Passage
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the Truth.22 Who is the foremost liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of John’s first general Epistle. Now remember, up to this point in the Epistle, John has refuted the teachings of the false teachers who are troubling his flock with both their doctrine and their living. However, beginning with verse 18, John has turned to consider the false teachers themselves. That is, John turns to expose the spiritual heart and dark agenda that define/direct these men. Notice then, last week, John reminded his readers (both then and now) that because we know the Truth about God, His Son, and the salvation His Son has accomplished, we are to be able to identify the source of any spirituality we encounter. That is, as believers we are to differentiate between the Truth of God and any lie that denies/alters that Truth. In our text this morning John turns to provide the distinguishing mark by which the falseness of all the world’s false teachers is known. Listen
Verse 22
Notice at once the flow of our passage: in verse 21 John reminded you that no lie (no variance with the Gospel however big or small) is of the truth. That is, it is not from God nor will it lead you to God. Now in verse 22 John asks you to consider who is the foremost of all liars FN#1. That is, John turns to identify those who offer the most egregious and deadly of all lies (the lie that does the most harm to its hearer and the lie that is the greatest affront to any and every truth FN#2). Notice then who John says is the foremost liar and what John says is the chief of all lies: John says the foremost liar is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. However, notice what exactly these folks are denying: first, notice what they are not necessarily denying: John does not say that the foremost liars deny that Jesus is an actual historic figure; or that He was a great moral teacher (even a prophet); or that He died tragically at the hands of the religious leaders of His day. Notice, you can accept all those things and still be a proponent of the foremost lie. Instead, they deny that Jesus is the Christ FN#3. That is, they deny that Jesus is eternal God in the flesh, the Messiah, the one who is God and who is anointed by God to make God and God’s salvation known. Simply put, they deny that Jesus is the definitive revelation of God (God made know by God) and the single source of salvation for all mankind. Importance: remember this is exactly what the false teachers who are troubling John’s flock are doing. Notice then John’s point: John provides his readers (then and now) with the single definitive identifying mark of all false teachers, teachings, and religions. John says you are to know at once that anything that denies that Jesus is the Christ (God in the flesh and mankind’s solitary savior) is not of the Truth (it is not from God nor will it ever lead to God). Instead, it is the foremost of all lies (both in its affront to truth as well as in its impact on any who accept it). Therefore, John says that no such lie is to be tolerated or viewed as benign. Instead, it is to be rejected and refuted/answered.
Next, notice John not only identifies the mark of falsehood, he also identifies its spiritual source/lineage. Notice then, John says this is the Antichrist. That is, John says this denial is exactly what makes the Antichrist, anti-Christ FN#4. Importance: remember, the Antichrist embodies and brings to full expression Satin’s age long effort to replace Christ with his own version of salvation and to offer some other god for men worship to their doom. Notice then the point: John draws our attention to all who deny Christ and says that their denial shares the same spiritual allegiance, spiritual objective, and spiritual darkness as that which defines the Antichrist to come FN#5. In other words, John says that both the deniers and the Antichrist have the same spiritual backing. Therefore, John warns his readers (both then and now) that we are to identify in the lies of all such false teachers the same spiritual voice that we will hear speaking through the Antichrist when he comes. Not only that, we are also to identify/understand that the same misery, harm, and doom are the ill intended objectives of all such lies. In other words, these lies (in whatever form) are not benign alternate version (or faith traditions) of God. Instead, they are malevolent deceptions meant to damn their hearers.
Next, notice how John further describes/distinguishes those who share the Antichrist’s spiritual lineage: Not only that, notice how this description further exposes the nature and depth of any such denial of Christ. John says that like the Antichrist to come the foremost liars today deny both the Father and the Son. In other words, John says that any denial of Christ is at once an equal denial of the Father as well. How? To deny Christ (the Son of God) is to deny the Father who sent Him. In turn, it is also to deny God as He truly is (which is Triune– Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- One God, Three Persons) FN#6. Not only that, remember Christ came to make the Father known and to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation. Therefore, to reject Christ is to reject all that He has revealed about the Father and the Father’s salvation. Importance: notice at once John’s point: remember, even though the false teachers who are troubling John’s flock have rejected Jesus, they nonetheless claim to have the true pathway to God (just as many today reject Jesus yet claim to have some brand of legitimate spirituality or to truly worship god). However, John says that they do know God at all. Instead, by rejecting the one who is God and who God sent to make God known, these false teachers have rejected all that God has revealed about Himself. Notice the result: John reminds his readers (both then and now) that there is no testimony from God that forgoes/sidesteps/circumvents Christ (remember Christ is the Messiah, the one God anointed to make God known). At the same time, there is no pathway to God except the Christ that God has provided. Thus, instead of proctoring the truth, the world’s false teachers have rejected the one true living God and replaced Him with a god of man’s own darkness, invention, and speculation. As such, John warns that these false teachers (and all like them) have no spiritual insights to offer and no truth to provide. Instead, any truth that they do have is partial, bent, and distorted. Therefore, as God’s people we are not to give them a spiritual legitimacy that they do not have before God nor are we to receive anything they say uncritically or at face value (without first realigning it under the Lordship of Christ).
