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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.”
Recent decades have seen an increase in interest in eschatology, the doctrine of last things. Sadly, the eschatological views of many Christians seem to have been formed more by fiction that purports to be based on Scripture than by the careful study of God’s Word. Many of these fictional portrayals tell the story of the Antichrist, a final, maliciously evil human opponent of the Lord Jesus Christ who leads His enemies against Him.
Of course, many Christians throughout history have believed that an Antichrist will arise just before Jesus returns and will muster the forces of evil for one final attempt to defeat the Savior and overthrow His kingdom. During the Reformation, for example, the Protestant Reformers often referred to the pope, or at least to his office, as the Antichrist. Christians in other eras have proposed other figures as the Antichrist. Focusing on a final Antichrist, however, tends to obscure the full biblical witness on the subject.
The term antichrist appears only in the Johannine Epistles—1 and 2 John—and first in today’s passage. John the Apostle says both “that antichrist is coming” and that in his day “many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18). That mention of multiple antichrists indicates that even if there is one final Antichrist, he will be only the culmination of many other antichrists who came before him. John Calvin comments that in the Apostle’s day, “some particular sects had already risen, which were forerunners of a future Antichrist.”
Later, in 1 John 4:3, the Apostle John describes the “spirit of the antichrist” as one who “does not confess Jesus.” In other words, the spirit of antichrist manifests itself anytime Jesus and the truths about His person and work are rejected. Such a spirit fuels all opposition to the Savior, whether that opposition comes from a false prophet, the leader of a non-Christian religion, adherents of other non-Christian faiths, or simply an apathetic agnostic who neither embraces Jesus nor shows overt hostility to Him.
Some texts suggest a final, personal enemy of Jesus who could be called the Antichrist. For example, the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 could be the consummate Antichrist if Paul is talking about the far future and not the events of his own day. Nevertheless, it is more important to oppose the spirit of antichrist wherever it shows itself than to identify the final Antichrist.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Many Christians focus their attention on nailing down the precise order of final events and the identity of the last Antichrist. Even if there is a final Antichrist, however, not all of us will live to see his arrival. Yet all believers will have to contend with the spirit of antichrist in various forms as it manifests itself in the rejection of divine truth. We will be able to fight back against such a spirit effectively only if we know and love the truths of God’s Word.
For further study
- Isaiah 14:12–14
- Daniel 7:1–8
- 1 John 2:22
- Revelation 13
The bible in a year
- Obadiah 1–21
- Revelation 8