What Is the Doctrine

of Antichrist?

The apostle John foretold that there would be many “anti-

christs” who would pervert the teaching concerning the

true Messiah. What is their basic, underlying, fundamental

error? What is the heresy with which they lead many

people astray and into perdition? This is serious business –

so let’s study the issue and discover the truth!

William F. Dankenbring

In the second epistle of John, we read an astounding prophesy of a fundamental error in teaching which would begin to captivate the world, causing many to lose their grip on salvation and the truth of God. What is this egregious error?

Notice what John said would happen, especially in the “last days” before the return of the Messiah. He wrote. “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made MANIFEST, that none of them were of us” (I John 2:18-19, NKJV).

What in the world is John talking about?

Notice that these false teachers, who he refers to as “antichrists” – those who are AGAINST the true Messiah, adversaries and enemies of the TRUTH – were classified as being at one time during their lives as part of God’s Church! These are men who DEPART from the truth, who leave the true fellowship of God’s people, preaching and teaching a particular diabolical heresy which is damnable and execrable – a great curse of misunderstanding and falsehood.

What is this diabolical error?

Notice how John characterizes this false teaching which would make severe inroads among God’s people. He says, later, in chapter 4: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit [i.e. every new “doctrine” that comes along, which may “seem” novel and exciting on the surface!], but TEST [“try, examine, analyze, sift, prove”] the spirits, whether they are [really] of God [don’t just “assume” they have a point, or are true!]; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (I John 4:1).

John was prophesying that severe new testing and trials would come upon God’s Church during the end time, the “last hour,” especially. He warns us to put these new teachings to the TEST – don’t just assume they are correct – don’t be misled by these hideous deceivers who “appear” so scholarly and erudite on a superficial level. Don’t be impressed by their so-called “credentials.” But BEWARE!

The Spirit of Antichrist

John goes on, giving us a clear indication of the heart of the issue, and how to “test” these false teachers, illustrating for us the issue at stake. He says: “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come IN the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come IN the flesh is NOT of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world” (I John 4:1-3).

The apostle John makes this even more emphatic and urgent in his second epistle. Here he writes about the same problem which would face and challenge the Church and the people of God during the end times, and which was already making inroads into the church during his day, through the teachings of ‘Gnosticism.” The “Gnostics” were those who “appeared” to be educated and have scholarly knowledge, but who were heretics and who denied Christ in very important particulars, subverting the truth of God and truth about Christ and His origin. They made Him out to be something else than what the Bible itself revealed.

John wrote to a beloved lady and her children, warning, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ AS COMING IN the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (II John 7). He goes on, warning the “elect lady” – which represents the Church itself, the affianced “bride” of Christ (Eph.5:23-27) – to look carefully so that “we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward” (verse 8). He then warns, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in [remain faithful to] the DOCTRINE [true belief] of Christ [His real nature, origin, and office] does not have God. He who abides in the [the truth about] the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If any one comes to you and does NOT bring THIS DOCTRINE, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds” (II John 9-11).

This horrible deception is the focus of the central message of the second epistle of John. It is of paramount importance! This insidious, invidious doctrine involves something about the very NATURE of Christ – His having “come in the flesh”! How could false teachers and modern “Gnostics” mix up and misapply and pervert THIS teaching? Just what is it that they have done? Let’s analyze these verses carefully, sifting ever so minutely.

The Berkeley Version or Modern Language Bible actually makes it very clear. Notice! “Children, the final hour is here and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, from which we gather certainly that it is the last hour” (I John 2:18). “Who is the liar if it is not the one who DENIES Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father as well” (I John 2:22-23).

But in what way do these “antichrists’ deny the Son of God, Christ, the Messiah? What is it that they specifically deny about Him?

Once again, the Berkeley version shows us. Notice! In chapter 4 of First John, we read: “By this we know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ as having COME INCARNATE is from God, whereas every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, is not from God; it is the spirit of antichrist, of whose coming you have heard. Right now he is in the world” (vs.2-3).

Came IN Human Flesh

And in Second John, the Berkeley version has it: “For many impostors have gone out into the world, who do not confess Christ AS HAVING COME INCARNATED. Such a person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Look out for yourselves, so that you may not lose the results of what you worked for, but may obtain a full reward” (II John 7-8).

The key to understanding the truth of this matter is the little word “in.” John says that Jesus Christ came “IN” the human flesh. As the Berkeley version has it, He came ‘INCARNATED” in human flesh, as a human being. This does not simply mean that He was a human being, as some have been teaching. It means that He was a Being who came INTO HUMAN FLESH, who was changed INTO human flesh, and then lived His life as a human being, dying on the stake as our Saviour and Redeemer.

