The word “antichrist” is only used in the epistles of John. As you have heard, the antichrist is coming, and even now many antichrists have come. This is the final hour, dear children. Who is lying here? The guy is the one who contests Jesus’ divinity. According to 1 John 2:18, 22, “such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”
We already know a great deal about the antichrist from these verses. God the Father and God the Son are denied by the antichrist. Anti means “against,” and he accomplishes this by opposing them and by attempting to replace Christ (anti also means “in place of”). Thus, the antichrist pushes us off from authentic God-worship.
The spirit of the antichrist
The fact that the antichrist is both one and multiple people is another crucial thing we learn from this passage. Everyone who rejects Jesus embodies the antichristian attitude. There are a lot of antichrists in that sense. The spirit of the antichrist is evident in everyone who attempts to stand in for Jesus and get the respect that He is due. Every Christian, regardless of age, must combat this mentality by holding fast to what the Bible says about Jesus Christ.
However, John forewarns about the impending arrival of the one antichrist. There will be one individual in whom the antichrist’s spirit is most blatantly evident at the end of the world, [before Jesus returns]. He truly is the antichrist.
The antichrist announced in the Bible
About this antichrist, Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12. He claims he will do “counterfeit miracles,” be “lawless,” and get involved in “every sort of evil.” By doing so, he will trick a lot of people. Many churchgoers who have never [personally accepted Jesus as their Savior] will be included in this. In Matthew 24:24, Jesus Himself warns us not to fall for the tricks of “false christs and false prophets.”
We learn more about the antichrist in visual language in Revelation 13. This chapter informs us that the antichrist will hold authority in both politics and religion. He will be extremely powerful, persecuting and killing God’s children.
We do not need to be afraid
What can we learn about the antichrist from what the Bible says? First, according to Revelation 13:10, we are called to [struggle for our faith] in patient perseverance and loyalty. Second, we have faith in the truth when we are God’s children, so we don’t have to worry about being duped (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Third, the identity of the antichrist need not worry us much. History will prove it. However, we do need to be vigilant against the antichristian spirit, which is all that opposes Christ or seeks to replace Him in our lives.