Bottom line: John provides his readers with the key mark by which all false teachers, teaching, and religions can be identified with absolute certainty/accuracy. John says that any teaching that denies that Jesus is the Christ (denies that He is eternal God in the flesh and the single source of salvation for man) is the foremost of all lies. In turn, John remind us that any teaching that denies God the Son cannot then claim to know anything about the Father and Creator of us all who sent Him.
Footnotes
1] Notice John does not simply ask “who is a liar”. Instead, John asks “who is the liar” (the word liar is definite– ὁ ψεύστης). The question is how are we to understand this definite article? If we take it as an Article of Simple Identification, pointing to a single specific person (e.g. the book I want is on the table), then the passage atrophies into a discussion about a single person (the future Antichrist). Thus the liar is the antichrist. However, it is clear that John focus is not to describe a singular future event but rather to identify a pervasive spiritual principle. Notice then in verse 22 John continues by saying “Everyone who denies the Son”. In other words, John is not pointing to a single liar. Rather, he is pointing to a class of egregious liars (who by the way share the same overt and dark agenda as the Antichrist).
The result is that the article here (the liar) serves as an Article of Par Excellence. As such, it points to the premiere or chief example of all belonging to the particular category in view. Notice we use the definite article the same way in English. Thus, we refer to the Super Bowl as The game or The big game. Regardless, the definite article is but one of the factors that alerts that verse 22 is asking which type of liar tells the most egregious of all lies, that is, who is the foremost liar?
2] Consider: there are all manner of lies that we tell to self and other. Not only that every single one of these lies serves to take our eyes off of Jesus and to hinder our walk with God (for example, we often try to convince ourselves that “No one will know”, or “I can handle it”, or “Little things like this don’t matter to God”). Therefore by showing us the foremost of all lies (the lie that is at the spiritual heart of every other lie and from which every other lie receives its ultimate objective), John enables us to see more clearly the spiritual lineage and inevitable trajectory of the partial and subtle lies that we tell ourselves. As such, John has reminded us that no lie (however big or small) is from God nor will it lead to God.
3] Remember, Christ is a title that means anointed one (it is taken from the same base word as anointing, “chrisom” that we just saw in verse 20). Thus, John point is that the foremost lie denies that Jesus is the one anointed by God and sent to make God and God’s salvation known. Instead, the false teachers of the world claim to have the real truth about God. Second, notice the reflection: Christ is anointed by God to make God known (not the false teachers) and now Christ has anointed His people as the official heralds to make His work/revelation known (not the false teachers)- verse 2:20
4] Note: when John says, “this is the Antichrist” he is not seeking to identify the final man of lawlessness who is to come at the end of times. Instead, over and again John has made it clear in this passage that he is not limiting his discussion to just one individual but rather to a type of people. For example, the interrogative pronoun (who) at the very beginning of the verse asks a categorical question (rather than a question of individual identity). That is, the question seeks to know “what sort of person is the liar” not “who is the liar” (i.e. not what individual person is telling lies). At the same time, the definite article points to a par excellent kind of liar (the foremost type of liar) not one particular liar (the liar). Finally, in verse 23 John verifies our reading by telling us that everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. In other words, John’ is not describing the one final Antichrist. Rather, John is describing the spiritual principles that define all false teachers (of which the Antichrist is the chief example/manifestation).
The point of all of this is to explain why it is that when John says “this is the Antichrist”, he is pointing to the spiritual principle (the denial) that defines the Antichrist and all who in this age share his dark agenda.
5] Notice in verse 18 John has already made the connection between the world’s false teacher and the Antichrist to come. I John 2:18 Dear Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we recognize that it is the last hour.
In other words, by identifying the false teachers with the Antichrist (by calling them by the same name), John indicates that the same spiritual principles and the same dark agenda that define the Antichrist are behind these false teachers as well.
Here in verse 22, John turns to define the distinguishing mark of the Antichrist and all who share his heart of spiritual darkness. It is quite literally the spiritual mark of the beast. Thus, whatever you determine 666 represents, it points to this definitive heart/agenda.
6] Notice at once the essential Trinitarian nature of the true Faith. Christ came to make God known. In doing so He clarified the Triune nature of God already introduced throughout the entire Old Testament. Thus, to know God truly is to know Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In turn to deny Christ and all that He revealed about God is to deny the Triune nature of God. The result is that there is no true knowledge of God apart from Christ and there is no true knowledge of God as other than Triune.