“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come….. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:18,22, ESV)
The letters written by the apostle John and found in the New Testament bear a glimpse not only of New Testament times but of the future. As John looked at the church of his day and their future, he saw dangerous times ahead. Lies about Jesus were taking hold in John’s churches. These lies were infiltrating churches and church people. These lies concerned the mission and importance of Jesus, for among the religious were those who denied Jesus as the Christ.
It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Why would people who deny Jesus as Christ be found among Christians? Well, the answer is not difficult. There have been and always will be those who believe Jesus was a great teacher but not Lord and Savior. John saw one group of these people as “antichrists”, people who were ANTI-JESUS. They fought against the notion that Jesus was the Son of God, Christ, Savior, and Messiah. They believed it their duty to lower the importance of Jesus in order to be faithful.
2 John 1:7 describes one group of these antichrists as deceivers. This verse teaches that “many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7, ESV). By linking these antichristian groups with the sin of deception, John was also describing the type of work these antichrists were doing in the church. They “deceived” followers to get them to disavow Jesus as the Christ.
What is deception? Who were these deceivers? Webster Dictionary defines deception as “the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid”. In deceiving the Christians in John’s churches, the antichrists were manipulating people into accepting lies about Jesus. They pressured people into believing that Jesus was not the Messiah. They taught that Jesus did not rise from the dead to become Lord. He was not the Son of God. He was not even divine. You may not realize this, but the early church fought long and hard against these beliefs for hundreds of years. The Gnostics of the first century believed Jesus did not die on the cross and was not fully human. They tried to infiltrate the Christian church and Christian theology. Marcionites in the second century tried to get the Christian churches to reject the God of the Old Testament and separate that “angry God” from Jesus. The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicaean Creed were circulated among the churches to stop these and many more heretical antichristian beliefs from gathering steam. (They are included below!)
There have been and continue to be antichrists in and among Christians. They continue to deceive, even today. The scriptures above from 1 John 2 proclaim this fact: “as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come….. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:18,22). The antichrists of John’s day were seen as people who manipulated the faithful into doubting or disbelieving in the Lordship of Jesus. They denied Jesus was the promised Messiah. They downplayed Jesus’ miracles, His death for our sins, His resurrection and ascension. Some of those antichrists may be in your church today. These notions are still being spread about Jesus. Even pastors and priests are susceptible to the lies.
In the book of Revelation, there is a vivid storyline of the end of the world. When the end comes, a Beast will rise up against the followers of Jesus. He will be the emissary of Satan. He, too, will use deception as a tactic to lure people away from Jesus (Revelation 13:14). His goal will be to end the faithful worship of Jesus. People will have to choose to believe Jesus or believe the Beast. In common fashion to the antichrists, the Beast will be determined to separate people from Jesus, separating people from the true God in Christ. The faithful will be those who stand up against deception and evil and the Beast. They will remain faithful until the end.
Billy Graham had a few words to say on the matter of the antichrists. In Wisdom for Each Day, he wrote the following:
“One of the characteristics of the antichrist who will come in the last days is that he will be “the deceiver” (2 John 1:7) who turns many away from God by his lies and apparent miracles. His very name—Antichrist—clearly indicates his character as well as his mission: he will be sent into the world as Satan’s representative to oppose God at every turn. …Is the antichrist alive today? No one can say for sure. But the Bible tells us a very important truth: the spirit of antichrist has often been among us. Satan is always at work to oppose God’s work, and some people deliberately take their stand with Satan, not God. (p. 172)
Because there are forces that seek to go against Christ Jesus, it is all the more important that your faith remain firm in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Don’t be deceived. Don’t let lies form doubt in your mind. Don’t let the world downplay the importance of Jesus. Don’t be swayed by manipulation of the Bible text, worldly ideologies, or political maneuvering. “Hold fast to the confession of hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). Our Lord, Jesus Christ, needs those who are faithful to His teaching, faithful to the Heavenly Father, following the direction of the Holy Spirit. Does this describe you?
