Passage
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.23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of John’s first general Epistle. Now remember, John purpose in this section of his Epistle is to expose the spiritual heart and dark agenda that define/direct the false teachers who have been troubling His flock.
Why? John says that because the believer knows the Truth about God, His Son, and His Salvation we are able to identify the source of any spirituality we encounter. That is, we are to differentiate between the Truth of God and any lie that denies/alters that Truth. As such, last week, John provided the distinguishing mark by which the falseness of all the world’s false teachers is clearly known. John says that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (eternal God in the flesh and the single source of salvation for man) shares the same agenda and the same darkness that define the Antichrist. In our text this morning John turns to expose the devastating result of the false teachers’ denial. Listen.
Verse 23
Notice at once the scope of John’s warning/assessment: John begins verse 23 by saying everyone. In other words, everyone (without exception) who rejects Jesus and promotes a Christless salvation/spirituality is a part of the same dark agenda and the same spiritual deception as the Antichrist. Importance: at once verse 23 confirms our understanding of John’s entire discussion in this section (2:18-23). Simply put, the discussion in verses 18-23 has not been limited to one figure, who is to come at the very end of time nor is it limited to just a select few false teachers during John’s day. Instead, John’s point has been to expose the distinguishing mark and spiritual allegiance by which the world’s false teachers, teachings, and religions are identified in every age and every place. In other words, in all such teachings/teachers/religions we are to hear/recognize the same voice that speaks through the Antichrist when he comes.
Next, notice what John says is true of everyone who denies the Son: John says they do not have the Father. Importance: remember last week in verse 22 John told us that any denial of Christ is simultaneously an equal denial of the Father. How? To deny Christ (the Son of God) is to deny the Father who sent Him. Not only that, remember Christ came to make the Father known and to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation. Therefore, to reject Jesus is to reject all that He has revealed about the Father and the Father’s salvation. The result is that such deniers do not know God and thus offer no spiritual insight/guidance to God. Notice then the contribution that our text this morning makes to the conversation already underway: verse 23 picks up the points made by verse 22 and strengthens them. As such, John does not simply say that everyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is confused on some of the details about God and thus does not know enough about God to be teachers and guides. Instead, John says that they do not have God at all.
In other word, by rejecting the one that God sent to save men and to reconcile them to God, they remain completely estranged from God FN#1. As such, they do not have fellowship with God; they do not have God’s salvation or its grace and renewal; nor do they have God’s anointing (v 20). That is, they do not have God’s abiding presence through His Spirit in and with them. Simply put: anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ does not know God in the most comprehensive sense of the word: they do not know the truth about God and they do they know God personally/relationally. Instead, they are utterly cut off from God and thus are utterly unfit/unqualified to provide any spiritual insight about God or to offer any guidance to God. Therefore, they are not to be coddled nor are their teaching to be tolerated/entertained. Instead, they are to be rejected and refuted without delayFN#2.
Next, notice that in contrast to those who deny the Son, John turns to discuss those who confess the Son. Importance: the Greek word here for confess is a compound word made up of the word “to say” and the word “same”. Thus, at its root confess means to say the same thing as another says. In other words, to confess the Son is to say the same thing as God says about Him in His Word. As such, it is to believe and receive Him as God offers Him. Importance: at once verse 23 reminds me that just as Jesus is the definitive revelation of God, God and God’s Word is the definitive revelation of Jesus (the Father manifests the Son and the Son discloses the Father). In other words, in both cases, God makes God known. Therefore, in order to know God as He truly is and to share in the salvation that He has provided one must receive God as God and God’s Word reveal Him. Notice the result: John says the one (that is, everyone without exception FN#3) who confesses the Son has the Father also. In other word, everyone who receives the Son receives the all the things that God sent Him to accomplish/provide. As such, the believer has God in the most comprehensives sense of the Word. Notice then what this tells you about yourself and every other believer: you have the Truth about God (you believe His Word); you have salvation from God (along with its grace and renewal); you have reconciliation and fellowship with God: and finally you have God’s ongoing favor and presence in/with you (His anointing). Simply put, John says you know God directly and in the fullest sense of the word (both truly and relationally).
Notice then the point of John’s contrast: John asks what more can those who do not have God add to you in whom God and God’s Word dwell. Not only that, John points out that the very least of those who confess Christ are in an infinitely better position to assist you in your walk than the most proficient of all who deny Christ. In other words, those who confess Christ have God and are equipped by the God to minister to others. By contrast, those who deny Christ have nothing but darkness and spiritual bankruptcy to offer. Simply put: John reminds you that you do not need anything to supplement what God has given you in His Son, His Word, and His Spirit filled body; nor do you need any outside teacher or guide to correct or to lead you beyond what Christ has provided in full FN#4. Therefore, as God’s people we are to hold to what God has provided and reject all that denies/alters Christ and His Word.
Bottom line: John provides his readers with the key mark by which all false teachers, teaching, and religions can be identified with absolute certainty. 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 not from God nor will it lead you to God. Instead, it is a lie told by those who do not know God at all. As such, it has nothing to offer but the very same doom, darkness, and misery that the Antichrist brings. Therefore, the believer, who knows God, is to identify its spiritual source and reject/refute its spiritual claims.
Footnotes
1] Note the exclusivity of Christ, His revelation and salvation is a point that John records over and again throughout His Gospel. As such, it is a point with which his readers would already be well familiar.
John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
2] Note John all but repeats this discussion in I John 1:7-11 underscoring its importance and the prevalence of the threat confronting God’s people.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
3] Note: the article here (the one who confesses) serves as a Generic/Categorical Article. Thus, while an individualizing article distinguishes or identifies a particular object (e.g. the book on my desk), the generic article distinguishes a particular class or group (e.g. the soldier serving in WWII). The result is that the one who confesses points to any and all who belong to the group of confessors. As such, the one (i.e. everyone who confesses) mirrors and answers πᾶς (everyone who denies) at the beginning of the verse.
4] Note verse 18-23 anticipate and its principles are carried forward by verse 2:27 (a verse that is often misunderstood and misapplied). 1 John 2:27 And as for you all, the anointing which you all received from Him abides in you all, and you all have no need for anyone to teach you all; but as His anointing teaches you all about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you all, you all abide in Him. We will talk more about verse 27 when we get there. For now let it suffice to point out that nowhere does John or any other Biblical author ever suggest the autonomy or self-sufficiency of a believer. Instead, the univocal witness of Scripture is that we are a body of variously gifted and mutually dependent members. Notice then throughout verse 27 all the pronouns and verbal forms are in the second person plural (you all). In other words, John is talking to his flock as a whole. In other words, John’s point is that we do not need any supplement or outside teachers to augment or correct what God has given in His Son, His Word, and His Spirit filled body. Instead, God Himself has provided all that His people need.