John Calvin 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 a liar? He does not assert that only those were liars who denied that the Son of God appeared in the flesh, lest anyone, in untying this knot, should excessively torment himself. Instead, he means that they surpassed all others, as though he had said that if this is not deemed a lie, nothing else could be reckoned as such. This is like when we commonly say, “If treachery towards God and men is not a crime, what else can we call a crime?”

What he had said generally about false prophets, he now applies to the situation of his own time, for he points out, as if with a finger, those who disturbed the Church. I readily agree with the ancients who thought that Cerinthus and Carpocrates are referred to here. But the denial of Christ extends much wider, for it is not enough to confess in words that Jesus is the Christ unless he is acknowledged to be such as the Father offers him to us in the gospel.

The two I have named gave the title of Christ to the Son of God but imagined him to be man only. Others followed them, such as Arius, who, while adorning him with the name of God, robbed him of his eternal divinity. Marcion imagined that he was a mere phantom. Sabellius imagined that he differed in no way from the Father. All these denied the Son of God, for not one of them truly acknowledged the real Christ. Instead, by adulterating the truth about him as much as they could, they devised an idol for themselves in place of Christ.

Then Pelagius emerged, who indeed raised no dispute concerning Christ’s essence but allowed him to be true man and God. Yet, he transferred to us almost all the honor that belongs to Christ. Indeed, to set aside Christ's grace and power is to reduce him to nothing.

So the Papists, at this day, have a sort of fictitious Christ—I do not know what. They achieve this by setting up free will in opposition to the grace of the Holy Spirit, ascribing a part of their righteousness and salvation to the merits of works, and inventing for themselves innumerable advocates through whom they make God favorable to them. But the living and genuine image of God, which shines forth in Christ, they deform by their wicked inventions. They lessen his power and subvert and pervert his office.

We now see that Christ is denied whenever those things that peculiarly belong to him are taken away from him. And since Christ is the end of the law and the gospel and has in himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, he is also the target at which all heretics aim and direct their arrows. Therefore, the Apostle does not, without reason, make those the chief impostors who fight against Christ, in whom the full truth is exhibited to us.

He is Antichrist. He is not speaking of that prince of apostasy who was to occupy the seat of God. Instead, he places all those who seek to overthrow Christ among that impious band. And to amplify their crime, he asserts that the Father, no less than the Son, is denied by them. It is as though he had said, “They no longer have any religion, because they completely cast away God.” This he afterwards confirms by adding this reason: that the Father cannot be separated from the Son.

Now this is a remarkable sentence and ought to be reckoned among the first axioms of our religion. Indeed, when we have confessed that there is one true God, this second article must necessarily be added: that he is no other than He who is made known in Christ.

The Apostle does not here treat distinctly of the unity of essence. Indeed, it is certain that the Son cannot be disunited from the Father, for he is of the same essence (ὁμοούσιος). But another thing is spoken of here: that the Father, who is invisible, has revealed himself only in his Son. Hence Christ is called the image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), because he sets forth and exhibits to us all that is necessary to be known of the Father. For the unadorned majesty of God would, by its immense brightness, always dazzle our eyes. It is therefore necessary for us to look on Christ. This is to come to the light which is justly said to be otherwise inaccessible.

I say again, there is not here a distinct discussion concerning the eternal essence of Christ, which he has in common with the Father. This passage is indeed abundantly sufficient to prove it. However, John calls us to this practical aspect of faith: since God has given himself to us to be enjoyed only in Christ, he is sought in vain elsewhere. Or (if anyone prefers a clearer statement), since all the fullness of the Deity dwells in Christ, there is no God apart from him.

It follows from this that Turks, Jews, and others like them, have a mere idol and not the true God. For by whatever titles they may honor the God whom they worship, still, since they reject Christ, without whom they cannot come to God and in whom God has truly manifested himself to us, what do they have but some creature or fiction of their own?

Those who philosophize on divine things without Christ may flatter themselves as much as they please with their own speculations. It is still certain that they do nothing but rave and rant because, as Paul says, they hold not the Head (Colossians 2:19).

It is obvious from this to conclude how necessary the knowledge of Christ is.

Many copies have the opposite sentence, “He who confesses the Son,” etc. But as I think that a note by some copyist has crept into the text, I did not hesitate to omit it. However, if its insertion is approved, the meaning would be that there is no right confession of God unless the Father is acknowledged in the Son.

If anyone were to object and say that many of the ancients thought rightly of God, though Christ was not known to them, I allow that the knowledge of Christ has not always been so explicitly revealed. Nevertheless, I contend that it has always been true that, just as the light of the sun comes to us by its rays, so the knowledge of God has been communicated through Christ.