Be Ye Doers. . . Of The Word!

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22-NIV)

Who Is The Antichrist?
By: Edward E. Werner

The term "antichrist" appears only five times in the Bible, all of them in the epistles of John (I John 2:18-23; 4:3; II John 7). The term has been misapplied to many different symbols in the Bible by the religious world. Especially do they connect antichrist with the beast of Revelation and the man of lawlessness or man of sin of II Thessalonians 2. Throughout history, the antichrist has been identified as the Pope, Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, and others, including Saddam Hussein.

Generally people who have tied many unrelated prophecies and verses together think of the antichrist as a superhuman man. They believe there will be only ONE antichrist and that his coming is yet future to our time. This false idea has a novelty and sensational appeal to people. It makes for exciting speculation. But let's look a John's description and see how he describes antichrist.

First, antichrist is NOT a single military genius nor a world ruler, or anything similar to this. There are MANY antichrists. "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even how many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour." (I John 2:18) A very casual reading of this verse should make it clear that there are MANY antichrists.

The word antichrist can mean either "against Christ" or "in place of Christ." Either definition is accurate and very closely related. "Against Christ" indicates open opposition to the Lord and what He has taught us. "In place of Christ" indicates one who seeks to subtly take the place of Christ and teach his own philosophy.

Second, these antichrists were to come "in the last hour" (2:18), and were already present in John's day (4:3, II John 7a). John did not think of the "last hour" as some time in the distant future. John says the predictions of the coming of the antichrist were being fulfilled in his day as he wrote this letter. Because there were many antichrists already, John says, "From this we know that it is the last hour." What does he mean by "last hour?" The "last hour" or sometimes "last days" (Acts 2:17) refers to the time when the Christ (Messiah) would come to the earth to be our Savior. That had already happened. John says we know it is the last hour because antichrists have come. If Jesus had not yet come, there would be no Christ for the antichrists to oppose. The presence of antichrists is evidence that Christ has come; that it is the "last hour."

The Jews divided the daylight period of the day into hours. The comparison is made between a day and God's plan for this earth and His people (John 9:4, etc.). In thinking of this "day" of God's plan, we, since Christ has come, are living in the "last hour" of that day. When this Christian dispensation is over, Jesus will come again for His own. No one, not even the inspired apostle John knew when Christ's return would be. We continually live in the expectation of Christ's return at any time. It is the "last hour."

These antichrists are not some superhuman foe of Christ, but they are false teachers who are opposing Christ. There were many of them in John's day and he warns Christians about them. They have continued to be present in every generation since then opposing Christ and His work. There still are many antichrists in the world today. In the fourth chapter, John warns about "false prophets" (vs. 1), and speaks of the "spirit of error" (vs. 6). Right in the middle of this paragraph he describes the motivating spirit of these people as "the spirit of the antichrist" (vs. 3).

Third, these antichrists were people who had been thought of as Christians (and many have been at one time), but left the church because they no longer believed as the Christians did (I John 2:19).

John, according to history and tradition, spent the latter years of his life in Ephesus. This church is probably the receiver of this letter since he speaks of the Christians who will read it as "my little children." They were apparently people who had been taught and converted by him. This church had been warned by the apostle Paul that false teachers would come out of their own midst (Acts 20:29,30). Now John says this has already happened. The church there had remained faithful to Christ and had opposed these antichrists. "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us." (I John 2:19) Not all troubles in churches are for the worse. These experiences can be a purging of evil from the church. John makes a clear distinction between the faithful who "have an anointing from the Holy One" (vs. 20), and these who had left their number. He commands them as those who "know the truth," and accuses those who left of "lieing" and thus not of the truth (vs. 21). It is a sign of true love for God and His people when we do what we can to protect the children of God from false teachers.

The antichrist John had in mind that had been threatening some of the Christians then, had specific characteristics, but antichrist can take on many different forms. Anything or anyone who is "against Christ" is antichrist. To be against Christ is to oppose His teaching as well as His attributes. It is to deliberately reject His commands for our lives.

Finally, the antichrists that John warned against denied or at best did not confess Jesus as the Christ (I John 2:22,23; II John 7). They must have confessed Him as Christ at one time in order to be considered "of us." But they no longer believed that. Now they deny that Jesus is the Christ. These particular antichrists still claimed to be the children of God, but did not believe in the reality of the incarnation of Christ. This made them deceivers and liars. John explains that "whoever denies the Son does not have the Father." These false teachers must have been saying something like "It may be that we have different ideas from yours about Jesus, but we still worship and serve the same God." John's answer is that this is impossible! No one can deny the Son and still have the Father! Jesus Himself made this very clear (John 14:6-9; Matthew 10:32,33; 16:15-18). But when we confess the Son, we have the Father also (I John 2:23).

We have just looked at the only verses in the entire Bible that use the word "antichrist." It is obvious that "antichrist" is NOT a single world ruler that is to come in the future after the so- called "Rapture." Antichrist is anyone who is against Christ. There were many antichrists in John's day. They had been Christians at one time, but now were denying that Jesus was the Christ. Instead, their presence was evidence that Christ had come and that they were living in the "last hour," that last period of time that would begin with the coming of Christ to this earth to die for us on the cross. There still are many antichrists in our world. We still live in the "last hour." Let us not be led astray by them.