Bible Strands
1 John 2:22
Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — John writes to a community that already possesses the truth (v.21), drawing a hard line between them and those who deny Jesus as the Christ.
The words — ψεὺστης (pseustēs) carries the sense of "liar" in the strong, accusatory sense of one who fabricates against the truth; ἀρνοὺμενος (arnoumenos) is the present participle of ἀρνέομαι, "to deny, refuse to acknowledge," marking an ongoing posture rather than a single act.
The thread — The same identification recurs in 1 John 2:18 ("many antichrists have appeared"), 1 John 4:3 ("every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God… the spirit of the antichrist"), and 2 John 1:7 (those "refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh").
Why it lands — The verse fixes a single, non-negotiable test: denial of Jesus as the Christ is not one error among many but the defining mark of the liar. It asks the reader to stop treating this as a minor doctrinal disagreement and recognize it as the boundary John draws between truth and its opposite.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Cross-references
- 2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
- 1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.
- 1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.
- Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- 1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
- 1 John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
- 1 John 2:4 If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- 1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
- John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.