1 John 2:22 - Exposition

Who is the liar, but he that denieth, etc.? From the lie St. John passes on to the utterer of it. "Ye readily distinguish any lie from the truth. Who, then, is the liar?" "The liar" does not mean the liar κατ ἐχοχήν , as if this denial constituted the very acme of falsehood. To deny the very existence of God is surely a worse lie. Still less can we say that "the context leaves no doubt that 'the liar' is the same with 'the antichrist.'" The article ὁ ψεύστης refers to the preceding ψεῦδος , just as in 1 John 5:4 , 1 John 5:5 ὁ νικῶν refers to the preceding νίκη . The very form of sentence is the same: τίς ἐστιν ὁ νικῶν … εἰ μὴ ὁ κ . τ . λ . and there ὁ νικῶν cannot mean the victor, κατ ̓ ἐχοχήν , who is Christ, and not the believer. So that the Authorized Version is not so very inaccurate in rendering ὁ ψεύστης "a liar." "Who tells lies, if not he who denies (and says) that Jesus is not the Christ?" This was the great Gnostic lie to which St. John's Gospel and Epistle give the answer. The antichrist is this, he who denieth the Father and the Son. "The antichrist" here is not the great adversary, but one having similar characteristics. He denies the Messiahship of Jesus, and thus virtually denies both the Father and Son. This truth St. John proceeds to restate and develop.