Antichrists
The apostle John warns,
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”1John 2:18-22.
Here John seems to use extremely strong language. He states that anyone who claims Jesus is not the Christ the Messiah is an antichirst.
Note however he is referring to those who at one time claimed to be Christians and are now denying that Jesus is the Christ the saviour of mankind.
It is these people Christians need to be careful with.
It’s understandable that those of other faiths may not believe as we do. For a myriad of reasons they do not agree with Christian teaching. I do not believe John is talking about these people.
John’s comments are directed at those who claimed to be Christian he states,
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.”
These are men and women who have taken the scriptures and teaching of Jesus and the apostles and pervert them to their own ways.
The apostle Peter warns of such people saying,
“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.
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.” 2 Peter 2:1-3.
The apostle Paul also echoes this saying,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
We as Christians need to be careful as to who we listen to, especially in this multimedia age.
There are many men and women in the media that seem like they are Christians. They seem as if they are teaching about Jesus and God correctly but are not.
In order to ensure that we are not deceived we need to study the scriptures for ourselves and know for certain what is right and what is wrong. The words of the apostle Paul when he said,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15 are as true today as they were when he wrote them. They are words we need to take to heart and follow.
Please think about it.
The apostle John warns,
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”1John 2:18-22.
Here John seems to use extremely strong language. He states that anyone who claims Jesus is not the Christ the Messiah is an antichirst.
Note however he is referring to those who at one time claimed to be Christians and are now denying that Jesus is the Christ the saviour of mankind.
It is these people Christians need to be careful with.
It’s understandable that those of other faiths may not believe as we do. For a myriad of reasons they do not agree with Christian teaching. I do not believe John is talking about these people.
John’s comments are directed at those who claimed to be Christian he states,
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.”
These are men and women who have taken the scriptures and teaching of Jesus and the apostles and pervert them to their own ways.
The apostle Peter warns of such people saying,
“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.
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.” 2 Peter 2:1-3.
The apostle Paul also echoes this saying,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
We as Christians need to be careful as to who we listen to, especially in this multimedia age.
There are many men and women in the media that seem like they are Christians. They seem as if they are teaching about Jesus and God correctly but are not.
In order to ensure that we are not deceived we need to study the scriptures for ourselves and know for certain what is right and what is wrong. The words of the apostle Paul when he said,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15 are as true today as they were when he wrote them. They are words we need to take to heart and follow.
Please think about it.
