1 JOHN 2:22–27 THE DOCTRINAL TEST OF TRUTH PART 2

False Believers Deny the Faith v20-25

Second, he defines the heresy of the antichrists, which is the chief heresy of all (vv. 22–23).^[1]

V22- V23

1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

The mention of lies versus truth in verse 21 leads John naturally to an analysis of the Gnostics’ errors. It is not their errors in general that he seizes upon but rather the fundamental error of their denial that Jesus is the Christ. Indeed, as he states it, this is not only the Gnostics’ error but also the most fundamental error that can be made by anyone. Therefore, it also has the most serious consequences. In writing about this denial of Jesus as the Christ, John calls it the lie, and the one who embraces it the liar. The kjv weakens this greatly by its mistaken translation, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”^[2]

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

John 20:30 “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Col. 2:9 “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

In John's day... a. They denied that Jesus is the Christ - cf. 1 Jn 2:22a

• Many Gnostics alleged that Jesus and Christ were two different persons

1. That Christ merely appeared to have flesh, but in reality did not
2. b) Or that the Christ descended upon Jesus at His baptism and departed at the time of His suffering 2) It is this denial that Jesus Christ came in the flesh that John identifies as the spirit of the antichrist - 1Jo 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
3. They denied the Father and the Son - cf. 1 Jn 2:22b-23

• By denying that Jesus is the Christ, they were denying the Son (i.e., He who was "begotten of the Father" and who became flesh)! - cf. Jn 1:14
• By denying the Son, they were in essence also denying the Father! - cf. John 13:20 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."
• Today, an "antichrist" would be one...

1. Who denies Jesus to be the Messiah
2. Who denies the nature of Jesus (that He was fully God and fully man)

Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you are disqualified.

To gain the full force of John’s statement, one must recognize that the confession “Jesus is the Christ” does not mean merely that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament expectation.In other words, it becomes clear from the context that John is thinking of a confession of Christ’s full divinity. It is the belief that God became incarnate in Jesus as the Christ.^[3]

 

We now see that Christ is denied whenever the things that belong to him are taken from him. And as Christ is the end of the Law and the Gospel and has within himself all the treasures of wisdom and understanding, so also is he the mark at which all heretics aim and direct their arrows. Therefore, the apostle has good reason to make those who fight against Christ the leading liars, since the full truth is exhibited to us in him.

According to Calvin, to confess that Jesus is the Christ is to confess the Christ of the Scriptures. To deny that Christ, by whatever means, is the heresy.^[4]

John uses the phrase “has the Father.” In biblical language this is the equivalent of saying that the one who will not confess Jesus as the Christ remains unregenerate and therefore under God’s just condemnation. On the other hand, the one who finds Christ finds the Father also and both possesses and is possessed by him.^[5]

 

Defense Against Heresy (vv. 24–27)

Third, he encourages those who are Christians to make use of their two most valuable defenses against heresy, namely, the truth of the gospel and the Holy Spirit (vv. 24–27).^[6]

Twice in this section John has identified the denial of Jesus by the false teachers as the work of antichrist, that is, as the work of a terrifying demonic influence upon the congregations to whom he is writing. But if that is so, then the Christians might well ask, But what can we do against it? How can we guard ourselves against this adversary? John’s answer is that Christians are to make use of the two main weapons of defense that have been given to them.^[7]

V24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

 The Word of God

The first of the Christians’ weapons is the word which they had heard from the beginning. Clearly, this refers to the gospel or basic apostolic teaching which they had heard at the beginning and which they had believed. In its fullest sense, however, it refers to the entire teaching of the Word of God. They are to let this Word abide in them and therefore guide and form them. By contrast, they are not to neglect it or minimize it while running off in a search for some new thing. For their part, Christians are to do as Paul advised Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:14–17).^[8]

Do not be carried away by the newfangled (modern, present day, current, up to date) Gnostic teaching.

By itself the apostolic teaching is not enough to keep Christians in the truth, however important and indispensable it may be, for the Gnostics had also heard the truth and yet had departed from it. The other element, which John’s readers have and the false teachers do not have, is the Holy Spirit who indeed teaches the Christian by making the Word come alive for him. John refers to the Holy Spirit by the phrases “the anointing” and “his anointing” (cf. v. 20). In these verses John touches on one aspect of that which became known at the time of the Reformation as the priesthood of all believers or, from the other side, the perspicuity (clarity, clearness) of the Word. It is the truth that the believer in Christ is not dependent on a higher order of churchman, whether priest or Gnostic, to interpret the Word of God for him. Rather, through the indwelling Spirit he has the means of understanding the Word for himself and of using what he finds there to combat heresy.^[9]

V25 And this is the promise that He has promised us--eternal life.

1. False Believers Deceive the Faithful v26-28

V26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.

2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction”

1Jo 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

 

The divine annointing does not replace ministerial teaching, but goes beyond it.

2Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

When John says that the Christians of his day “do not need anyone to teach” them, the statement must be understood in its context. It does not mean, for instance, that there is no value at all in teaching or that there is no such thing as a teaching ministry in the church. In fact, as Bruce observes, “What is John himself doing in this letter if he is not ‘teaching’ his readers?” It only means that any valid and therefore useful teaching of the Lord’s people must be done by those who are themselves among the Lord’s people and that if Christians are confronted by the false teaching of unbelievers, they have within themselves the means of exploring the Scriptures and thus dividing truth from error. In knowing the truth they can remain firm.^[10]

Job 36:22 "Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him?

John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

 

Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32

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