What kinds of deceptions is Satan likely to throw at you? Are there areas of your faith being manipulated by worldly ideologies or evil strategies even today? Do you see evidence for those things and people that are ANTI-CHRIST?
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church (or the one holy universal Christian Church), the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Why would people who deny Jesus as Christ be found among Christians? Well, the answer is not difficult. There have been and always will be those who believe Jesus was a great teacher but not Lord and Savior. John saw one group of these people as “antichrists”, people who were ANTI-JESUS. They fought against the notion that Jesus was the Son of God, Christ, Savior, and Messiah. They believed it their duty to lower the importance of Jesus in order to be faithful.
2 John 1:7 describes one group of these antichrists as deceivers. This verse teaches that “many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7, ESV). By linking these antichristian groups with the sin of deception, John was also describing the type of work these antichrists were doing in the church. They “deceived” followers to get them to disavow Jesus as the Christ.
What is deception? Who were these deceivers? Webster Dictionary defines deception as “the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid”. In deceiving the Christians in John’s churches, the antichrists were manipulating people into accepting lies about Jesus. They pressured people into believing that Jesus was not the Messiah. They taught that Jesus did not rise from the dead to become Lord. He was not the Son of God. He was not even divine. You may not realize this, but the early church fought long and hard against these beliefs for hundreds of years. The Gnostics of the first century believed Jesus did not die on the cross and was not fully human. They tried to infiltrate the Christian church and Christian theology. Marcionites in the second century tried to get the Christian churches to reject the God of the Old Testament and separate that “angry God” from Jesus. The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicaean Creed were circulated among the churches to stop these and many more heretical antichristian beliefs from gathering steam. (They are included below!)
There have been and continue to be antichrists in and among Christians. They continue to deceive, even today. The scriptures above from 1 John 2 proclaim this fact: “as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come….. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:18,22). The antichrists of John’s day were seen as people who manipulated the faithful into doubting or disbelieving in the Lordship of Jesus. They denied Jesus was the promised Messiah. They downplayed Jesus’ miracles, His death for our sins, His resurrection and ascension. Some of those antichrists may be in your church today. These notions are still being spread about Jesus. Even pastors and priests are susceptible to the lies.
In the book of Revelation, there is a vivid storyline of the end of the world. When the end comes, a Beast will rise up against the followers of Jesus. He will be the emissary of Satan. He, too, will use deception as a tactic to lure people away from Jesus (Revelation 13:14). His goal will be to end the faithful worship of Jesus. People will have to choose to believe Jesus or believe the Beast. In common fashion to the antichrists, the Beast will be determined to separate people from Jesus, separating people from the true God in Christ. The faithful will be those who stand up against deception and evil and the Beast. They will remain faithful until the end.
Billy Graham had a few words to say on the matter of the antichrists. In Wisdom for Each Day, he wrote the following:
“One of the characteristics of the antichrist who will come in the last days is that he will be “the deceiver” (2 John 1:7) who turns many away from God by his lies and apparent miracles. His very name—Antichrist—clearly indicates his character as well as his mission: he will be sent into the world as Satan’s representative to oppose God at every turn. …Is the antichrist alive today? No one can say for sure. But the Bible tells us a very important truth: the spirit of antichrist has often been among us. Satan is always at work to oppose God’s work, and some people deliberately take their stand with Satan, not God. (p. 172)
Because there are forces that seek to go against Christ Jesus, it is all the more important that your faith remain firm in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Don’t be deceived. Don’t let lies form doubt in your mind. Don’t let the world downplay the importance of Jesus. Don’t be swayed by manipulation of the Bible text, worldly ideologies, or political maneuvering. “Hold fast to the confession of hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). Our Lord, Jesus Christ, needs those who are faithful to His teaching, faithful to the Heavenly Father, following the direction of the Holy Spirit. Does this describe you?
What kinds of deceptions is Satan likely to throw at you? Are there areas of your faith being manipulated by worldly ideologies or evil strategies even today? Do you see evidence for those things and people that are ANTI-CHRIST?
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church (or the one holy universal Christian Church), the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.