
Chamberlain went back to England proclaiming “peace in our times.” But
Winston Churchill wiselyobserved, “An appeaseris one who feeds a
crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Sure enough, Hitler later tried to eat
Britain, too. If we compromise truth to appease a heretic or to keephim in the
church, it will lead to our ultimate spiritual demise. To avoid spiritual
deception, be discerning of people, especiallyofreligious people who claim to
have some new truth. Be discerning of sound doctrine. Know your Bible well.
Study systematic theology. Study church history. Mosterrors today have been
around for centuries. (Avoiding Spiritual Deception, Part1 - 1 John 2:18-23)
ILLUSTRATION - HEAD OR HEART? by Dave Brannon - In the span of 7
days he won the hearts of a busload of people. We were visiting the Holy
Land, and the personable man was our tour guide. Eachday he greetedus
with his winning smile, clever sense ofhumor, and incredible knowledge of
Israel. From the story of Abraham and Isaac to the accountof Jesus’
resurrection, our guide had it all down.
Yet as the week wentby, people began to ask, “Is he a believer?” “Doeshe
know Jesus?”Sadly, the answerwas no. He knew the Bible better than most
of us. He daily walkedwhere Jesus had. He had been giving tours to
Christians for years. But he didn’t know his Messiah.
Could that be your situation? Could you have a knowledge ofGod and His
Son Jesus in your head but not in your heart? It’s not all that unusual.
The words in 1 John 2:22 seemharsh: “Who is a liar but he who denies that
Jesus is the Christ?” But the truth is that knowing about Jesus is not the same

as knowing Him. We must acknowledge Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the
living God” (Mt. 16:16). We must acceptHis forgiveness forour sins and
enter into a personalrelationship with Him.
Have you trusted Jesus? Oris your knowledge ofHim in your head but not in
your heart?
What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannotbe;
Somedayyour heart will be asking,
"What will He do with me?"
—Simpson
Knowing about Jesus
is not the same as knowing Him.
JACK ARNOLD
THE CAUSE OF HERESY2:22-23
A. “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.”
-- The first century Gnostics deniedthat Christ was truly Godand truly man.
The words “Christ” and “Son” seemto be equated and the teaching of the Old
Testamentwas that Messiahwas to be God. The Gnostics deniedthat the
eternal Christ became a man, becoming God-Man. They made Him a mere
man invested with divine powers but they denied that the man Jesus and the
Eternal Son were and are the same Person, possessing two perfectnatures

human and divine. Those who deny that Christ is very God and very man are
guilty of the lie – the ultimate lie is the denial of the person of Christ. Present
day cults all deny the true deity of Christ – Christian Science says Christwas
a mere man upon whom Christ’s spirit came;JehovahWitnesses saythat
Christ was a son of God, not the Son of God, who was the first createdbeing.
There are many today in the professing Church, going by the names of
modernists, liberals, neo-orthodox and new liberals who make Christ only a
man with divine qualities. They say Christ is the best of all men; some call
him divine but all ultimately deny that Jesus Christ is God. Therefore these
folks are heretics! Heretics canalways be detectedby what they believe about
the personand work of Jesus Christ.
B. “Sucha man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.” –
Those who deny that Jesus Christ is the God-Manare guilty of being anti-
Christ! Modern day Unitarians deny that Jesus Christis truly God, the
secondpersonof the Trinity. Thus they are heretics.
C. “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoeveracknowledgesthe
Son has the Father also.” – The Apostle John says, if one does not believe that
Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, he does not know or possessthe Father.
He has no saving relationship with the Father. A personis not a Christian
because he believes in the Father but because he believes in the Son, who takes
one to the Father. John 14:1: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God; trust also in me.” John 14:6: “Jesus answered, “Iam the way and the
truth and the life: No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.” The one
confessing (acknowledging)Jesus Christhas the Father. Rom 10:9: “That if
you confess withyour mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that
God raisedhim from the dead, you will be saved.”

WAYNE BARBER
Second, because ofthis anointing the believer must examine what people say
about Christ. And when it doesn’t match up to what God says, then he knows
that personis a liar. Verses 22-23:"Who is the liar but the one who denies
that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father
and the Son. Whoeverdenies the Son does not have the Father; the one who
confesses the Son has the Fatheralso."
Now John says "the one who denies," and he uses a verb tense here to make
sure you understand. Deny here is in the present tense – continually,
consistentlydenies that Jesus is the Christ. I imagine every one of us at some
point or another in our life has denied Him either by what we have said or
what we have done somehow. Peterdid. But he didn’t consistentlylive that
way. Any of us can have a bad day and perhaps in a stupid moment say
something that we are sorry for, but what John says is this person
consistently, by what he says and by what he does, denies Jesus is the Christ.
Here come the Gnostics again. Rememberwhat he is doing now. Don’t ever
divorce that from 1 John. Everything he is saying here is combating what they
are having to put up with constantlyby these people leading them astray,
which is in Verse 26, a little aheadof us. The word for Christ here is the word
Christos, which means the anointed one. They deny that Jesus is the Christ.
You see, they said Jesus was the son of Josephand Mary because Godwould
never inhabit a human body. And John says, "Buddy, if anybody ever denies
that Jesus was the God-man, the anointed one, the Messiah, the promised one,
the one who came to take our sin away, that person is a liar." John says that
the one who denies the Father and the Son is the antichrist. This is the
antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
You have to understand something here. Jesus and the Father are one. On a
plane going to Atlanta not long ago, a lady was sitting beside me. She was a
private detective, of all things! And I was realinterested in that. I would love
to be a private detective. I just think it would be so much fun. I have a
curiosity. I would love to follow people around and figure out what they are
doing. I was talking with her for a little while and then she said, "Whatdo you

do?" And I told her I was a pastor. She said, "Oh, good. I’ve gotsome
questions." I said, "Wonderful. Maybe I will have an answeror two."
She said, "The thing that bugs me is you have God but then you have Jesus.
Jesus gets in my way. There is one God." I said, "Oh, that is a great question.
But the thing you have overlookedis that Jesus is God." "What?" "You see, it
is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One God in three
persons." ThenI showedher in Colossians where it says that Jesus is the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. I said, "This is all of God manifested though to
where we can see Him as He came to this earth in human flesh." We landed
quicker than I wish we had landed. I have to believe the factthat some sow,
some waterand some give the increase. Ihave to believe that somebody is
going to come along and pick up from there. But I was talking a mile a minute
trying to getin as much as I could before we had to get off that plane.
You see, if you deny the Son, you have just denied the Father. Think of the
religions of this world that do that today. "Oh, we believe in God, but we
don’t honor Jesus."You know, this is what John is saying. If you ever deny
that Jesus is God’s Son, the Christ, the anointed one, the one who came for the
express purpose of taking our sins away, of dying on the cross, resurrecting on
the third day, you have just denied the Fatherbecause Jesus andthe Father
are one.
That’s what it says in John 10:30, "I and the Fatherare one." In John 14:9
when they askedJesus, "Showus the Father." He said, "Have I been so long
with you and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seenMe
has seenthe Father. How do you say, show us the Father?" The Gnostics
denied Jesus. Theywould hang on to the truth about God but not Jesus.
Anyone who denies Jesus denies the Father, so John adds in Verse 23,
"Whoeverdenies the Sondoes not have the Father;the one who confessesthe
Son has the Father also." Yousee, this has been some of the confusion. People
think that you getparts of the Godhead at different times. You getsaved and
you getJesus. Lateron you getthe Father. And then if you are real fortunate,
you getbaptized in the Spirit and you get the Spirit.

I am going to say it one more time. Folks, there is one God. You can’t separate
them. You getJesus, you getthe Fatherand the Spirit. You getthe Spirit, you
get Jesus and the Father. I mean, they are all together. They go together. They
are in the same package. Youcan’t unwrap them and put them in different
groups. So, the Gnostics’doctrines are being whittled awaybecause ofwhat
John is saying. The antichrist denied that Jesus is God and thereby they
denied the Father.
WILLIAM BARCLAY
THE MASTER LIE (1 John 2:22-23)
2:22-23 Who is the liar but the man who denies that Jesus is the Anointed One
of God? Antichrist is he who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who
denies the Son does not even have the Father; and everyone who
acknowledgesthe Son has the Father also.
As someone has put it, to deny that Jesus is the Christ is the masterlie, the lie
par excellence;the lie of all lies.
John says that he who denies the Son has not the Fathereither. What lies
behind that saying is this. The false teachers pleaded, "It may be that we have
different ideas from yours about Jesus;but you and we do believe the same
things about God." John's answeris that that is an impossible position; no
man can deny the Son and still have the Father. How does he arrive at this
view?
He arrives at it because no one who accepts New Testamentteaching can
arrive at any other. It is the consistentteaching of the New Testamentand it is
the claim of Jesus himself that apart from him no man can know God. Jesus
said quite clearly that no man knows the Fatherexcept the Son and him to
whom the Son reveals that knowledge (Matthew 11:27;Luke 10:22). Jesus
said, "He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And

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