Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 John 2:22

"Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, [even] he that denieth the Father and the Son." — 1 John 2:22 (ASV)

“Who is the liar?” v.22 asks and then rhetorically answers by pointing to those antichrists who promulgate the particularly pernicious falsehood that Jesus is not the Christ. This falsehood should not be linked to the Jewish opponents who denied that Jesus was the Messiah but rather to the Gnostic opponents who denied that Christ came in the flesh (2 Jn 7).

The exact kind of Gnostic denial in view is uncertain. It probably included the ideas that the true Christ, who was preexistent, merely appeared in human form to bring eternal life, that his human existence was without real significance, and that his human presence was not essential to his true being. The revelations he brought came not through any of his actions as Jesus of Nazareth or through any events connected to his life—especially not through his sufferings or his death on the cross. To the opponents, eternal life came in Jesus’ divine glory as the preexistent and eternal Christ.

Obviously such a denial of Jesus’ humanity struck at the very heart of the Incarnation. By denying Jesus’ true sonship, these opponents of John denied the Father as well. Because they denied Jesus’ human life, they rejected the community of love he established. Most likely the false teachers mocked the commands of Jesus as taught by the apostles. Little wonder that John designates them “antichrists.” They rejected Jesus. They rejected their own sinfulness and need of forgiveness (1:8–10), the life of love (2:4, 6, 8), and their “fellowship” with the Father and the Son (1:1–4, 6–7).