What is the antichrist?

[orbiter]

Peace in Christ.

The “antichrist” means the “instead-of” Christ.

The term refers to a false Christ (“another jesus” who is an “antichrist”) that is being preached by a false prophet as a substitute/imposter/decoy for you to accept and be deceived by and follow after rather than the real Jesus the Christ. There are many antichrists…..many different Jesuses being preached….all with the same goal: to cut off the life of the true Christ from being made manifest in this earth.

Their version of “jesus” is a “wild beast” and not the Lamb. The daily sacrifice of the Lamb is being removed in the lives who are being deceived by them…..and so His eternal life is never made manifest. No mortal flesh is currently being saved.

Their “jesus” is the “son” of their father and not THE Son of THE Father in Heaven. Their “jesus” is served by the keeping of the church’s codified handwriting of ordinances which is set up in their “church" and is used to judge others with….and so they continue to serve sin by doing so.

When we see the term “antichrist”, just read in the name “Jesus” in front of it to get a sense of what is being talked about: the preaching of another “jesus” who is not the Christ but a product of the spirit/breath of the antichrist.

They preach “another jesus” with another spirit to you and the source of their words in their preaching is not of the Spirit of Christ. It is not the true Christ speaking to us but a decoy of Satan and his ministers that are working in conjunction to deceive .

From Matthew 24: The MANY false prophets come forth in His name…. the name of “Jesus”… and proclaim that the “Jesus” that they are preaching is the real Christ (“I am THE Christ) when in reality they are coming forth in the name of “another Jesus” the antichrist.

They say that their “Jesus” is THE (definite article) Christ and cause MANY to receive “him” and lead many astray away from the Way of righteousness that leads to the real Christ’s eternal life being made manifest in their mortal flesh. Following after them leads us down the broad way to our mortal death.

Mat 24:4-5
(4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
(5) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am THE Christ; and shall deceive many.

They want you to choose their “jesus” the antichrist to follow after thereby denying the real Jesus THE Christ.

Their preaching is of the spirit or breath of the antichrist and they cut off (from those they are deceiving ) the eternal life of the real Jesus from being made manifest in our mortal flesh. NO FLESH is being saved….but God will cut short these days of tribulation we have been living in.

Mat 24:22-25 KJV
(22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
(23) Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

False prophets are at work in tandem with another breath/spirit that is preaching a false Christ.

(24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
(25) Behold, I have told you before.

The hallmark of the preaching of false prophets is this: they do NOT preach that Jesus IS COMING now in our mortal flesh to give us eternal life in the here-and-now. This is not about His coming 2000 years ago but is about His life being made manifest now in this mortal body.

1 John 4: (2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

They do not preach that our mortal bodies are to be redeemed in this earth via the coming of the eternal life of the real Jesus. It is to be made manifest in our current mortal bodies….and not after we “die and go to Heaven” as universally preached by them.

He that IS COMING shall arrive and NOT DELAY. The false prophets are preaching that Jesus is delaying His coming.

After we have done the will of God, we shall receive the promise: eternal life. And that eternal life is to be had in the here-and-now…..NOT in the “here-after”.

Heb 10:36-37
(36) For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

The good news is for us NOW (salvation is NOW). He is NOT DELAYING His eternal life for us. The false prophets are neglecting to preach that He is coming now in our mortal bodies....thereby saying that He is delaying His coming.

(37) For yet a little while, and He that IS COMING will arrive, and will NOT DELAY.

This is the good news of Jesus Christ whose eternal life shall arrive in our current mortal flesh when we keep His “daily sacrifice” (always dying to sin) in our lives.

We are to ALWAYS bear about in this mortal body the dying of the Lord Jesus (the keeping of His “daily sacrifice”) so that His life is made manifest in this mortal body….in this mortal flesh.

2Co 4:10-11 KJV
(10) Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
(11) For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Do not believe the spirit the false prophets are universally preaching with because they are not of God.

1Jn 4:1-3 KJV

(1) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Every spirit/breath that “confesses” (meaning to acknowledge or speak the same thing) that Jesus Christ IS COMING now in the flesh (our mortal flesh) is of God.

