In 4:2 John continues, “In this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is out of God.” The “spirit” here is the spirit of a genuine prophet motivated by the Holy Spirit of truth, a spirit that confesses the divine conception of Jesus, affirming that He was born as the Son of God. Every such spirit surely has its source in God; it is out of God. In this we know the Spirit of God.
Jesus was conceived of the Spirit (Matt. 1:18). To confess Jesus coming in the flesh is to confess that He was divinely conceived to be born as the Son of God (Luke 1:31-35). Since He was conceived of the Spirit to be born in the flesh, the Spirit would never deny that He has come in the flesh through divine conception.
At this point we need to consider further the meaning of the word “antichrist.” In Matthew 24:5 the Lord Jesus says, “For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray.” This verse speaks of a false Christ, someone who pretends to be Christ, in order to lead the believers astray.
In 2:26 and 3:7 John also speaks of being led astray. In this Epistle, to be led astray is to be led away from the reality of the Person of Christ, from the reality that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But according to Matthew 24:5, a false Christ is one who pretends to be Christ in order to lead people astray.
In Matthew 24:23 and 24 the Lord Jesus says, “Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets shall arise and shall show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” These verses indicate that it is possible for even the chosen people of God to be deceived and led astray. Due to the Lord’s word concerning false Christs and false prophets, there was the teaching among the believers in the early days that false Christs and false prophets would rise up.
In 1 John there are three verses concerning the antichrist. In 2:18 John says, “Young children, it is the last hour, and even as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come; whereby we know that it is the last hour.” Notice that in this verse the definite article is not used before “antichrist.” John simply says that the believers heard that antichrist is coming and then goes on to say that many antichrists have come.
In 2:22 John again speaks concerning the antichrist: “Who is the liar if not he who is denying that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who is denying the Father and the Son.” The word “liar” indicates a false prophet. The liar, the false prophet, who denies that Jesus is the Christ, is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
First John 4:3 says, “And every spirit which does not confess Jesus, is not out of God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world.” Like 2:22, this verse indicates that in the first Epistle of John an antichrist is a false prophet, and a false prophet is an antichrist.
In 4:3 the spirit that does not confess Jesus, is the spirit of a false prophet actuated by the spirit of deception, the spirit that does not confess Jesus coming in the flesh. This is the spirit of the errors of the Docetists (Docetes). This name was derived from the Greek dokein, “to seem,” “to appear to be.” The heretical view of the Docetists was that Jesus Christ was not a real man, but simply appeared so. According to the Docetists, Christ was merely a phantasm. Docetism was mixed up with Gnosticism, which taught that all matter was essentially evil. Hence, Docetists taught that, since Christ is holy, He could never have had the defilement of human flesh. They said that Christ’s body was not real flesh and blood, but merely a deceptive, transient phantom, so that He did not suffer, die, and resurrect. Such heresy not only undermines the Lord’s incarnation, but also undermines His redemption and resurrection. Docetism was a characteristic feature of the first antichristian errorists whom John had in view here and in 2 John 7. The spirit of such errorists surely does not have its source in God; it is not out of God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.
In 2 John 7 the apostle John once again speaks concerning the antichrist: “Because many deceivers went out into the world, who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” These deceivers are the liars, the false prophets, who deny that Jesus is God incarnate and in this way deny the deity of Christ. John clearly says that these deceivers are antichrists.
In the past a number of Bible teachers have used the title antichrist in a particular way. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 4 Paul speaks of the man of lawlessness, “the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he seats himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself that he is God.” As prophesied in Daniel 7:20-21, 24-26; 8:9-12, 23-25; 9:27; and 11:36-37, this man of lawlessness will cast down the truth to the ground, change laws, destroy and corrupt many to an extraordinary degree, blaspheme God, and deceive men. Paul prophesied of the coming of this man of lawlessness.
In Revelation 13 we have two beasts: the first beast from the sea and the second beast from the earth. The second beast is the false prophet, who works for the first beast: “He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his sight, and he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose death stroke was healed” (v. 12). The first beast will be the last Caesar of the restored kingdom of the Roman Empire, and the second beast, the false prophet, will work for him.
Because of these prophecies, many Bible teachers have applied the title “antichrist” to the coming man of lawlessness, the one who will exalt himself above God and cause himself to be worshipped and who will oppose and persecute Christians and Jews. He is also identified with the first beast in Revelation 13. It certainly is not wrong to apply the title antichrist to this person.