A liar is someone who’s lost and in denial of all truth. John calls out the liar; It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22), If someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. (1 John 4:3) The liar may acknowledge some aspects of who Jesus is, but does not accept the true message of Jesus as both fully human and fully divine. More importantly, this “antichrist” fails to admit that the Father cannot be separated from the Son, that the two are of the same essence, that the Father has revealed himself in his Son, that God has given himself to us to be known only in Christ. This “liar” may claim to believe in God and worship God, but without Jesus he searches for God in vain, rejecting He who manifested himself to us through Christ. The liar rejects the truth and creates a dangerous fiction.
John emphasizes that he is writing to the believers. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth (1 John 2:20). Truth is something a believer knows, not because they have absorbed factual information, but because they have accepted and lived it in faith. There is only one real truth, and truth and lies are in opposition to each other.
John is warning the believers about the antichrist. Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. (1 John 2:18 see also 1 John 4:3). This is a frightening prediction, as we tend to think of evil when we hear the title “antichrist”. The prefix anti means against or opposite of. Each person reading this was once an antichrist, some possibly still are. John’s warning is two-fold. He warns of THE antichrist, the evil spiritual power which works to defeat us. But we also must be wary of those who speak a message that is not based in the deity of Jesus. These are antichrists and knowingly or not, they are working with spiritual powers which will keep us from the abundant life God has for us.
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ~1 John 5:4-5
Working the Truth into your life:
