We also need to be recovered from the divisive and apostate ground with its deviation from the truth concerning the person and work of Christ. One such deviation from the truth concerning Christ’s person is mentioned in 1 John 2:22 and 23. Verse 22 says, “Who is the liar if not he who is denying that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who is denying the Father and the Son.” Even in the first century, certain heretics said that Jesus was not the Christ. Denying that Jesus is the Christ was the heresy of Cerinthus, who distinguished the maker (creator) of the world from God and represented that maker as a subordinate power. He taught adoptionist Christology, saying that Jesus became the Son of God by exaltation to a status that was not His by birth, thus denying the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. In his heresy Cerinthus separated the earthly man Jesus, regarded as the son of Joseph and Mary, from the heavenly Christ. According to John’s word, Cerinthus was an antichrist because he denied that Jesus is the Christ.
In verse 22 John tells us that the antichrist denies the Father and the Son. To confess that Jesus is the Christ is to confess that He is the Son of God (Matt. 16:16; John 20:31). Hence, to deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Father and the Son.
In 1 John 2:22 we see that the principle of antichrist is to deny what Christ is. Jesus is the Christ, Christ is the Son of God, and the Son of God is the embodiment of the Father. To deny any aspect of this truth is to deny something of what Christ is and thereby to follow the principle of antichrist.
In verse 23 John goes on to say, “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who confesses the Son has the Father also.” Because the Son and the Father are one (John 10:30; Isa. 9:6), to deny the Son is to be without the Father, and to confess the Son is to have the Father. In verse 23 to deny the Son refers to the heresy that denies the deity of Christ, not confessing that the man Jesus is God.
First John 4:2 and 3 say, “In this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is out of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus, is not out of God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world.” Here we see that the discernment of spirits is based upon whether or not a spirit confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh. Because the spirit of a genuine prophet is motivated by the Holy Spirit of truth, this spirit will confess the divine conception of Jesus and confirm that He was born as the Son of God.
Jesus was conceived of the Spirit (Matt. 1:18). To confess Jesus coming in the flesh is to confess that He was divinely conceived to be born as the Son of God (Luke 1:31-35). Since He was conceived of the Spirit to be born in the flesh, the Spirit would never deny that He has come in the flesh through divine conception.
The word “flesh” in 1 John 4:2 is very important. As human beings, we were all born of flesh to be flesh (John 3:6a). Thus every human being is flesh. To confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh is to confess that He was divinely conceived to be born as the Son of God. Christ is God incarnate to become a man through holy conception. He did not have a human father, for He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Although He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, this conception took place in the womb of a virgin. Therefore, He, the very God, became a man in the flesh. Contrary to the false teaching of the Docetists, who taught that Jesus Christ was not a real man but simply appeared so, Christ’s body was not a phantasm. On the contrary, He had a real body, a physical body that was solid in its substance. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; He became flesh and was born of the virgin Mary. Because He was conceived of the Spirit to be born in the flesh, the Spirit would never deny that He has come in the flesh through divine conception.
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