Seems like ever since President Obama got into office, there has been a murmuring that he is somehow the antichrist prophesied in the Bible. That is not what this post is about.
No, you may be surprised that the antichrist isn’t always just a single being that you read about in Daniel and Revelation. The antichrist–or maybe better, an antichrist–can be someone we know, we work with or even related to.
John speaks of the antichrist in 1 John this way:
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. –1 John 2:22.
Rather simple and straightforward. The verse does have some broad applications in terms of prophecy and describing the coming world leader, but if you take it at face value, whoever denies the Trinity is antichrist.
John continues:
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. –1 John 2:23.
What about the Holy Spirit? So far, these verses only speak of the Father and the Son. John explains the Holy Spirit’s role earlier:
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. –1 John 2:20.
The Holy Spirit is the great revealer of truth. This is why Jesus said:
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” –Matthew 12:30-33.
If you continually reject the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, there is no forgiveness for you. The Holy Spirit is the revealer of spiritual truth. If you reject that, you are rejecting God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no hope for you in that case.
Have you been feeling the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life? Have you been lead or drawn here by the Holy Spirit? Do you need the forgiveness of Christ? Then that is the Holy Spirit! Don’t reject Him!
May He Increase!
I have been forgiven of all my sins…..but I continue to live a life of confession and repentance. Wish I didn’t sin anymore…..but I do!
P.S. I don’t know who the anti-christ is…..but I do believe he is living today. It just seems to me that everything is in place. America’s economy collapses……one world monetary system…..Iran hooking up with Russia thinking they will destroy Israel (boy…do they have a shock coming). I really think we are close.
You may be right, Ike. Certainly God’s prophetic clock restarted in 1948 with the rebirth of Israel. Seems like things are speeding up towards the 70th Week as well.
Joe,
If I might be permitted to play a little bit of connect the dots for a minute. Paul talks about the antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2 by referring to him as the “lawless” one (a person who denies God’s Law).
There is an archetype in Daniel that is generally agreed upon as a type of antichrist which is described in the latter parts of the book. For purposes of connecting the dots here, let me just highlight Daniel 11:30-32:
This prophecy of Daniel was first realized in the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes who upon pain of death forbid keeping the Sabbath, the dietary laws, circumcision, keeping the festival calendar, or observing the Torah in any way or having copies of the Law. He stripped the Temple of everything taking away the gold, silver and the Temple articles. Antiochus is a type however that will be repeated. It may be reflected or focused in a single person, but it will no doubt be an attitude of lawlessness that exists as well, which we see around us today.
Jesus is referred to as the Word of God. In a very real sense, Jesus is the living Word (Torah or Law). Those who deny God’s Law (i.e. His Word) are “lawless” ones and thus fittingly deserve the title of antichrist.
This should give many people pause today; if they would presume to say that some part of God’s Word is no longer applicable or true. I am awestruck by the statements of some who profess the name of Christ, but feel that the Old Testament is somehow flawed or outdated for instance. Truly, Paul’s words are even more sobering in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12:
Jeff,
Thanks for the additional scripture references.
The intent of my post was not to specifically identify the coming world leader, but to show that those who would deny the Trinity are explicitly referred to antichrist in 2 John.
Indeed, there are some commentators that use this passage (and many others) to assert that the coming world leader will be Muslim as Islam denies the Trinity.
Perhaps it was not one of my most thought-out postings.
Thanks for keeping me honest, brother!
Joe,
I think you did a fine job in the post with the Scriptures that you handled. I just wanted to broaden the picture a little bit. I agree with the post that you wrote, but I do think that the denial of the Trinity is so blatant that it doesn’t explain how even some of the elect might be deceived if you will. The dimension of the “lawless” one is something that gives me chills however.
I recently heard that a professor at a Bible college in the northwest told his students that the New Testament had to be written because the Old Testament was imperfect and flawed. I don’t know how he could even make that statement since Paul’s statement in the NT about the God-breathed inspiration of Scripture is a direct reference to the OT Scripture (the NT didn’t really exist in a cohesive form at that point). If Christians are willing to call into question the integrity of Scripture in particular, that is indicative that the spirit of antichrist is coming home to roost and it is a sobering thing.
Keep up the good work brother. I enjoy reading your posts; even if I have to play catch up some times to read them all.
Thanks Jeff! I’ve missed our interactions but I know what it’s like. I have had zero time to catch up on all my blog reading since starting my new job in December. It’s really all I can do just to keep up with posting here!
So I appreciate you taking the time out to comment. It means a lot to me.