Go! And Confess The True Christ - 1 John 2:22 Series

Go! And Confess the True Christ - 1 John 2:22

“And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.”

Introduction: Knowing the Real Jesus Matters

Church, I want to begin with a question that echoes through eternity:

Who do you say Jesus is?

Not just with your lips, but with your heart, your life, and your soul.

Because Scripture warns us—not everyone who speaks the name of Jesus knows the real Jesus. Some deny Him, others distort Him, and some even deceive themselves.

And that is the burning issue at the heart of 1 John 2:22.

Today, we continue our “Go! And…” series with this vital message:

“Go! And Confess the True Christ”

Because eternal life is not found in a concept, a creed, or a culture—it is found in Christ alone.

1. The Crisis of Denial (1 John 2:22)

“And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.”

John writes this letter toward the end of the first century.

False teachers—particularly Gnostics—had crept into the church. They denied the incarnation, claiming Jesus wasn't truly human, or wasn't the Christ in the flesh.

The Greek word for “Christ” here is ???st?? (Christos), meaning “Anointed One,” the Messiah.

To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the very heart of the Gospel.

John doesn’t mince words—those who do this are liars, and even more—they are antichrists. That word, ??t????st?? (antichristos), means one who is against Christ or in place of Christ.

To deny Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Father also. You can’t have one without the other.

John 14:6 (NLT): “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’”

There’s no other path to God. No alternate route. Deny Christ, and you are spiritually lost.

Tim Keller: “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that He said. If He didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what He said?”

Keller reminds us that Christ is not optional; He is central. The resurrection proves His identity. If He is the Christ, our response must be full surrender.

Our modern world offers many versions of Jesus—social reformer, wise teacher, spiritual guru—but not all are true.

We must confess Jesus as the Christ—the only Saviour, the risen Lord, the Son of God.

2. The Foundation of Truth (1 John 2:20-21)

Let’s look just two verses earlier for clarity:

“But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.” (1 John 2:20–21, NLT)

God has given believers the Holy Spirit, the ???sµa (chrisma) or anointing, to discern truth from lies.

We live in an age of deception—fake news, false teaching, cultural confusion. But the Spirit leads us to Christ-centred truth.

John 16:13 (NLT): “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”

This isn’t about subjective feelings; it’s about Spirit-led conviction rooted in Scripture.

R.T. Kendall: “The Word and the Spirit must come together. If you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up. If you have the Spirit without the Word, you blow up. But if you have both, you grow up.”

This is spot on. We need biblical truth empowered by the Spirit’s illumination. That’s how we know the real Jesus.

Stay rooted in the Word. Walk in the Spirit. Don’t let TikTok theology or pop-culture prophets confuse you. The truth has a name—Jesus Christ—and the Holy Spirit testifies of Him.

3. The Cost of Denying Christ (2 John 1:7, 9)

“I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist... Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God.” (2 John 1:7, 9 NLT)

John repeats the warning in his second epistle. Again, Gnostic heresy was denying the physical incarnation of Christ.

To reject the true Christ—fully God and fully man—is to cut yourself off from a relationship with God.

The word for “deny” here is ?????µa? (arneomai), meaning “to reject, disown, or repudiate.” It implies willful opposition.

This isn’t ignorance—it’s rebellion. And it is eternally dangerous.

John Piper: “Eternal life hangs on knowing and believing the right Jesus.”

Piper cuts to the core—salvation is not about sincerity, it’s about truth. We must believe in the Jesus revealed in Scripture—not the Jesus we create in our imagination.