1 John 2:22-24 – Denial that Jesus is the Christ

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist: he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. — 1 John 2:22-24, Restoration Light Improved Version.

One author states concerning the above verses: "According to 1 John 2:22-23, belief in the blessed Trinity is not optional but critical to having a true faith toward God." Another states regarding "apostates": “According to 1 John 2:22-23 they will deny the Trinity.” Another states: “Beware when you deny the trinity your [sic] not TRULY saved 1 John 2:22.” On one site we find the following statement: "First John 2:18–27 warns against those who oppose Christ in their teachings. These 'anti-Christs' deny that Jesus is God. They reject Him as part of the Trinity, or claim He did not appear in the flesh." Another states: "And so if we read 1 John 2:22 in light of what he says, by the way, 'not only in 1 John 4:1-3, but about five other times in this gospel or in this letter' we see that John's concern is people who are basically teaching that God has not incarnated the second person of the Trinity in the flesh; that is, that the Messiah is to be distinguished from Jesus of Nazareth." One claims: "Well, to deny the Trinity is heresy.' And then 1 John 2:22 IS given as "proof" that to deny the trinity is heresy, although, in reality, there is nothing in that verse about denying the added-on trinitarian dogma. 

Thus, it would seem that many "see" either the “the trinity” in 1 John 2:22-23, and/or that they "see" Jesus as being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:13,14) in 1 John 2:22-23. The trinitarian often furthers "sees" in 1 John 2:22-23 that the Father is one person of the triune God, and that Jesus is another person of the triune. And then, based on what they “see” in 1 John 2:22-23, they would claim that anyone else who does not “see” this must be antichrist, or, at least not Christian. It should be obvious, however, that many trinitarians and oneness believers are “seeing” something in what John wrote that is not stated. As of yet, we have not found anyone who has ever attempted to explain what it is in 1 John 2:22-23 that refers to any triune God, or that Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Indeed, it appears to be simply presumed, and the presumption is taken for granted.

Actually, John wrote nothing at all about denying the trinity; he wrote nothing at all about denying that Jesus is Jehovah; he wrote nothing at all about there being two, or three persons, in one God; he wrote nothing at all about Jesus as being the God of Abraham. Indeed, throughout the New Testament, the Father of Jesus is always presented as being the God of Abraham; not once do we find any scripture that identifies Jesus as being the God of Abraham (although many read that thought into many scriptures). John no where presents the idea of "incarnation" as taught in the doctrine by that name, that is, that the Almighty Jehovah incarnated himself in, or took on, flesh, making himself both the Supreme Being (having the glory of being above all creation) and human being (which would scripturally mean having the glory of being a little lower than the angels) at the same time.

Thus, plainly there is nothing 1 John 2:22-24 that says anything at all about denying belief in an alleged “Blessed Trinity"! There is a mention of the Father and Son, but no mention of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing at all in 1 John 2:22-24 that presents any concept of what is usually called the trinity nor is there anything there at all that says anything about Jesus being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We can only conclude that that many are presuming that the dogma of men is the basis of faith and thus that they imagining beyond what is written that 1 John 2:22-24 condemns any who disagree that dogma. — 1 Corinthians 4:6.

Do the scriptures ever present such an idea that Jesus has to be the God of Abraham in order to save mankind? Absolutely not! Such has been imagined, assumed, added to, and read into the scriptures, but in reality, the only requirement for the sent savior is that he be a sinless man, who unlike Adam, is kept righteous by obedience to the God of Abraham. Indeed, by adding to the Scriptures that Jesus is the God of Abraham, one, in effect, annuls the scripture that tells us that Jesus condemned sin in the flesh, for Jesus -- if he were God Almighty in the flesh -- would have, in effect, demonstrated that in order to obey Jehovah, that man has to be Jehovah. This would not condemn sin in the flesh, but rather it would justify sin the flesh, proving that the only way that Adam could have obey Jehovah was that Adam would have needed to have been Jehovah.

See:

The Price of Redemption – God or Man?

Did Jesus Have to Be Both God and Man in Order to be the Mediator?

No, John did not write about denying any doctrine of men that has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into the scriptures, such as the triune God dogma. He was talking about denying the Son, which, in effect, also denies the Father, since it was the only true God who sent the Son (John 17:1,3), and the only true God performs His works through His Son. — 1 Corinthians 8:6.

Jesus was sent by the Lord Jehovah, speaks for Jehovah as one person who is God and Father, Jesus represents Jehovah, and it was only one person who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who raised and glorified His Son. Jesus never claimed to be, nor do the scriptures present Jesus as, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom Jesus represents and speaks for. — Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Matthew 22:32; 23:39; Mark 11:9,10; 12:26; Luke 13:35; 20:37; John 3:2,17,32-35; 4:34; 5:19,30,36,43; 6:57; 7:16,28; 8:26,28,38; 10:25; 12:49,50; 14:10; 15:15; 17:8,26; 20:17; Acts 2:22,34-36; 3:13-26; 5:30; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 11:31; Colossians 1:3,15; 2:9-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:1.

Let us examine further. John wrote: “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” “Christ” means “anointed”. Who anointed Jesus, making him the Christ? We find that the Messiah is quoted in Isaiah 61:1 as prophetically stating, “Jehovah ... has anointed me.” (Isaiah 61:1) Jesus applied that prophesy to himself. (Luke 4:18-21; see also: Psalm 45:7; Acts 2:36; 10:38; Hebrews 1:9)  Thus, to deny that Jesus is the Christ is not to deny that Jesus is Jehovah, but to deny that Jesus is the one whom Jehovah anointed and sent.

While there were many in John's day who denied that Jesus was the one whom Jehovah anointed (Isaiah 61:1), Satan has been at work to mislead many people to create dogma beyond what is written that, in effect, would deny the God and Father of Jesus and that Jesus is really the Son of the only Most High, Jehovah. Indeed, it is the trinitarian that tends toward denying that Jesus really is the Anointed of God, since it would add to what is written in the bible that Jesus is a person of a triune God. Likewise, any who claim that Jesus is Jehovah (Yahweh, as some prefer) would, in effect, tend toward denial that Jesus is the one anointed by Jehovah. Trinitarians try to explain this away by calling upon the spirit of human imagination so as to imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scriptures that it was not their triune God who anointed Jesus, but that it was only one person of their triune God, the Father, who anointed another person of their triune God, both of whom they claim are “fully God”. Some of the oneness believers, with their spirit of human imagination, have claimed that it is one aspect of God who anointed another aspect of God, etc. Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and some other groups, on the other hand, claim that Jesus is Jehovah, and the Father is not Jehovah, and thus, if they would be consistent in application of their reasoning, the Lord Jehovah of Isaiah 61:1 could not have possibly anointed Jesus.

1 John 1:1-3 – That Which Was From The Beginning

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
1 John 1:2 (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us).
1 John 3:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. – World English.

That was from beginning, which we have heard, what we have seen to the eyes of us, which we viewed, and the hands of us felt, about the Logos of Life, and the life was manifested, and we have seen and we hearing witness and we are reported back to you the life everlasting which was with the Father and it was manifested to us, — which we have seen and we have heard, we are reporting back also to you, in order that you sharing, you may be having with us: the sharing with our Father and the Son of him, Jesus Christ. — 1 John 1:1,2, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible translation.

1 John 1:1-3 is often cited to support the trinity doctrine, and sometimes to support the oneness doctrine. Actually, anyone who refers to this as proof that Jesus is Jehovah has to call upon his imagination so as add assumptions to, and read those assumptions into what John was stating, in order to “see” such  in what John stated. Let us examine the verse carefully to see if John was writing about a triune God.

“That which was from the beginning.” It is often assumed that by “the beginning”, John was writing about the same “beginning” that he wrote of in John 1:1. This is evidently done because of what they imagine and assume that concerning the "beginning" in John 1:1 is referring, that is, that Jesus had existed from eternity past.  We have discussed the beginning of John 1:1 elsewhere, and have shown that contextually it is referring, not the to beginning of all creation, nor even the beginning of the creation of the material universe, but rather the "beginning" of the world of mankind upon the planet earth.  We highly doubt that the beginning in 1 John 1:1 refers to the "beginning' in John 1:1, since in 1 John 2:7, John again refers to “from the beginning”, but in the latter verse it should be obvious that the commandment those to whom John wrote had “from the beginning” is not speaking about their existence in the beginning before the world of mankind was made through Jesus.  -- John 1:10; 17:5.

1 John 2:7 - Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. -- World English

Likewise in 1 John 1:1-3, the “beginning” evidently is referring to the time period of when Jesus was yet in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), since John speaks of seeing the Logos with his eyes, and handling him with his hands (John 1:14); likewise, it was while Jesus was in the days of his flesh that he gave his commandments. -- John 13:34,35; 15:12,17/

1 John 1:1,2 expresses in different words basically the same thing John spoke of elsewhere in his Gospel. In the human Jesus was life, a life in himself given to him by his God (John 1:4; 5:26; 6:57), a life which brought to light life and incorruptibility (1 Timothy 1:10). The first man, Adam, was created incorrupt, upright (straight) (Ecclesiastes 7:29), but he was corruptible since it was possible for him to disobey (Genesis 2:16,17), and rather than proving himself incorruptible, Adam disobeyed, and thus fell short of the glory of God. (Genesis 3:6) Thus, through Adam's disobedience, all mankind have under subjection to vanity and a bondage of corruption ever since (Ecclesiastes 1:2,13,14; Romans 5:12-19; 8:20-22), from which they cannot make themselves straight (justified). (Ecclesiastes 1:15; 7:13; Acts 13:39; Romans 3:20) While man under the present sun of vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11) could not provide a new creation that is not crooked (Ecclesiastes 1:10), God could do so, which he did by preparing a body of flesh and blood for his son (Hebrews 10:5) that is not under the bondage of corruption that is upon the whole creation (the world of mankind). Unlike Adam, who also had life in himself given to him by God yet gave up that life in disobedience, Jesus never disobeyed, and retained the right to that human life for eternity, but which life he willingly sacrificed for all who are dying due to Adam’s disobedience. — John 12:47,48; Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; Hebrews 10:10; 1 John 2:2.

As a result of Jesus’ sacrifice of his rights to eternal human life, he became the means of such life to those who are dying in Adam, so that those who figuratively eat of his flesh and drink of his blood in faith may also be accounted, reckoned, imputed, as having been justified, having life in themselves as human sons of God, awaiting an actual placement as sons in the resurrection. — John 6:53; Romans 4:3-24; 6:11.

Some seem to imagine that 1 John 1:1 reads “that which was from eternity”, and from that read that Jesus had an eternal past. However, the Hebrew word for “beginning” does not mean eternity, nor is there any scriptural reason to imagine such an idea as related to what John wrote.

The life -- the eternal life which was with the Father -- was revealed to us through Jesus, while Jesus was in the days of his flesh. The word “with” here is from the Greek word often transliterated as “pros” (Strong’s #4314). It is the same word that is usually translated “with” in John 1:1.  The word does not mean exactly the same as “with” in the sense as we often use that word in English, but it does express an intimate relationship. “The life” spoken in 1 John 1:2, however, is not the “life” that Jesus had when he was in celestial glory before the world of mankind was made through him. (John 1:10; 17:5; 1 Corinthians 15:40) John did not see the life Jesus had before he became flesh -- a life in celestial glory  (1 Corinthians 15:39-4) -- while Jesus was in the days of his flesh, since Jesus did not possess that glory at that time. John did see the glory of terrestrial life, a little lower than the angels, as Adam could have had it if Adam had remained obedient. (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 5:7-9) While Jesus was in the days of his flesh, “in him was life” (John 1:4), and it was that glory that John saw, felt and touched. (John 1:14) Adam’s life, before he sinned, was “with God”, in intimate relationship with God, but that relationship became severed through sin. After his sin, Adam fell short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that fallen condition spread to all men through Adam; the effects of what Adam did are reversed in the life of Jesus. Jesus never disobeyed, and had the right to everlasting life in him as a human, but he gave up that life in sacrifice to redeem what had been lost through Adam. — Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.

