“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”
The full verse · 1 John 2:22 · KJV
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Asked by
John: the apostle who, by long church tradition, wrote this letter to believers he calls "little children" (1 John 2:18)
Asked to
Reader: the believers John first wrote to, who had seen some leave the fellowship (1 John 2:19), and anyone who reads the letter today
The Scene
John warns his "little children" that "it is the last time" and that "even now are there many antichrists," people who "went out from us, but they were not of us" (1 John 2:18-19).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJohn wants his readers to know exactly where the line between truth and lie runs. He has just told them he writes "because ye know" the truth, "and that no lie is of the truth" (1 John 2:21). Now he asks a question that points straight at the central lie: denying that Jesus is the Christ. Matthew Henry reads it as "the liar, the notorious liar of the time and age in which we live." Gill agrees that such a person "is not indeed the only liar in the world, but he is the greatest of liars." Barnes suggests that "it would seem" John had in mind a group "who admitted that Jesus lived, but who denied that he was the true Messiah."
The Response
What Scripture recordsJohn answers his own question in the same verse: "He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son" (1 John 2:22). Then he explains why the two cannot be separated: "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" (1 John 2:23). His remedy is simple: "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning" (1 John 2:24). If they hold to that first message, they "shall continue in the Son, and in the Father."
Historical Context
The world behind the words"Christ" is not a last name. It is a title meaning the Anointed One, the promised Messiah, so to deny "that Jesus is the Christ" is to deny that Jesus of Nazareth is the One God promised. The word "antichrist" (antichristos, the adversary of the Messiah, as Thayer's lexicon defines it) appears in the New Testament only in John's letters (1 John 2:18, 22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7). Barnes says the word might denote anyone who claimed to be in the place of Christ, or who for any reason stood in opposition to Him.
John says these deniers had once been part of the church: "They went out from us" (1 John 2:19). Gill thinks 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" and names Ebion and Cerinthus as teachers, who denied either Christ's "proper deity, or real humanity."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows that knowing God the Father cannot be separated from what we believe about Jesus. John does not treat the question "Who is Jesus?" as a side issue. To deny the Son is to lose the Father too (1 John 2:23). Matthew Henry says the one who denies the Son "denies that God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ" by rejecting the Father's own witness about Him.
Yet John writes to reassure, not to alarm. His readers have "an unction from the Holy One" and "know all things" (1 John 2:20). The anointing they received "abideth in you" and teaches them (1 John 2:27). God has not left His people defenseless against lies about His Son.
Look Closer
Where did the people John calls antichrists come from?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You have told us who Your Son is; where have I let other voices blur what I first heard about Jesus?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- When you hear new ideas about Jesus, what helps you test them against what Scripture says from the beginning?
- Who first helped you understand that Jesus is the Christ? What did they show you that has stayed with you?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
What you believe about Jesus matters. John does not ask whether someone is sincere or kind; he asks whether they confess that Jesus is the Christ. When teaching drifts away from that, it is not a small difference of opinion.
You do not have to be anxious about every new claim. Hold on to the message you heard from the beginning (1 John 2:24), and trust that God's anointing teaches His people (1 John 2:27). This doesn't mean you should be suspicious of every believer who asks honest questions. John's warning is about those who deny the Son, not those who are still learning.
Scripture's own application: 1 John 2:24-25
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
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