Description
John coins and defines the word antichrist, which he uses in relation to heretics and false prophets. He warns that the spirit of antichrist is already at work, and tells us we are in the last hour.
Commentary
John's epistles are not primarily focussed on end-times, but contain several important end-time references.
1 John 2 - Antichrist and the Last Hour
In verse 18, John says, "Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour".
Who are these antichrists that John refers to? In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus says, "“Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many". This is the first end-time sign that Jesus points to in Matthew's account of the Olivet Discourse, and it is one of the signs that Jesus describes as 'the beginning of birth-pains'. I categorise it as a 'pre-tribulation sign' because it precedes the abomination of desolation that marks the start of the Great Tribulation in Matthew 24:15. Here in his epistle, it seems that John interprets the idea of false Christs in a loose sense to refer to heretics. In other words, a false Christ is anyone who teaches a false gospel. Various heresies arose quickly within the early church as it took considerable time for the Church to define Christian orthodoxy. Such definition was a key concern and function of the ecumenical church councils, the first of which was held in 325 AD, apart from the Jerusalem council of Acts 15. In addition to what John writes, Galatians 1:6-8 and the book of Jude provide clear evidence that the Church was struggling to deal with heretical teaching from a very early stage. Paul speaks of people distorting the gospel and leading the Galatians away from the grace of Christ.
In verse 19, John says of these heretics, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us". So heretics were causing church splits and breaking away from the established early Church.
But what does John mean when he says, "it is the last hour". Clearly John saw these heretics as an end-time sign. But was he correct to view them so? Jesus gave the Olivet discourse in response to two questions, the first being when the temple would be destroyed, and the second being when Jesus would come back at the end of the age (Matthew 24:3). So the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD was a partial fulfilment of the Olivet signs. In that respect, it was the last hour, for the temple was destroyed within a few short years of John writing his epistles. Jesus had not made clear that there would be a large gap of time between the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming.
It is clear from what the Apostle John writes in verse 28 that he also thought it was the last hour before the second coming. This was not an unreasonable expectation. The birth-pain signs are signs that the fall of Jerusalem is near. The labour metaphor alludes to Micah 4:9 which likens the fall of Jerusalem to a woman screaming in the agonies of labour. In Micah 5:3 Jerusalem is delivered of her agonies by the coming of Messiah, which figuratively is like the birth of her baby. It must have been a great disappointment to the early Church when Jesus did not come back after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus never explained that Jerusalem would fall to once to Titus, and again to Antichrist in the end-times. Today, as we examine end-time prophecies with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied in Daniel 9:26, and its end-time fall is prophesied in various other scriptures like Micah 4-5, Ezekiel 38 and Zechariah 14. But in John's day, the distinction between the two destructions was still a hidden mystery waiting to be revealed.
Should examples like this make us question the bible's reliability? No! Each of the prophets and biblical authors spoke or wrote what was revealed to them as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Each of them was given pieces of the puzzle, but none was given the picture as a whole. John himself admits this in 1 John 3:2. As another example, Jesus described John the Baptist as the greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11:11). But there were aspects of Jesus' ministry, and events that took place, which left John confused (Matthew 11:3). He did not understand that Jesus would have two distinct comings, as that was another mystery still waiting to be fully revealed. John the Baptist was correct in prophesying that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). But his proclamation in Matthew 3:12 that Jesus would gather his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with inextinguishable fire was somewhat premature. It was not wrong, but his expectations were out in terms of timing. Today we have many advantages over the biblical writers. We have the complete canon of scripture. The Holy Spirit has been guiding Christians into all truth over a further 2,000 years of history. We have computers and the internet with which to search the scriptures, and with which to pool and access biblical understanding from around the world. And today we are so much closer to the second coming than they were. If predicting end-time events is like forecasting the weather (Matthew 16:2-3), it is so much easier to predict what will happen on a day that is close than on a day that is far away. When Jesus did not come back after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, I imagine that the Apostle John sought God with a Daniel-like fervour, seeking to more deeply understand God's end-time plan. Perhaps what is recorded in the book of Revelation was God's response to such fervour. And even Jesus admitted that only the Father knows the day and hour of his coming (Matthew 24:36). So even Jesus had an incomplete picture of the end-time puzzle.
Definition of 'antichrist'
The term 'antichrist' is a new word that John coins in this epistle. Today it is most commonly used as a proper name or title, and refers to the ruler of the end-time empire. But given that John coins the word, how does he use it?
He defines it here in 1 John 2:22-23, "Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also".
He adds to this definition in 2 John 7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!"
Combining these two there are essentially five elements to his definition. An antichrist:
1) is a liar and deceiver (i.e. a heretic who proclaims a false gospel)
2) denies that Jesus is the Messiah (in the biblical sense of Messiah)
3) denies God as Father
4) denies Jesus as the Son of God
5) denies the incarnation of God as Jesus the Messiah
It is clear that John could identify several individuals who already fitted this definition in his day. But it also gives us a clear idea what to expect concerning the end-time Antichrist.
