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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 2:21 - 2:25
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Anti-Christian characteristics and the Christian's attitude:
v. 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
v. 22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denieth the Father and the Son.
v. 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
v. 24. Let that, therefore, abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father.
v. 25. And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.
St. John here writes in almost an apologetic manner, both to avoid a misunderstanding and to urge the Christians forward in knowledge: Not have I written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is connected with the truth. The complete and careful instruction which the apostle was here giving was not intended to convey to them any mistrust on his part, as though they had not yet come to the proper knowledge of the truth. They had learned what all Christians should know with regard to the divine and saving doctrines. He knew that the truth of God's Word was the force which governed and controlled their lives. Truth has nothing in common with lying, with falsehood. Therefore all true Christians are well able to recognize, to detect, all teaching and living that is not in agreement with the truth. This knowledge they should utilize in keeping falsehood from gaining a foothold in their midst.
In one respect particularly the Christians must use all vigilance: Who is a liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-Christ, that denies the Father and the Son. Even in those days certain false teachers very carefully distinguished between Jesus and the Christ, saying that Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ was a supernatural power which was given Him at His baptism, which, however, forsook Him again when He suffered and died. Similar doctrines are being held by false teachers in our days. St. John, therefore, firmly maintains that the human and the divine nature were united in the person of Jesus Christ, and calls every one, in an expression which certainly is not lacking in force and clearness, a liar, if he denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the promised Messiah and Savior, the only-begotten Son of God, who was made man in the fullness of time. He that denies this truth thereby reveals his anti-Christian character, rejects all that God has revealed for our salvation, and denies all true knowledge of God. For he that denies the Son also denies the Father and can claim no fellowship with the Father.
This the apostle repeats with emphasis: Every one that denies the Son has also not the Father; he that confesses the Son has also the Father. To deny the Son as the Christ, as the Savior of the world, just as He revealed Himself in Scriptures, is to reject the Father as well, for the two persons are inseparably united; the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son, Joh_14:10. On the other hand, every person that confesses Jesus as He is revealed to us in the Scriptures, as the eternal Son of the eternal Father, as Jesus the Christ, has the Father, has fellowship with the Father, is united with the Father through the bond of true faith.
It follows from this discussion, so far as all true Christians are involved: So far as you are concerned, what you have heard from the beginning, let it remain in you; if that remains in you which you heard from the beginning, you, on your part, will remain in the Son and in the Father. To make his appeal emphatic, the apostle places the pronoun ahead: You at least; at any rate, so far as you are concerned, cling firmly to that which you heard from the beginning, let that Gospel-truth remain in you which you were taught at the time of your conversion. At that time they had accepted the truth concerning the person and office of Christ. This certainty was to continue a power in their hearts and in their lives. And if the unadulterated Gospel, as they had heard it from the mouths of the apostles, would remain the one basis of their faith, then they, on their part, would be sure to remain in the true fellowship with the Son and with the Father. As the Father and the Son entered into our hearts by faith in the Word, so they will remain in us by that same faith. If we but continue in His Word, then our discipleship will remain certain, then He will abide in us, Joh_15:1-6.
Then, also, we have the further certainty: And this is the promise which He Himself promised to us, eternal life. This is a promise which Jesus made time and again in the days of His flesh, that those that believe on Him should have everlasting life, Joh_3:15-16; Joh_6:24; Joh_6:40-47. If we keep that faith in the Father and in the Son, as in those that worked our salvation for us and in us, then He, as a reward of mercy, will take us up to the eternal home, to the blessings of salvation, to the bliss of heaven. Even though we are not yet enjoying the delights of this life with God, we are nevertheless possessors of its glory and bliss, and we know that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him until that day, Php_1:6; 2Ti_1:12. What a powerful incentive to faithfulness!