How Can We Recognize the Antichrist?

Dave Jenkins

2021

19 Jan

man in suit holding white mask behind his back

The word antichrist evokes imagery of the end times, particularly of the book of Revelation. In Revelation, we learn about the end game of Satan along with his unholy Trinity, the false teacher, the antichrist, and Satan himself. John the Apostle in 1 John wants to help his readers understand that there isn’t only an Antichrist in the future, but also antichrist’s now.

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What Does the Bible Say about the Antichrist?

The antichrists John speaks of in 1 John 2:22 are those that deny Jesus is the Christ. These false teachers deny the Son and thus the Father because of the full identity of life and purpose shared by the Father and the Son (1 John 1:2; 1 John 2:23). The shared life by the Father and the Son is the life manifested to the people of God in Christ (1 John 1:2), proclaimed to them in the gospel (1 John 1:3), and promised to all who believe in Christ (1 John 2:25). Since Jesus is the Christ, our eternal life is sure in Him (John 3:36; 5:24; 1 John 5:11-12).

In 2 John 7, John says, “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.” 1 John 4:2-3 helps us understand that only those who confess the Son Jesus and the Incarnation are those who come from God. Those who do not confess Jesus is the Christ has come in the Incarnation are antichrists.

1 John 2:22 says, “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.” In 1 John 2:18, we read, “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.”

There are only four references to the word antichrist in the Bible, and I’ve just quoted all of them. The infrequency of the references does not mean that it is insignificant. Nor does it mean that these antichrists will represent the diabolical Antichrist in Revelation 13:1-10, or of the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

From Cerinthus in the 2^nd Century to Joseph Smith in the 19^thcentury and from the earliest Arians to Jehovah's Witnesses, today Christians face challenges to the deity of Jesus from all sides. Christians should not be offended to see these significant religions under the antichrist category or say that the fight is with them. Our real spiritual battle is not with flesh and blood, and people are not opponents to be won. Instead, we preach the gospel faithfully from the Word and make disciples of all the nations. We also contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) by speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

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What Are the Characteristics of the Antichrist?

1 John teaches that there will be those who fall away from the faith and abandon orthodoxy. Such people are those who have made empty professions of faith and who never possessed true and saving faith. Those born of the Lord by the Holy Spirit will, by grace, persevere (Philippians 1:6).

1 John 2:19 applies to all who deny the faith in the local church. It is the leaving of the false teachers, though, that prompts John’s writing of this particular verse. The false teachers were those many antichrists that will come (1 John 2:18). While we await the day of the final Antichrist, today, we have lesser antichrists who will come beforehand and who are here now. Those antichrists are liars, and those who possess eternal life are to recognize when and where the spirit of the antichrist occurs. 1 John 2:22 teaches Christians that the one who denies that Jesus is Christ is a liar and an antichrist.

In view here, in this denial of the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, is not only a denial of Jesus the Messiah but of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is critical to biblical orthodoxy and an important way Christians can be assured of salvation (1 John 1:1-4). The false teachers' John is countering accepted the view of Cerinthus, who called Jesus the Christ but denied the apostolic definition of the title. Instead of seeing Christ as the eternal Son of God who became Incarnate, followers of Cerinthus were convinced Jesus was a mere man, His entire life only possessing the spirit of Christ.

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How Can We Be Aware of the Antichrist or False Prophets?

John wrote 1 John towards the end of the first century to help his audience and God's people today to be assured of their salvation. False teachers had come into the church and tried to tempt genuine Christians to abandon the faith (1 John 2:19). These teachers had caused some to doubt their faith, so John aims to correct these teachers' errors by giving three tests to determine the authenticity of our faith. These tests are belief in the Incarnation, holy living, and love (1 John 1:1-5). If someone denies that Jesus is the Son of God become Incarnate, they have the spirit of the antichrist (1 John 2:18-25).

Christians are those who walk in the light, not in the darkness. This is not perfectionism but means they have their hearts set on obedience to the gospel. Such Christians eagerly admit their sin when they learn of it and flee to Christ for forgiveness (1 John 1:5-26). Genuine Christians love God rather than the world and love their fellow brothers and sisters (1 John 2:7-17).

John in 1 John 2:28-29 gives the mark of the holiness of those who are born again. In 1 John 2:28, John teaches for the second time in his letter that his readers and Christians today must abide in Jesus. To abide in the Lord Jesus, according to 1 John 2:28, refers to the practice of personal righteousness (1 John 2:29). 1 John 2:27 emphasizes this foundation when it says that to abide in Christ is to believe apostolic doctrine. Biblical doctrine informs right living, and right living corroborates with biblical doctrine (1 John 1:6).