1 John 3
John says in verse 2, "Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is".
This is an interesting mixture of what we do and do not know:
-we know that we are already God's children, just as John wrote in his Gospel, "But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God" (John 1:12-13).
-we know that when Jesus comes back, we will be like him and see him as he is. This agrees with what Paul says about our physical transformation at the last trumpet, when our mortal bodies will be changed and become like Christ's glorious resurrection body (1 Thessalonians 4:17, 1 Corinthians 13:12, 15:52, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10).
-beyond that, we do not yet know what we will be like.
In verse 3, John says that everyone who has this hope purifies himself. John is stressing the value and importance of setting our hope on the second coming of Christ. It should be a central doctrine and teaching of the Church rather than the low priority that most churches make it. In many churches today, the second coming is almost a taboo subject, taught in only the most superficial manner. Beyond that it is left to one's own private study.
1 John 4
In chapter 2, John spoke about antichrists or false messiahs, and seemed to relate them to the first of the pre-Tribulation signs, as per Matthew 24:4. He now talks about false prophets, as per Matthew 24:24. In the context of Great-Tribulation signs, Jesus says, "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect". So these false prophets that John speaks of are not just heretics teaching a false gospel, but by implication are people performing false signs and wonders to match. Given that Jesus warned about their ability to deceive even the elect, John teaches how the Church can recognise them. It is not enough that they perform convincing miracles. The Church must test them. If they confess Jesus as the Christ, they must be from God. And by implication, any miracles they do must be by the Spirit of God. If they refuse to confess Jesus as the Christ, they minister by the spirit of the antichrist.
For this to be a reliable test, we must understand what the word 'Christ' means. Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. Messiah is an Old Testament word meaning literally 'the anointed one'. At a basic level, it points to him as king or priest, for these were the only two types of people in the bible who were anointed with oil when they were appointed. But it is also a title filled with all the hopes of the Old Testament prophets. For example, Messiah is the seed of Eve who will crush the head of Satan's seed (Genesis 3:15). He is the prophet whom Moses spoke about (Deuteronomy 18:18). He is the Son of God (Psalm 2:7). He is the Son of David who will subdue Israel's enemies (1 Chronicles 17:10-14). He is the Son of Man who will reign over an eternal kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Isaiah 53). He is God himself, who will come with all his holy ones to fight for Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:5), and who will trample the nations in his anger (Isaiah 63:6). And so on.
In verse 3, John refers to "the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world". So although it is appropriate to use Antichrist as a proper name or title for the end-time ruler whom Paul calls 'the man of lawlessness' (2 Thessalonians 2:3), it is also appropriate to talk about the spirit of antichrist, which Paul calls 'the hidden power of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7). As such, we can use 'antichrist' as an improper noun to describe heretical teachers and false prophets who have appeared throughout history, and who will yet appear as the second coming draws ever nearer.
Consider the example of Islam. Mohammed claimed to be God's final prophet, and Muslims allege that he performed miracles, especially that of revealing the Quran. Islam categorically denies the Christian gospel for it denies that Jesus died and rose again. It denies God as Father, and Jesus as the Son of God. It denies the incarnation. But it does call Jesus 'Al-Masih', the Arabic for 'Messiah'. Does that mean that Mohammed spoke by the spirit of God? No! For Mohammed denied everything about Jesus that identifies him as the Messiah in the biblical sense of the word. Mohammed fulfilled all five aspects of John's definition of an antichrist, and founded a world religion out of it.
The end-time Antichrist will embody the same spirit, and will perform convincing signs and false wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). He will follow a god of war (Daniel 11:38). He will rule and lead many nations that today are muslim nations. For all these reasons, it is reasonable to assume that he will be a Muslim. And it is likely that he will be recognised as the Mahdi, Mohammed's expected end-time successor and Caliph.
2 John
I have already mentioned John's second definition of 'antichrist' in 2 John 7, in which he highlights the deceptive nature of the Antichrist, and his denial of the incarnation. In verse 8, John warns us to watch out so that we are not deceived and lose our reward. In verse 9, he warns us to remain in the teaching of Christ and to not go beyond it. This is true regarding any biblical doctrine, but also in regard to end times. We must root our understanding in what Jesus taught and how he treated the rest of biblical prophecy.
1 John 2 - Antichrist and the Last Hour
In verse 18, John says, "Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour".