The Greek word translated “in” in these verses, showing Christ came “IN” human flesh, is the word en. In Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon, we discover that this little word means “inborn, implanted by nature,” and is translated into English as “in, on, at, with, by, among.” It is used in reference to location (being in a certain place), in the person, nature, soul, or thought of anyone, in the sense of “with” someone or something, among, or in the presence of, or “among” in the sense of being “among” things or others.

Thus Jesus Christ, or the Logos, was implanted in human flesh; He came into human flesh “with” a fleshly body; He came also “among’ human beings, as one of them.

But this fact begs the question – came from where? The Greek word for “come” or “come” in these verses is the word erchomai and means “to come,” “to come from one place into another,” “to come into.” This implies that Christ pre-existed, and then came into human flesh. He came from heaven [one place] to the earth [another place], from the form of God, as the Logos, into the form of a man, human form.

To DENY this sublime, marvelous truth is the spirit and doctrine of Antichrist! It is a very dangerous doctrine and could cause many to lose out on the salvation they have so earnestly desired and looked forward to with great anticipation.

Ancient Gnosticism

Jesse Lyman Hurlbut in The Story of the Christian Church tells us about the ancient Gnostics who troubled and bedeviled the church during the first century. He wrote of that early period:

“Side by side with the development of theological doctrine was the

rise of the sects, or as they were called, the heresies in the Christian

church. As long as the church was Jewish in its membership, and

even afterward when it was controlled by practical men of the Jewish

type, such men as St. Peter and St. Paul, there was only a slight

tendency toward abstract and speculative thinking. But when the

church found its largest constituency among the Greeks, and

especially the mystical, unbalanced Greeks of Asia Minor, all sorts

of strange opinions and theories arose, and grew to power in the

church. The Christians of the second and third centuries battled

not only against a persecuting heathen world, but also against

heresies and corrupt doctrines within their own fold. . .

“The Gnostics (Greek gnosis, ‘knowledge’) are not easy to define,

because so varied in their doctrines in different localities and at

different periods. They arose in Asia Minor -- that hot-bed of wild

imaginations -- and were a grafting of Christianity upon paganism.

They believed that out of the supreme God emanated a large number

of inferior deities, some beneficient, others malignant; and through

these the world with its mingled good and evil, was created; that

in Christ as one of these ‘emanations,’ the divine nature was for a

time indwelling; and they interpreted the Scriptures in an allegorical

manner, making every statement mean whatever the interpreter saw

fit” (p.64-65).

These Gnostic ideas were not derived from the Bible, but from their own imaginings and unconverted fertile minds. Their concept of a multitude of divine “entities” in space is certainly not Scriptural. The Bible plainly teaches there is ONE true God, and all creation derives from Him. To the Gnostics, there were many gods and demi-gods, and various kinds of divine beings. Notice also that they interpreted the Scriptures in an “allegorical manner, making every statement mean whatever the interpreter saw fit.” How amazingly similar to the MODERN end-time “Gnostics”!

This heresy of the Gnostics in no way should be confused with the Biblical doctrine that God the Father first created the Logos, as His divine Son, and that the Logos literally gave up His divine form and literally became a man, the man Christ Jesus, and died for our sins! The Gnostics, on the other hand, taught a whole pagan pantheon of gods and devils, similar to Hinduism. They twisted the Scriptures to support their fallacious ideas. In like manner, modern “Gnostics” twist the Scriptures inside out to convince people that Christ had no literal pre-existence!

The Gnostics had many strange and weird ideas; they perverted the Scriptures to support their erroneous beliefs. How similar to many ministers and theologians of our end-time, modern age.

The Modern Gnostics

The modern expression of Gnosticism, which is becoming rampant in these last days, completely DENIES the pre-existence of Christ. According to them, Jesus did not mean what He said. In fact, according to these modern Gnostics, Jesus often said things we cannot take at face value, or literally. When He said He came down from heaven, they say, “Not true” (see John 3:13; 6:32-33, 42, 51; 8:23, 29, 42). He said that He existed – lived – “before Abraham” (John 8:58)! But these modern prevaricators say that He didn’t mean what He said at all. According to them, He was merely a “thought” in His Father’s mind back during that time!

According to these modern day “Gnostics,” Jesus Christ simply had no pre-existence. He never lived prior to being begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary, about 2,000 years ago. This strange-sounding teaching very obviously denies that Christ existed as a separate Being from God the Father in the beginning, it denies that He was the “Word” of God – a separate Being from the Father – who was “also God” (see John 1:1-4). It denies that this second Being, as a member of the Godhead, became flesh.

The apostle John, in his gospel account, wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning WITH God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. . . And the Word became 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” (John 1:1-14).

