The Antichrist and His Antichrists

The Antichrist! What comes to mind upon hearing this name? Do you think of a person? A president? A world dictator? Do you think of some future event? Now, consider how you came to your understanding of the Antichrist. Movies? Novels? Dante's Inferno? YouTube videos? Rap songs? As a Christian you are called by God to dive into His word in order to mine Truth, dispel lies, and recognize heresy. Because close-held beliefs of the end times, known as eschatology, inform our understanding of who God is, I ask you to consider only what the Bible teaches about the Antichrist and those called the antichrists who are ruled by the spirit of the Antichrist. As we approach John’s letters, the following points can help deepen our study of this topic:

First, we need to understand that the word “antichrist” occurs in John’s letters only and no where else in the Bible (2:18,22; 4:3; 2 John 7). This name is a combination of anti, meaning "against" or "instead of," and Christos, meaning "Messiah," "Christ," "anointed One." So, antichrist simply means “one who opposes Christ; His enemy with a view of taking His place.”

Second, John tells the first century Church that although they had heard that the Antichrist would come in the future, the future is “even now” (1 John 2:18). The Antichrist was already present at the time of John's writing. John explicitly states that the spirit of the Antichrist, "even now is already in the world" (1 John 4:3). Since the Antichrist was present in John's lifetime, we as GCT in 2025 must heed his warning to watch for the Antichrist and his antichrists.

Third, John tells us who the Antichrist (singular) is. The Antichrist is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22), one who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:23), and one who does not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3; 2 John 7).
Fourth, John tells us that antichrists (plural) had already come by the time of the writing of his letter. The Antichrist is not just one person, unknown until right before Christ's return. John saw the spirit of Antichrist produce many antichrists in his time. While these might culminate in some future, final Antichrist, John (the only New Testament writer who uses the term) does not communicate this. It is possible that the Antichrist may be the same as the Man of Lawlessness and Son of Perdition (2 Thes. 2:3-4), The Lawless One (2 Thes. 2:8), and possibly the Beast (Rev. 13:1-10). That is for a later discussion.

Fifth, John warns the church that these antichrists were individual people who had been part of the Church. They had spent time with them, fellowshipped with them, and even shared a meal together. They were friends; their children played together, and yet John calls them antichrists. They had abandoned the apostolic teaching they heard from the beginning. They decided to deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God made flesh to take away the sin of the world.

What do John and the Holy Spirit want us to do with this teaching on the Antichrist? We are not to look to current events, today’s news, politicians rising, or nations clanging their swords to determine who is the Antichrist. Instead, John says, look within your local church for the spirit of the Antichrist. Who do you see and hear denying that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God made flesh to take away the sins of the world? That is how we protect ourselves from The Antichrist.

See you Sunday, opposing antichrists: Steve