Who are these antichrists that John refers to? In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus says, "“Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many". This is the first end-time sign that Jesus points to in Matthew's account of the Olivet Discourse, and it is one of the signs that Jesus describes as 'the beginning of birth-pains'. I categorise it as a 'pre-tribulation sign' because it precedes the abomination of desolation that marks the start of the Great Tribulation in Matthew 24:15. Here in his epistle, it seems that John interprets the idea of false Christs in a loose sense to refer to heretics. In other words, a false Christ is anyone who teaches a false gospel. Various heresies arose quickly within the early church as it took considerable time for the Church to define Christian orthodoxy. Such definition was a key concern and function of the ecumenical church councils, the first of which was held in 325 AD, apart from the Jerusalem council of Acts 15. In addition to what John writes, Galatians 1:6-8 and the book of Jude provide clear evidence that the Church was struggling to deal with heretical teaching from a very early stage. Paul speaks of people distorting the gospel and leading the Galatians away from the grace of Christ.
In verse 19, John says of these heretics, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us". So heretics were causing church splits and breaking away from the established early Church.
But what does John mean when he says, "it is the last hour". Clearly John saw these heretics as an end-time sign. But was he correct to view them so? Jesus gave the Olivet discourse in response to two questions, the first being when the temple would be destroyed, and the second being when Jesus would come back at the end of the age (Matthew 24:3). So the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD was a partial fulfilment of the Olivet signs. In that respect, it was the last hour, for the temple was destroyed within a few short years of John writing his epistles. Jesus had not made clear that there would be a large gap of time between the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming.
It is clear from what the Apostle John writes in verse 28 that he also thought it was the last hour before the second coming. This was not an unreasonable expectation. The birth-pain signs are signs that the fall of Jerusalem is near. The labour metaphor alludes to Micah 4:9 which likens the fall of Jerusalem to a woman screaming in the agonies of labour. In Micah 5:3 Jerusalem is delivered of her agonies by the coming of Messiah, which figuratively is like the birth of her baby. It must have been a great disappointment to the early Church when Jesus did not come back after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus never explained that Jerusalem would fall to once to Titus, and again to Antichrist in the end-times. Today, as we examine end-time prophecies with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied in Daniel 9:26, and its end-time fall is prophesied in various other scriptures like Micah 4-5, Ezekiel 38 and Zechariah 14. But in John's day, the distinction between the two destructions was still a hidden mystery waiting to be revealed.
Should examples like this make us question the bible's reliability? No! Each of the prophets and biblical authors spoke or wrote what was revealed to them as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Each of them was given pieces of the puzzle, but none was given the picture as a whole. John himself admits this in 1 John 3:2. As another example, Jesus described John the Baptist as the greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11:11). But there were aspects of Jesus' ministry, and events that took place, which left John confused (Matthew 11:3). He did not understand that Jesus would have two distinct comings, as that was another mystery still waiting to be fully revealed. John the Baptist was correct in prophesying that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). But his proclamation in Matthew 3:12 that Jesus would gather his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with inextinguishable fire was somewhat premature. It was not wrong, but his expectations were out in terms of timing. Today we have many advantages over the biblical writers. We have the complete canon of scripture. The Holy Spirit has been guiding Christians into all truth over a further 2,000 years of history. We have computers and the internet with which to search the scriptures, and with which to pool and access biblical understanding from around the world. And today we are so much closer to the second coming than they were. If predicting end-time events is like forecasting the weather (Matthew 16:2-3), it is so much easier to predict what will happen on a day that is close than on a day that is far away. When Jesus did not come back after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, I imagine that the Apostle John sought God with a Daniel-like fervour, seeking to more deeply understand God's end-time plan. Perhaps what is recorded in the book of Revelation was God's response to such fervour. And even Jesus admitted that only the Father knows the day and hour of his coming (Matthew 24:36). So even Jesus had an incomplete picture of the end-time puzzle.
Definition of 'antichrist'
The term 'antichrist' is a new word that John coins in this epistle. Today it is most commonly used as a proper name or title, and refers to the ruler of the end-time empire. But given that John coins the word, how does he use it?
He defines it here in 1 John 2:22-23, "Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also".
He adds to this definition in 2 John 7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!"
Combining these two there are essentially five elements to his definition. An antichrist:
1) is a liar and deceiver (i.e. a heretic who proclaims a false gospel)
2) denies that Jesus is the Messiah (in the biblical sense of Messiah)
3) denies God as Father
4) denies Jesus as the Son of God
5) denies the incarnation of God as Jesus the Messiah
It is clear that John could identify several individuals who already fitted this definition in his day. But it also gives us a clear idea what to expect concerning the end-time Antichrist.
1 John 3
John says in verse 2, "Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is".
This is an interesting mixture of what we do and do not know:
-we know that we are already God's children, just as John wrote in his Gospel, "But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God" (John 1:12-13).