This was a Second Being, a divine member of the Godhead, who literally gave up His office and role as the Second-in-Command of the Universe, and became a lowly human being, with no earthly pedigree (except that He was a descendant of David), and who humbled Himself to fulfill a unique role – God who became Man that He might die for the sins of all mankind!

This awesome feat is spelled out in the book of Philippians. We read, in the Berkeley version, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider His equality with God something to cling to, but emptied Himself as He took on the form of a slave and became like human beings” (Phil.2:5-7).

The modern Gnostics claim this is not literally true. They deny the pre-existence of Christ as the Logos of Word of God. They claim this is mere picturesque language, a metaphor, a similie, a “picture” – not to be taken literally. They claim that there was no such Being as a pre-existent Christ or Logos at all – rather, they say, the ‘Logos” was merely a “thought” or ‘idea” in the mind of God the Father, who did not come into existence until the time of Mary, 2,000 years ago.

“One God” Theology

This teaching has become somewhat popular. Its proponents claim there is only ONE God – the Father – so, they reason, the Logos could not have also been God, as that would imply TWO Gods. This seems to conflict with the idea of ONE God. Ethical Monotheism is the heart of the Jewish belief and concept of God. But does the existence of Christ as the second member of the Godhead deny the concept of ONE God? They would have you believe that it does – indisputably.

The whole matter could be solved if they only understood the fact that the Hebrew word for “ONE,” as in “One God,” is a unique word and does not mean “one” in the numerical sense, but “one” in the sense of “unity.” As the Jewish Prayer book, Siddur Heillat Hashem, says, in the Sabbath Eve prayer: “Master of the worlds, You are One, but not in the numerical sense.”

True, there is but ONE God. But the word for “one” in Hebrew is echad, and means, literally, “TO UNITE, JOIN ONESELF TOGETHER, TO COLLECT ONESELF” (Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, p.28). It is used in the Hebrew expression translated “as one man,” i.e. “together.” In Ezra 2:64 kal hakal b’echad means “the whole congregation [or assembly] together.” In Ezra 3:9 The expression ca’echad is translated “together,” in the King James Version. The New King James has, “Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers . . . and the sons of Judah, arose AS ONE to oversee those working on the house of God.” In Ezra 6:20, we read that all the Levites were purified b’echad – “together.” In Ecclesiastes 11:6 the same expression is used.

In Isaiah 65:25, we read, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed “together” – the Hebrew expression is b’echad, and means,” unitedly.”

Therefore, God is ONE, all right – but let’s not read into this word a false conclusion or get the wrong impression. He is ONE as a UNITY – a group of one or more who act UNITEDLY, AS “ONE,” “TOGETHER” – but He is not “one” in the numerical sense. He is ONE as in being completely united together, in harmony and ‘oneness.” There is therefore no numerical “limit” to God and how He chooses to be “ONE,” and with whom He chooses to be “ONE” with. God can do whatever He chooses to do – and He has chosen to become “ONE” with as many as accept Christ as their Saviour, and obey His divine commandments, and submit themselves to His authority and rulership!

The True Gospel

The doctrine that there is only one member of the Godhead, and that it will forever be so, diametrically contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ! Jesus not only said that He was the Son of God, and verified that He pre-existed His human flesh, but He also taught that all mankind has the potential to become GOD’S SONS through the resurrection from the dead! In other words, GOD IS A FAMILY! As the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is NAMED” (Eph.3:15).

To deny the pre-existence and divinity of Christ is tantamount to denying Christ in every important particular – it is the sin of blasphemy, and leads to utter perdition and self-destruction in the lake of fire! The apostle John says very plainly, do not even allow those who preach such heresy to enter your homes – don’t listen to them – don’t even bid them “good by” – for those who do so are “partakers of their evil deeds” (II John 11).

Don't Be Gullible!

Why are there so many warnings from God for us to beware, to be vigilant, and on our guard against false prophets and false teachers? The sad truth is that many of God’s people tend to be foolish, gullible, naive, and trusting. If a person looks good and sounds sincere, they tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. Thus many of God's people are ripe candidates for a royal roasting -- they almost seem to be crying and yearning to be led astray by some malicious, malignant ministerial monster in God’s sight -- some pleasant-voiced heretic or some friendly, avuncular writer or self-styled “scholar”!

True Christian faith examines a belief or doctrine carefully before putting any reliance, confidence or stock in it. We must be willing to test ALL who claim to speak or write under spiritual inspiration. True prophets are the mouthpiece of the Spirit of God, and are inspired by the Spirit of truth. But false prophets and antichrists are inspired by an altogether different source -- one who denies obedience to God’s laws, one who seeks to search out and destroy God's people and lead them to perdition.

