The Spirit of Antichrist

The Antichrist Spirit is working to destroy the church from within, especially through deception propagated by false teachers.

In popular preaching, the Antichrist is a political tyrant intent on conquering the world. However, Jesus and his Apostles were more concerned with the deceivers who spread false teachings inside the Church than they were with outside political powers. The New Testament applies ‘Antichrist’ and related terms to false teachers that infiltrate the Body of Christ and distort the Apostolic Teachings.

[Abandoned Church - Photo by Luc Constantin on Unsplash]

The “Antichrist Spirit” is manifested in deceivers and their activities in the Church. The only New Testament author to employ the term is John in two of his epistles, in which he warned his congregations that:

• “It is the last hour! And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now, many antichrists have come. Thereby, we know it is the last hour” – (1 John 2:18).

John did not deny that an individual “Antichrist” will come, but in the meantime, many “antichrists” already are invading the Church. Among other things, they deny the genuine humanity of Jesus:

• “With this know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” – (1 John 2:18-22, 4:1-6).

The Greek term translated as “antichrist” is a compound formed with the noun ‘christos’ (“anointed”) and the preposition ‘anti’. The latter term denotes “instead of” rather than “against.” Thus, an “antichrist” is someone who attempts to counterfeit the Son of God and replace him with a false Christ, a faux anointed one. An “antichrist” is not ‘against Christ’, but ‘instead of Christ’.

The “antichrists,” plural, to whom John referred were false teachers who “went out from us, but they were not of us <…> But they went out, that it might be plain that they all were not of us.” These deceivers were not pagan philosophers or the representatives of Caesar, but men who began by working in the Church.

John admonished his congregations to test all things since Satan floods the world with deception at every opportunity:

• “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” – (1 John 4:1).

As John warned, the “Spirit of the Antichrist, of which you heard that it is coming, it is already in the world.” These “antichrists” are false teachers who disrupt the Church and deny that the man Christ Jesus is the Messiah. They are not national, military, or political leaders of the larger world, but religious charlatans:

• “For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” - (2 John 7).

The Apostle Paul warned of the coming “Man of Lawlessness.” In 2 Thessalonians, he describes an individual who will deceive believers. This figure will use “signs and deceitful wonders” to cause many believers to abandon their faith. He will be revealed when he “seats himself in the Sanctuary of God,” a description more religious than political - (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).

Elsewhere, Paul uses the term “Sanctuary of God” or ‘naos theou’ (ναος θεου) metaphorically for the Church, and not for any stone building in old Jerusalem. Like the “Spirit of the Antichrist,” the “Mystery is Lawlessness” is working even now to prepare the way for the arrival of this Master Deceiver - (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8).

Paul links this “Lawless One” to the coming “Apostasy,” the great “departure” from the Faith expected before the “Day of the Lord” begins. When this “Son of Destruction” is revealed, his activities will be “in accord with those of Satan”:

• “The Spirit says expressly that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons” – (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, 1 Timothy 4:1).

BEASTS AND DECEIVERS

In the Book of Revelation, after his failed attempt to destroy the Messianic “Son,” the “Great Red Dragon” departed to “wage war against those who have the Testimony of Jesus Christ,” namely, the followers of Jesus Christ - (Revelation 12:17).

Likewise, the “Beast from the Sea” is authorized to wage “war” against the “saints and to overcome them.” In both visions, Satan attacks the saints through his earthly vassals, the “Beast from the Sea” and the “False Prophet.” The goal is to destroy the Church, not to wage war on nation states - (Revelation 12:17, 13:7-10).

In the Seven Letters to the “Churches of Asia,” Satan attacks these congregations with persecution, but more so, he uses deceivers, the “false apostles,” the “Nicolaitans,” the “doctrines of Balaam,” and the “Prophetess, Jezebel” to mislead believers so they compromise their faith and “eat meat offered to idols” - (Revelation 2:10, 2:18-29).

Jesus began his 'Olivet Discourse' with a dire warning about coming deceivers, “false prophets,” and “false anointed one” hellbent on deceiving the “Elect of God,” and even using miraculous signs to achieve their malevolent ends:

• “Beware lest anyone deceive you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and deceive many <…> and many will fall away <…> and many false prophets will arise and deceive many <…> False anointed ones and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect” - (Matthew 24:4-23).

The stress in Christ’s warning is on the term “many.” Deceivers will come, and alas, they will succeed in deceiving many of God’s elect.

Deceivers strive to hoodwink us, the disciples of Jesus. They are driven by the “Spirit of Antichrist” to mislead and otherwise fool us. The “Man of Lawlessness” will appear before the return of Jesus, but the “Mystery of Lawlessness” is working even now to ready things for this figure’s unveiling. So, also, the “Spirit of the Antichrist” is at work even now laying the foundation for the final Antichrist – (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9).

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SEE ALSO:

• Howling Imposters - (The New Testament warns repeatedly of coming deceivers and false prophets who will cause many to depart from the faith)

• The Apostasy - (Paul warned the Thessalonians of the future apostasy, which he linked to the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction)

• The Coming Storm - (The New Testament warns of a future apostasy caused by deceivers and the Son of Destruction, the Lawless Man, before the Day of the Lord arrives)

• O Espírito do Anticristo - (O Espírito anticristo está trabalhando para destruir a igreja a partir de dentro, especialmente através do engano propagado por falsos mestres)