1 John – Testing to Know – Test 6 Part A

Test #6 Becoming an Anti-Christ

1 John 2:18 – 19
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Wow – When I first read this verse, I couldn’t understand it.  Why wasn’t antichrist capitalized?  And why is John saying that there are many antichrists?  And that antichrists have already arrived in the first century?

Didn’t he know the Bible taught of the one coming Anti-Christ who would rule the world, work with Satan and have a false prophet as a side kick?

Let’s consider what the Bible says about  antichrist.  As a matter of fact, lets consider what 1st and 2nd John says about the antichrist, since this topic is restricted to these two books.

Four verses in all the Bible speak of antichrist.  Let’s see what they can teach us.

1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

This verse, which we are currently looking at, simply defines the occurrence and timing of the coming of antichrist.

• They are coming.
• They are present, that is, in the first century at the time of John’s writing.
• And they signify it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22
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.

This verse actually gives us a definition of antichrist.  A deceiver and denier of both the Father and the Son

1 John 4:3
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

A bit more definition of antichrist – one that does not confess Jesus (as Lord).  Also that there is a spirit associated with antichrist.

2 John 1:7
For 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.

John’s second epistle describes antichrist as a deceiver and denier of the humanity of Christ.  This is 1 John 2:22 retold!

So, as a test for believers, 1 & 2 John is instructive regarding antichrist.  Defining antichrist gives guidance for believers.

Our particular set of verses in 1 John 2:18-19 speak of consistency of faith.  Perseverance in following the Jesus described in the Bible, who has been raised from the dead, ascended bodily into heaven, and reigning from above.

In summary, these verses speak of antichrist not continuing with the family of God. This verse is often called upon to defend an Augustinian theology, but that is not my goal with this blog.  I would like to be practical for once.

A living faith in the Son and the Father requires a living relationship with His people.  Continue with His people, or it may appear that in pulling away from a fellowship of believers, the actions of antichrist are being replicated.

Dear reader, do not fall for the teaching that is popular nowadays, that church can be virtual, that Christianity can be lived through a monitor.  A monitor does not have a beating heart for God, a sense of belonging with one another.  The television monitor becomes a barrier in fulfilling these exhortations.  The family of God is a one another community.  We need each other.

I will publish a list on “one another” commands found within the New Testament in our next installment.

I hope you found a truth that was helpful in your life within this post.  Drop me a line, or send this post to a friend that you thought of recently.

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