The scripture states, "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ."  (John 1:3, World English) Some read into this that John was saying that the Father and his Son are equal to each other, and that they are therefore two persons of the one triune God.  For the oneness believers, we suppose they might read into this that it speaking of two aspects or manifestations of the "one God." Actually, there is no scriptural reason for assuming that the Son is equal to his Father, and certainly nothing in this that gives anyone reason to imagine and assume that Jesus and his Father are two persons of a triune God, or that the Son is the one God who is his Father. -- 1 Corinthians 8:6.

Now with regards “the Father” and the word “God”.  In 1 John 1:5, the word “God” is used, but does it refer to a triune God, or is Jesus included as being "God"? It should be obvious that “God” in 1 John 1:5 identifies only person, and that is “the Father”, since 1 John 1:7 identifies Jesus Christ as the Son of this “God”. Thus, Jesus Christ is distinguished from "God" and is not being spoken of as a person of “God” or any other way as being "God", but is, in fact, being excluded from being the “God” that is referred to by John.

What is not found in John 1:1-3 is any thought that the "one God" of whom are all (1 Corinthians 8:6) is more than one person, nor is there any thought presented that would mean that Jesus is the "one God" of whom are all. 

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1 John 5:11

One, referring to 1 John 5:11 asks: "How can eternal life be in the Son if he is not eternal life, with no beginning and was not created?"

Since there is no scripture that says that in order have eternal life in him that one has to be not created, the question throws up a false premise, and then argues based on the false premise. But what 1 John 5:11 actually saying?

1 John 5:11 reads:

And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life (does God give to believers life "from everlasting past to everlasting future?] , and this life [that believers have received from God] is in [Strong's #1722, by means of, through] his Son.  -- American Standard Version.

and this is the testimony, that life age-during did God give to us, and this -- the life -- is in [Strong's #1722] His Son -- Young's Literal.

John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 

John 3:15 - that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [Strong's #1722] Jesus Christ our Lord. -- Romans 6:23, King James Version.

This scripture should be viewed in harmony with Romans 6:23 as well as 1 Corinthians 8:6 and many other scriptures that reveal that Jesus is God's instrument in giving life. God is the giver of life, and Jesus is the instrument by which the life is given. "God" in 1 John 5:11 is identified as only one person, and "his Son" is distinguished from being "God". This is simply and easy to understand, but most trinitarians, desiring to see "trinity" in this verse, will present a lot of reasoning based on the acceptance of the trinity by which, according to their reasoning, Jesus here is being presented as being the alleged uncreated second person of their imagined triune God.  That eternal life here does not mean uncreated life is apparent in the fact that God gives this life to believers. Is God giving uncreated life to believers? This life is given from God through Jesus, in harmony with the princple set forth in 1 Corinthians 8:6.

John wrote that this life is "in" his Son. The Greek word "EN" (Strong's #1722) could refer to life inside the Son, but since this iis referring the life that God gives to believers, it certainly isn't referring to an uncreated life, not unless you wish to believe and every believer becomes uncreated upon being giving this life. The Greek often transliterated as EN (Strong's #1722) often is used in the Bible to denote instrumentality, and this is obeviously the meaning as John uses it in this verse.

Regardless, there is definitely nothing in 1 John 5:11 that presents the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being three persons, or that presents Jesus as being a person of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All such has to imagined and assumed, added to and read into what John wrote

By Ronald R. Day, Sr.

Related Studies:

John 5:20 - This is the True God
Micah 5:2 - From Everlasting or From Days of Old?


References:

Greek text analysis of 1 John 5:11

Bible Hub definitions of Strong's #166
Studylight definitions of Strong's #166

Bible Hub definitions of Strong's #1722
Studylight definitions of Strong's #1722