1 John Bible Study: Antichrist as defined by John's Epistles (3)

1 John Bible Study: Antichrist as defined by John's Epistles

Last Week’s Recap:

Last week we learned that walking in the light requires that the Christian love his/her brother and sister, and that one obey’s Christ’s commandments.

We should understand that we believe that the whole Word of God is inspired, infallible, and inerrant. Meaning that all scripture is given for reproof and correction according to 2 Tim 3:16. The whole Bible should be our school master as to how to walk a holy life. However, we should understand that John’s context here is to love God and love the church. Hatred toward one another and a faulty Christology leads one into a doctrine of error.

Beginning Text:

1 Jn 2:18-22 “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”

Lesson Connection:

“Finding the cross to be an embarrassment, a mythological accretion perhaps, some have sought a Christology emptied of any sacrificial soteriology. This was most apparent in a conference sponsored by the World Council of Churches and underwritten in large part by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).15 From November 4–7, 1994, 2,200 people from 49 states and 27 countries filled the Minneapolis Convention Center to “reimage” God. The conference called for a “Second Reformation” that would begin radical theological surgery on the church’s belief systems. Essentially the conference developed a new anchor for truth. The foundation for Christian theology would no longer be in the historic events of salvation recorded in the Bible. The star of the show, instead, was Sophia (Wisdom)—a long-suppressed feature of the biblical tradition, which resides principally within the female psyche. To the reimagers, Sophia never takes a historic, particularistic form, but appears in many ways and in many spiritual traditions. South Dakota Indian tribal dances and Zulu rituals are equal contributors for theological reflection. The conference program was explicit: Sophia is the place in us where the entire universe resides. For a multicultural, therapeutic society like ours, this is religion made-to-order. Self-discovery is the platform for divine revelation. It is most important to note that in this church setting, historic Christology was totally dismantled. The target of the conferees was the cross. Christian soteriology promoted violence, they claimed. A father killing his son is a formula for child abuse. One speaker (Delores Williams) did not disguise her convictions at all, “I don’t think we need a theory of atonement at all. I don’t think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff…. We just need to listen to the god within.””

Burge, Gary M.. The Letters of John (The NIV Application Commentary) (pp. 206-207). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

Defining Antichrist for John’s Epistles

In lesson 1 of this series we discussed “the war on Christ’s image.” The very concept of the Antichrist brings the enemy glaring the church in the eyes front and center.

(Krause 2022, n.p.) For John, the term Antichrist means “substitute Christ.” This pretender was the god of those who taught the secessionists’ doctrine; hence, the reason John wrote the first epistle to begin with.

Often, we hear that a son of perdition is coming, while some believe he is already on the scene. However, it should be noted that the Antichrist was on the scene dating back to John’s day.

Let us look at two vital text within 1 Jn dealing with the Antichrist:

1 Jn 4:3 “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.”

2 Jn 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.”

Now for reference let us turn to 2 Thess 2:3:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thess 2:3)

Indeed, there is coming a “man of lawlessness,” however, we should take not that the spirit of antichrist has been present in this world long before today. If Christ tarry’s, where we should be painstakingly aware that He is coming back soon, we should understand that the church will continue to be in combat with the spirit of antichrist.

Let us look to what the spirit is defined by - “confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh”

For a Docetist, the christ they believed in would be a replacement Christ of what John new as the Messiah. Hence, we should guard ourselves from religions that teach that they serve Christ, but fail to acknowledge that he came in the flesh and was fully God and fully man.

The doctrine taught by the spirit of Antichrist is one that denies that Christ has come in the flesh.

To deny that Christ has come in the flesh is to deny Incarnational Theology. Let us go back to Jn 1:14

Jn 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

And now...

1 Jn 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Under the Law, man had to know God through location. For example, they knew God through worship at the Tabernacle and then the Temple.

The Tabernacle was preferred by God and orchestrated by God, where Solomon’s Temple was built by man. Solomon would build a Temple and state, “a place for you to dwell in forever.” The reality, as stated by the prophets, is that God does not dwell in buildings made by man. To clarify, God honored the Temple as a place of worship, but God’s original design was the Tabernacle. Jesus was the NT Tabernacle in which all could see the glory of God.

It is only through Jesus that the same Spirit can reside in us.

Light cannot fellowship with darkness

Jesus is the atonement for our sins…he is the tabernacle and the ultimate sacrifice

What religions of the modern world can you think of that deny Christ’s incarnation? What religions can you think of that deny Christ’s portrayal through Scriptures? (2nd question to be continued next week…do not have them answer)

Conclusion

Christ died on the cross so that all could be saved.

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The enemy, in this case spirit of Antichrist, would try and fool Christians into believing in a false Christ. A replacement Christ.

The spirit of Antichrist has battled the church since John’s day; hence, it should not be a surprise that we battle it today.