(2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

Every false prophet is not preaching this.

This good news is absent from their words as they are not preaching that the eternal life of Jesus is to be made manifest in our mortal flesh. They do not preach that Jesus Christ IS COMING now in the flesh….our mortal flesh. They are not looking for His coming in that way.

They are not then preaching the doctrine of Christ but one of the “antichrist”.

Jesus DELAYS HIS COMING: They are preaching that Jesus SHALL COME some day in the future when their “jesus” is already here via the words they are preaching.

This is why John is making the contrast here. We have all heard via their preaching that Jesus SHOULD COME someday but “he” is already now in this world being preached via their spirit/breath that preaches error about the gospel.

They are preaching that Jesus “DELAYS His coming” (he should come) and are not looking for His coming in our current mortal flesh (the manifestation of His eternal life there).

Their deceived congregations are perishing in their mortal flesh while they are still “waiting” for their “prince” who shall come....another Jesus ....to arrive and have missed the true message of the gospel…the good news…for us in the here-and-now.

(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.

Again, MANY deceivers have entered the world and are not “confessing”….acknowledging…that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh…our mortal flesh. The false prophet (the deceiver) is preaching instead “another jesus” who is the instead-of the true Christ.

2Jn 1:7 KJV
(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.

The many false prophets currently preaching in the world are the “people of the prince who SHALL COME” as they preach that Jesus is “delaying His coming”….which is NOT the gospel/good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The people of the prince that SHALL COME (as they preach that Jesus delays His coming) destroy the “sanctuary”. The “sanctuary” is the mortal body….the temple of the Spirit of God.

Dan 9:26 KJV
(26) And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Our mortal body is the “sanctuary” that is being destroyed by them…..by their preaching of “another gospel” and not the true good news of Jesus Christ who IS COMING now in our current mortal flesh which gives us His eternal life when He arrives there.

1Co 6:19-20 KJV
(19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
(20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

They cut off the Messiah. They actively cutting off the manifestation of the eternal life of the true Christ by the deception of another good news that they are preaching: Jesus supposedly shall come some day in the future rather than IS COMING now in our mortal flesh to give us His eternal life in this earth.

 

[timothyu]

It simply avoids the Kingdom and leads all back into the world.

 

[Jonaitis]

"Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour."
– 1 John 2:18

The author speaks of a particular antichrist coming sometime near the letter's penning, because, he states, it was already the last hour. Furthermore, he notes that many antichrists have already appeared during the author's lifetime.

"They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us."
– 1 John 2:19

This gives us another clue as to the meaning of his previous statement. They abandoned the faith, and it demonstrated that they followed these other antichrists.

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father."
– 1 John 2:22-24

So there is a denial and there is a confession of the apostolic doctrine—that Jesus is the christ. The author seems to suggest that a continual confession of this doctrine that was heard from the beginning indicates an abidance in the father and son.

"And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is manifested, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."
– 1 John 2:28

The author speaks of a loss of confidence, a shrinking away, a shame at christ's return.

"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this."
– 1 John 5:16

It seems that the author later in the epistle speaks of sin leading to death, which one should not pray on behalf of such a person who commits it.

"We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols."
– 1 John 5:19-21

Why does the author speak of idols? Was it a random command, or does it refer to the what was discussed about the "antichrists"?

In my investigation, and from a historical standpoint, the author may have been stressing over the persecutors of the church. It may be that the author is referring to the practice of making sacrifices to deified emperors and/or their gods, which was a prominent dilemma characterized of the early church in its beginning. It may be that the denial spoken of, as men like Eusebius wrote, referred to a recantation of one's faith in christ, and the confession spoken of referred to one's endurance under this coerced oppression. The "antichrist" and the many other "antichrists" may have been supporters, or possibly the rulers themselves, that forced such a denial of the faith in ways that tried to persuade christians to compromise their doctrine. The sin that the author may have spoken of that lead to death was failure to make the good confession before their persecutors, and that this was too shameful for one to supplicate on their behalf, having denied the faith. This makes sense, for what grosser sin was there at that time than to compromise one's faith in respect to the state? Some historians after speak of such actions as the complete denial of the faith, and left no open-end story in their biographies. Idolatry to the state may have been one of the biggest focuses in this epistle.

