1 John 2:23

23 He who has no belief in the Son has not the Father: he who makes clear his belief in the Son has the Father.

1 John 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 John 2:23

Whosoever denieth the Son
Jesus Christ to be the true, proper, natural, essential, and eternal Son of God:

the same hath not the Father;
or does not hold the Father; or "believe the Father", as the Syriac version renders it; for there cannot be a father without a son; and he that honours not the Son, by owning him as such, honours not the Father; whatever reflects dishonour on the Son, reflects dishonour on the Father. If Christ is not truly and properly the Son of God, the Father is not truly and properly the Father of Christ; if Christ is only a Son in a figurative and metaphorical sense, the Father is only a Father in a figurative and metaphorical sense; if Christ is a Son only by office, then the Father is a Father only by office, which is monstrously stupid. Such an one does not hold the true doctrine of the Father, and does not appear to have true faith in him, true love unto him, or real interest in him, only by profession:

[but he that acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also]:
this clause is left out in many copies, and stands as a supplement in our version; but is in the Alexandrian copy, in four of Beza's manuscripts, and in some others; and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions; and confirms and illustrates what is before said; for as he that denies the sonship of Christ cannot hold the paternity of God, so he that owns the sonship of Christ, the second Person, maintains the paternity of the first; for these two are correlates, and mutually put, or take away each other: no mention is made of the Spirit, because, as yet, no controversy had risen concerning him.

1 John 2:23 In-Context

21 I have not sent you this letter because you have no knowledge of what is true, but because you have knowledge, and because that which is false has nothing in common with that which is true.

22 Who is false but he who says that Jesus is not the Christ? He is the Antichrist who has no belief in the Father or the Son.

23 He who has no belief in the Son has not the Father: he who makes clear his belief in the Son has the Father.

24 But as for you, keep in your hearts the things which were made clear to you from the first. If you keep these things in your hearts you will be kept in the Father and the Son.

25 And this is the hope which he gave you, even eternal life.