There are many voices and much literature today clamoring for our attention, saying, “Listen to this,” or, “Read that.” There is an urgent need for discernment among true Christians. God does not want us to be dupes or pawns of Satan. Many of us are often too gullible, and exhibit a naive trusting-ness, and seem to be too ready to give credit or credence to “new theology” that comes before us. Unfortunately, as Paul said, too many of us are like “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Eph.4:14, NIV).

Many of us are not yet “rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith” (Col.2:7, NKJV). Paul warned, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than Christ” (Col.2:8, NIV).

There is such a thing as misguided charity and tolerance toward false doctrine. If we make friends of those who promote false doctrine, then we may one day find ourselves compromising, straying from the right path, and taken in by a “sham.” In some areas, unbelief, skepticism, and doubt, can be just as much a hallmark of a mature, seasoned, adult Christian, as the right kind of faith can be in other circumstances. We should not be too ready or willing to listen to exciting or challenging new ideas -- they could be as wacky and weird as Satan’s horns and pitchfork!

Can we get a right balance between a suspicious skepticism on the one hand, and the extreme superstition that believes everything, on the other hand?

Solomon wisely wrote in Proverbs, “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil. But a fool is hotheaded and reckless. A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is hated. The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge” (Proverbs 14:15-18).

Solomon also wrote, “For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm” (Prov.1:32-33).

The Greeks were famous for their interest in speculation and new philosophical and theological ideas. Luke wrote about them in the book of Acts, saying, “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21). As a result, the city was “full of idols” (verse 16). Being too open-minded is not the way to attain stability and spiritual security.

James reprimands the doubters who are “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6-8).

A Very Serious Matter

To question the very nature and divinity of Christ is no small matter. Although such questions may seem titillating, provocative, and intellectually stimulating, to some, the truth is that they jeopardize faith and impugn the Messiah, stripping Him of His very Godhood. Those who claim that Jesus was merely a man who “made good” fail to see that if such were the case, then His death on the cross could only atone for one other person -- not for the sins of the entire human race! Yet the death of Jesus, since He was God IN the flesh, atoned for the sins of all mankind -- billions and billions of people who have been born, lived and died, since Adam and Eve!

Furthermore, those who deny the divinity of Christ come under the specific condemnation of Scripture. Their intellectual ramblings will not save them from divine retribution and punishment. The apostle Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly INTRODUCE DESTRUCTIVE HERESIES, even denying the Sovereign Lord who bought them -- bringing swift destruction on themselves” (II Pet.2:1).

Does this teaching that Christ was only human, and had no pre-existence, “DENY” the Sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ? You bet it does! It denies the whole major revelation of the Scriptures and the awesome Plan of God being worked out here below! It is a vicious and scurrilous attack, just the sort that one would expect from a raging, foaming at the mouth, vicious devil who is hell-bent in these last days to destroy every vestige of truth that remains! Remember, Satan is FURIOUS -- he knows that his time is short (Rev.12:12). Therefore he is stepping up his campaign of disinformation and deception as never before.

Unfortunately, Peter goes on, “MANY will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will EXPLOIT you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping” (verses 2-3).

Peter picks up this same theme again in verse 10: “Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings . . . But these men BLASPHEME in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts [despite their intellectual-appearing approach and cunning inventiveness], creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish” (II Pet.2:10-12).

Certainly, Satan the devil is going straight for the throat, straight to the heart of Christian doctrine and experience, when he viciously attacks the very divinity of the Messiah. In so doing he virtually denies the full meaning and importance of the virgin birth! He emasculates the Scriptural record; he rejects and repudiates the very statements of Christ Himself concerning His origin and divinity. He warps and twists and perverts the entire gospel, the purpose of human life, and the truth about the Kingdom of God! He desires God’s people to lose hope, to give up, to fail to see and grasp the awesomeness of their potential and destiny in the eyes of God!

The teaching that Christ was both human and divine, in the sense that God gave up His divinity to become a human being, is at the central heart and core of Scripture, the New Testament, and Christian faith. To deny it is to deny Christ and the full meaning of His Messiahship. Some of these arch-deceivers even go so far as to claim that belief in the pre-existence of Christ itself is “the doctrine of antichrist”!

Can you believe it? These false teachers completely distort and reverse the truth of God! Isaiah prophesied of their kind, when he wrote, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21

It is time that w face these issues, and come to grips with these matters, and renew our study of God's own Word, lest we fall victim to the snares and traps the devil is setting for God's people, to deceive and delude them. We must be very careful when studying new theological opinions, lest we succumb to their novel and seductive appeal, “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (II Cor.2:11).