The personal righteousness John is speaking of assures the people of God of their salvation because it reflects the character of God the Father. In 1 John 2:29, John uses “him,” a reference to God the Father. It is only those who practice righteousness who have been born of God. Just as children resemble their parents, so too will there be a resemblance between the Father and His children.

1 John 2:28 helps readers understand Christians will not be ashamed at the Second Coming if they abide in Christ. Our efforts do not get us into heaven, but they do reflect we have been born of God. Furthermore, they give confidence to Christians, knowing they are in Him and He in them. If you are not confident today of the final judgment, ask yourself if you neglect the righteousness of God. If so, repent, trust in the righteousness of Christ alone, and endeavor to walk in holiness just as God is holy.

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Examples of False Teaching

Paul is also concerned, as the Apostle John, about the spread of false teaching. Among the false teachers “are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some” (2 Tim. 2:17b–18). Hymenaeus is probably the same man whom Paul condemned for blasphemy in 1 Timothy 1:20. No one knows precisely what Hymenaeus said, though his false teaching about the resurrection may connect to the Greek disdain for the body.

Challenges to biblical teaching on the body and the resurrection were common in the early church. Errors spread in opposite directions. One party said that bodily pleasures are dangerous so that believers should practice self-denial (1 Tim. 4:3). Another party said that bodily pleasures are inconsequential so that believers can indulge themselves (1 Cor. 6:12–20; 15:32–34). Later Gnostic literature spiritualized the resurrection, reducing it to enlightenment. The idea that “the resurrection has already happened” (2 Tim. 2:18b) may represent an acute case of realized eschatology. That is, this view taught that believers already lived, in full, in the age to come.

Apostasy causes harm. The messages of false teachers are bound to upset the faithful. Paul insists, “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity’” (2 Tim. 2:19).

False teaching may roil the church, but it cannot wreck its foundation with its foundation built on the apostles, the prophets, and ultimately upon the person and work of Christ (Eph. 2:20). Nothing can reverse God’s saving acts. He protects his own until the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2; 1 Peter 1:3–7). Their salvation is certain, for God has written their names in the book of life (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:4–5).

There Will Always Be False Teachers

It upsets believers when people such as Hymenaeus and Alexander “swerve” from the faith that they once proclaimed. Still, if anyone doubts his status, Paul reassures them by quoting Numbers 16:5: “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). Numbers 16 describes the rebellion of Korah. Korah gathered 250 leaders of Israel to accuse Moses and Aaron of usurping Israel's leadership (Num. 16:1–3). In Numbers, Moses asked God to judge between him and Korah, saying: “The Lord will show [or ‘make known’] who is his” (v. 15 ESV or NRSV).

Paul follows the Septuagint, which read, “The Lord knows who is his.” God knows who does and does not belong to him. He knows who leads and speaks truly. God called Moses and Aaron; he did not know Korah, who soon perished. Similarly, the Lord also knows that Hymenaeus and his allies are self-appointed and false. So God’s people can stay calm. There are always false teachers, and God always unmasks them eventually (Matt. 7:22–23; 25:12; Luke 13:27).

To Hymenaeus and his tribe, Paul commands, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19b). That is, if they genuinely call on the Lord, they will forsake their rebellion, lest the Lord exclude them and shame them (Pss. 5:9–10; 6:8–10). The Lord promises to preserve his church despite the threats caused by heretics. Korah did not destroy Israel, and no one can destroy the church. Further, the Lord summons self-designated believers to forsake their ideas and conduct. Paul’s invitation to “depart from iniquity” echoes Moses’ exhortation to the Israelites to depart from Korah, lest they die with him when judgment comes (Num. 16:25–35).

Christians trust that God’s foundation stands. Jesus said, “I know my own, and my own know me” (John 10:14). This knowledge includes the grace of preservation. Jesus lays down his life for his sheep and promises that “they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28–29).

The Westminster Confession of Faith 17.1 states the point carefully: “They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”

Dave Jenkins is happily married to Sarah Jenkins. He is a writer, editor, and speaker living in beautiful Southern Oregon. Dave is a lover of Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology. He serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, and is the Host for the Equipping You in Grace Podcast. He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Parler, Youtube, or read his newsletter. Dave loves to spend time with his wife, going to movies, eating at a nice restaurant, or going out for a round of golf with a good friend. He is also a voracious reader, in particular of Reformed theology, and the Puritans. You will often find him when he’s not busy with ministry reading a pile of the latest books from a wide variety of Christian publishers. Dave received his M.A.R. and M.Div through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.