This is simply my take.

 

[d taylor]

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The antichrist is the same person as the false prophet. He brings worship to the beast, who is also known as Paul's man of sin and the king of the north from Daniel.

 

[eleos1954]

THE antichirst is ultimately satan, antichirsts in the general sense (spirit of antichrist) is manifested in many different ways and is very deceptive.

2 Corinthians 11:14
New International Version
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

How not to be deceived?

Matthew 4

New Life Version​

4 But Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live on bread only. Man is to live by every word that God speaks.’”

Study and know His written word.

 

[timothyu]

Also antichrist is simply putting our will ahead of the will of God, be it a person or a system. Most of the world runs on self will .

 

[Clare73]

Also antichrist is simply putting our will ahead of the will of God, be it a person or a system. Most of the world runs on self will .

The reference point for the meaning of antichrist is Christ, not the human will.

 

[timothyu]

The reference point for the meaning of antichrist is Christ, not the human will.

Right. The human will generally runs opposite to the will of Jesus *making it anti ). That is why He represented a counter-culture of the day.

 

[Clare73]

Right. The human will generally runs opposite to the will of Jesus *making it anti ). That is why He represented a counter-culture of the day.

The culture of Israel during his day was the Law.
Everything was governed and judged by it.

He did not run counter to that culture.

 

[timothyu]

He did not run counter to that culture.

No He didn't . What ran counter was the concept of putting the will of God ahead of the will of man. The same thing God has been saying since the Garden. This not only applied to all of us but directly threatened the foundation of self our world system is built upon and was used by both Rome and the Sanhedrin alike..

 

[Clare73]

No He didn't . What ran counter was the concept of putting the will of God ahead of the will of man.

You seem rather uninformed on the Mosaic law. . .

 

[timothyu]

You seem rather uninformed on the Mosaic law. . .

Sorry, I fail to see your point.

 

[Clare73]

Sorry, I fail to see your point.

The Mosaic law was the culture of Israel.

 

[timothyu]

The Mosaic law was the culture of Israel.

Yes, however... Rome, the Sanhedrin and people in general still put their self interest ahead of the will of God. Jesus taught the opposite.

 

[Clare73]

Yes, however... Rome, the Sanhedrin and people in general still put their self interest ahead of the will of God. Jesus taught the opposite.

That's like saying people in general still breathe.

Fallen man can do nothing else but put his will ahead of the will of God and there is no fixing that apart from the rebirth of the Holy Spirit.
That is not going to change this side of glory.

 

[timothyu]

Fallen man can do nothing else but put his will ahead of the will of God and there is no fixing that apart from the rebirth of the Holy Spirit.
That is not going to change this side of glory.

That attitude that defends it over the will of God must change. It is called repentance. We may never overcome ourselves (our selfish nature which the 10 C's points out) in this life but Jesus set the example of everything of the Kingdom being opposite to the thinking of man, even as shown in his humble life, so we at least should proclaim our allegiance to God's will being the better way over ours. Otherwise we become Lord lords. Imagine a world where the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid was flipped to be on top.

 

[Clare73]

That attitude that defends it over the will of God must change. It is called repentance. We may never overcome ourselves (our selfish nature which the 10 C's points out) in this life but Jesus set the example of everything of the Kingdom being opposite to the thinking of man, even as shown in his humble life, so we at least should proclaim our allegiance to God's will being the better way over ours. Otherwise we become Lord lords. Imagine a world where the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid was flipped to be on top.

The NT is more than the gospels.

Unregenerate man can do none of those things (Ro 8:7-8, 1Co 2:14, Jn 3:3-5).

 

[timothyu]

The NT is more than the gospels.

Possibly so but Jesus and the Kingdom comes first.

 

[Clare73]

Possibly so but Jesus and the Kingdom comes first.

Nope. . .it's all God's word. . .none is to be set aside or ignored for another.

 

[timothyu]

Nope. . .it's all God's word. . .none is to be set aside or ignored for another.

It's not being set aside. It is simply a part of the whole, the Kingdom of God overturning man's rule.