The Counterfeit Gospel of the Antichrist in End Times
The concept of the Antichrist is introduced in the New Testament, particularly in the letters of John, where it is linked to the "last time" or "last hour" [1, 2]. The apostle John states, "Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour" (1 John 2:18) [1]. This passage suggests that while a singular Antichrist figure is expected, there are also "many antichrists" already present [1, 2].
The term "Antichrist" literally means "instead of Christ," indicating one who claims for himself what belongs to Christ and poses as a substitute [6]. These figures are characterized by their denial that Jesus is the Christ, God's Son, or God in the flesh [6]. They are false teachers who mislead believers and distract them from the true Christ [8]. John Gill, a Baptist/Reformed commentator, interprets "the last time" in 1 John 2:18 not as the end of the world itself, but as the "last hour of the apostolic age," a period when perilous times and impostors were emerging [3]. Matthew Henry, a Nonconformist/Puritan commentator, suggests it refers to the hastening end of the Jewish polity in church and state [5].
The Antichrist's "counterfeit gospel" involves a denial of the true nature of Jesus Christ. Specifically, false teachers deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body, a heresy known as Docetism [8]. John refutes this heresy in 1 John 4:2-3, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh [8]. The presence of these deceivers signals the severity of the heresy and the ultimate judgment awaiting false teachers [8].
The characteristics attributed to the Antichrist in other biblical texts, such as Daniel, include worldly wisdom, dominion over the civilized world, and a form of atheism or antitheism [7]. This figure represents an almost universal apostasy that will precede Christ's coming [7]. The "many antichrists" serve as a sign, keeping the Church in continual waiting for the Lord [4].
Sources
- 1 John “Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. -- 1 John 2:18”
- I John “I John 2:18 (Geneva1599) — Litle children, it is the last time, and as ye haue heard that Antichrist shall come, euen now are there many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last time.”
- 1 John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 John 2:18: Little children, it is the last time,.... Or hour; not of the Jewish civil and church state, for that had been at an end for some time; this epistle was written some years after the destruction of Jerusalem; nor the last hour of the Gospel dispensation, or world to come, for this was but the first age of that; and much less the last hour of time, or of the present world itself, for that has been many hundreds of years since; but the last hour of the apostolic age. All the apostles were now dead, John was the last of them; perilous times were now coming on, impostors a”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 2:18: Little children--same Greek as Jo1 2:13; children in age. After the fathers and young men were gone, "the last time" with its "many Antichrists" was about to come suddenly on the children. "In this last hour we all even still live" [BENGEL]. Each successive age has had in it some of the signs of "the last time" which precedes Christ's coming, in order to keep the Church in continual waiting for the Lord. The connection with Jo1 2:15-17 is: There are coming those seducers who are of the world (Jo1 4:5), and would tempt you to go out from us (Jo1 2:19) a”
- 1 John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 John 2:18: Here is, I. A moral prognostication of the time; the end is coming: Little children, it is the last time, Jo1 2:18. Some may suppose that the apostle here addresses the first rank of Christians again; the juniors are most apt to be seduced, and therefore, "Little children, you that are young in religion, take heed to yourselves that you be not corrupted." But it may be, as elsewhere, a universal appellation, introductive of an alarm to all Christians: "Little children, it is the last time; our Jewish polity in church and state is hastening to an end; the Mosaic in”
- 1 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 John 2:18: 2:18 Antichrist literally means “instead of Christ”; he claims for himself what belongs to Christ and poses as a substitute for Christ (cp. 2 Thes 2:3 and Rev 13:1-10). • many such antichrists have appeared: They are the false teachers who deny that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son (1 Jn 2:22-23), God in the flesh (4:2; 2 Jn 1:7).”
- Daniel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Daniel 7:25: Three attributes of Antichrist are specified: (1) The highest worldly wisdom and civilization. (2) The uniting of the whole civilized world under his dominion. (3) Atheism, antitheism, and autotheism in its fullest development (Jo1 2:22). Therefore, not only is power taken from the fourth beast, as in the case of the other three, but God destroys it and the world power in general by a final judgment. The present external Christianity is to give place to an almost universal apostasy. think--literally, "carry within him as it were the burden of the tho”
- 2 John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 John 1:7: 1:7 many deceivers have gone out into the world: Docetists were denying that Jesus Christ came in a real body. John refuted this heresy in his first letter (see 1 Jn 4:2-3). • A false teacher is a deceiver, because they mislead unwary believers, and an antichrist, because they distract and lead people away from the true Christ. By using the apocalyptic symbol of the antichrist, John signals the severity of the heresy and the ultimate judgment upon false teachers.”