-we know that when Jesus comes back, we will be like him and see him as he is. This agrees with what Paul says about our physical transformation at the last trumpet, when our mortal bodies will be changed and become like Christ's glorious resurrection body (1 Thessalonians 4:17, 1 Corinthians 13:12, 15:52, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10).
-beyond that, we do not yet know what we will be like.
In verse 3, John says that everyone who has this hope purifies himself. John is stressing the value and importance of setting our hope on the second coming of Christ. It should be a central doctrine and teaching of the Church rather than the low priority that most churches make it. In many churches today, the second coming is almost a taboo subject, taught in only the most superficial manner. Beyond that it is left to one's own private study.
1 John 4
In chapter 2, John spoke about antichrists or false messiahs, and seemed to relate them to the first of the pre-Tribulation signs, as per Matthew 24:4. He now talks about false prophets, as per Matthew 24:24. In the context of Great-Tribulation signs, Jesus says, "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect". So these false prophets that John speaks of are not just heretics teaching a false gospel, but by implication are people performing false signs and wonders to match. Given that Jesus warned about their ability to deceive even the elect, John teaches how the Church can recognise them. It is not enough that they perform convincing miracles. The Church must test them. If they confess Jesus as the Christ, they must be from God. And by implication, any miracles they do must be by the Spirit of God. If they refuse to confess Jesus as the Christ, they minister by the spirit of the antichrist.
For this to be a reliable test, we must understand what the word 'Christ' means. Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. Messiah is an Old Testament word meaning literally 'the anointed one'. At a basic level, it points to him as king or priest, for these were the only two types of people in the bible who were anointed with oil when they were appointed. But it is also a title filled with all the hopes of the Old Testament prophets. For example, Messiah is the seed of Eve who will crush the head of Satan's seed (Genesis 3:15). He is the prophet whom Moses spoke about (Deuteronomy 18:18). He is the Son of God (Psalm 2:7). He is the Son of David who will subdue Israel's enemies (1 Chronicles 17:10-14). He is the Son of Man who will reign over an eternal kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Isaiah 53). He is God himself, who will come with all his holy ones to fight for Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:5), and who will trample the nations in his anger (Isaiah 63:6). And so on.
In verse 3, John refers to "the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world". So although it is appropriate to use Antichrist as a proper name or title for the end-time ruler whom Paul calls 'the man of lawlessness' (2 Thessalonians 2:3), it is also appropriate to talk about the spirit of antichrist, which Paul calls 'the hidden power of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7). As such, we can use 'antichrist' as an improper noun to describe heretical teachers and false prophets who have appeared throughout history, and who will yet appear as the second coming draws ever nearer.
Consider the example of Islam. Mohammed claimed to be God's final prophet, and Muslims allege that he performed miracles, especially that of revealing the Quran. Islam categorically denies the Christian gospel for it denies that Jesus died and rose again. It denies God as Father, and Jesus as the Son of God. It denies the incarnation. But it does call Jesus 'Al-Masih', the Arabic for 'Messiah'. Does that mean that Mohammed spoke by the spirit of God? No! For Mohammed denied everything about Jesus that identifies him as the Messiah in the biblical sense of the word. Mohammed fulfilled all five aspects of John's definition of an antichrist, and founded a world religion out of it.
The end-time Antichrist will embody the same spirit, and will perform convincing signs and false wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). He will follow a god of war (Daniel 11:38). He will rule and lead many nations that today are muslim nations. For all these reasons, it is reasonable to assume that he will be a Muslim. And it is likely that he will be recognised as the Mahdi, Mohammed's expected end-time successor and Caliph.
2 John
I have already mentioned John's second definition of 'antichrist' in 2 John 7, in which he highlights the deceptive nature of the Antichrist, and his denial of the incarnation. In verse 8, John warns us to watch out so that we are not deceived and lose our reward. In verse 9, he warns us to remain in the teaching of Christ and to not go beyond it. This is true regarding any biblical doctrine, but also in regard to end times. We must root our understanding in what Jesus taught and how he treated the rest of biblical prophecy.
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Tags: False messiahs, False prophets, Heretics, Antichrists, Importance of the second coming, Spirit of antichrist, Definition of antichrist, Antichrist as a deceiver, Deception, Watch, End-time signs, Testing the spirits, Islam, Judgments and rewards
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Tags: False messiahs, False prophets, Heretics, Antichrists, Importance of the second coming, Spirit of antichrist, Definition of antichrist, Antichrist as a deceiver, Deception, Watch, End-time signs, Testing the spirits, Islam, Judgments and rewards
Warning About False Teachers
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
Children of God
28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
Children of God
28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.
(NET)
3 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.
2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.
3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).
2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.
3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).
(NET)
Testing the Spirits
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
(NET)
Warning Against False Teachers
5 But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another.
6 (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!
8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting,
11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds.
5 But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another.
6 (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!
8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting,
11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds.
(NET)
