J
JohnWilliams
Guest
There are only 4 verses in Scripture that contain the word antichrist. If you have doubts search the Blue Letter Bible blueletterbible.org/index.html (KJV quoted below):
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Clearly, from the verses above, antichrist is a SPIRIT, or THE spirit, that lives in the heart of anybody that denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or denies that Jesus Christ IS come in the flesh. Thus, every man that denies the Father and the Son is antichrist, and also is an antichrist (Jewish blindness, however, may be a separate issue in this regard).
Since there are billions of antichrists - and no shortage from John’s day forward - there cannot be a single antichrist - not then - not today - not ever. An individual antichrist can only ever be just ANOTHER antichrist. One of the reasons the Lord had John write so late ws so he could address heresies that had already arisen plentifully in the church.
The following verse is sometimes abused in an attempt to suggest a single past or future boogeyman, but Scripture shows us how to understand this verse perfectly:
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
We can develop our understanding hermeneutically by looking to another verse that also uses the term antichrist in a singular fashion:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
You can see the singular “that”, “spirit”, “it” in this sentence and singular “antichrist” just like the singular “antichrist” in 1 John 2:18. The translators gave us a little extra push in 1 John 4:3 by inserting the word [spirit] a second time, further clarifying that the spirit of antichrist is this singular entity. Now look at how perfectly this understanding works in the “little children” verse:
John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that [the spirit of] antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Finally look also at how beautifully parallel these two verse snippets are:
“ye have heard that antichrist shall come”
“ye have heard that it should come”
Can it really be any more obvious than that?
Look at the fruit of misunderstanding. Some orthodoxy (Greek) says “the” “Antichrist” was Nero. Perhaps over and done with. Futurists are looking for some future “antichrist” boogeyman like that of the silver screen in the “Left Behind” series. Others you can find on the internet, of which there is no shortage, proffer guesses from the leader of Spain, to the Pope, to Ronald Reagan.
Meanwhile there are 1.5 billion antichrists in Islam alone. This doesn’t even count the atheist neighbor down your block where your kids go to hang out. The Church has been decieved into looking in the wrong place. Has the Church’s misguided effort to look for some single boogeyman, past or present, also made it look like so much buffonery to those outside of the Church?
Satan has succeeded in removing the term antichrist from our everyday Christian vocabulary - except - as regards a fabled individual. When was the last time you heard a Christian casually refer to the atheist down the block as an antichrist? Ask the guy next to you in Church next Sunday who “The” “Antichrist” is.
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Clearly, from the verses above, antichrist is a SPIRIT, or THE spirit, that lives in the heart of anybody that denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or denies that Jesus Christ IS come in the flesh. Thus, every man that denies the Father and the Son is antichrist, and also is an antichrist (Jewish blindness, however, may be a separate issue in this regard).
Since there are billions of antichrists - and no shortage from John’s day forward - there cannot be a single antichrist - not then - not today - not ever. An individual antichrist can only ever be just ANOTHER antichrist. One of the reasons the Lord had John write so late ws so he could address heresies that had already arisen plentifully in the church.
The following verse is sometimes abused in an attempt to suggest a single past or future boogeyman, but Scripture shows us how to understand this verse perfectly:
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
We can develop our understanding hermeneutically by looking to another verse that also uses the term antichrist in a singular fashion:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
You can see the singular “that”, “spirit”, “it” in this sentence and singular “antichrist” just like the singular “antichrist” in 1 John 2:18. The translators gave us a little extra push in 1 John 4:3 by inserting the word [spirit] a second time, further clarifying that the spirit of antichrist is this singular entity. Now look at how perfectly this understanding works in the “little children” verse:
John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that [the spirit of] antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Finally look also at how beautifully parallel these two verse snippets are:
“ye have heard that antichrist shall come”
“ye have heard that it should come”
Can it really be any more obvious than that?
Look at the fruit of misunderstanding. Some orthodoxy (Greek) says “the” “Antichrist” was Nero. Perhaps over and done with. Futurists are looking for some future “antichrist” boogeyman like that of the silver screen in the “Left Behind” series. Others you can find on the internet, of which there is no shortage, proffer guesses from the leader of Spain, to the Pope, to Ronald Reagan.
Meanwhile there are 1.5 billion antichrists in Islam alone. This doesn’t even count the atheist neighbor down your block where your kids go to hang out. The Church has been decieved into looking in the wrong place. Has the Church’s misguided effort to look for some single boogeyman, past or present, also made it look like so much buffonery to those outside of the Church?
Satan has succeeded in removing the term antichrist from our everyday Christian vocabulary - except - as regards a fabled individual. When was the last time you heard a Christian casually refer to the atheist down the block as an antichrist? Ask the guy next to you in Church next Sunday who “The” “Antichrist” is.
but the answer varies on the person being asked
