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Thanks to books like the Left Behind series talk about antichrist has increased in recent years. There is now even a website dedicated entirely to proving that Barack Obama is ‘the antichrist’! Let’s see what John has to tell us. I’d read it slowly if I were you.

‘Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

‘I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.’ (1 John 2:18-27)

The last hour

Let’s start where John starts. What does he mean by ‘the last hour’? Well, all the commentators agree that this is referring to the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection, and second coming. In other words, we’re certainly in the last hour too. It’s tempting to try to develop a timeline about when specific events are going to happen and, indeed, people are coming up with new theories all the time. But this doesn’t seem to be John’s concern. The phrase he uses conjures up urgency in our hearts: this is the last hour! What would you do if you were told you had less than 60 minutes to live? This passage would suggest that we should be living exactly like that all day, every day. Jesus could literally return at any minute – just look at Paul’s words: ‘the appointed time has grown very short’ (1 Corinthians 7:29). And, of course, we simply can’t predict when he will come because it will be ‘like a thief in the night’ (1 Thessalonians 5:2). In short, live life right now as if Jesus were coming back not tomorrow, but right now. ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind’ (Romans 12:2).

Who is antichrist?

This passage makes it clear that talk of ‘the antichrist’ is way off. John says effectively, ‘I know that you’ve been told that an antichrist is coming, and the people that told you are right, just as many antichrists have been and gone before’. You see, John wants to make the point that there is not one antichrist, they’re all over the place! Look at his definition of antichrist: ‘he who denies the Father and the Son’. In other words, non-Christians. Now, I think his definition implies something a bit wider than this because he goes on to talk about ‘those who are trying to deceive you’, but at the base level that’s simply it.

We must be careful to watch for antichrists, because the world is crawling with them. Some are obvious – the Richard Dawkins of this world who publish books intended to lead people away from Christ, or the owners of adult television networks that try to lure people in. Some, however, are far more subtle. John’s warnings must be taken seriously because when Jesus talks about them he says they will disguise themselves to sneak under the radar: ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves’ (Matthew 7:15). Just because someone comes to church every week doesn’t mean they’re not a wolf ready to prey on Jesus’ sheep.

Underlying message: keep on your guard.

How to do it

John doesn’t just leave us in the dark. Saying ‘keep on your guard’ is so easy but John goes a step further to tell us how we can: ‘the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you’. So we have no need for any additional teaching than that which comes from God in the first place. Have a look at John’s words and you’ll see that if we trust in Jesus we enter into the perfect relationship with God and freely receive from him. So we can rely on that which is provided by God:

• being thoroughly stuck into a local church
• regularly reading the Bible
• regularly praying and listening to the Holy Spirit

Seriously, if you get those three nailed, even the most subtle of false teachers won’t get past your defences.

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

God Inhabits The Ordinary