The Spirit of Antichrist

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And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist.... —1 John 4:3a

It is often taught that Antichrist is not a man but a spirit. Though the above verse refers to the "spirit of antichrist," John earlier makes it clear that Antichrist is a person: "...as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists..." (1 Jn 2:18). Many antichrists were already present, operating in the "spirit of antichrist." None of them, however, was the Antichrist who, John assures us, will eventually come.

Paul refers to Antichrist as "that man of sin...the son of perdition...that Wicked [one]...whom the Lord...shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders..." (2 Thes 2:3-10). If this is not the Antichrist, who would this supremely evil man be, who will sit "in the temple of God [to be rebuilt in Jerusalem in these last days], shewing himself that he is God" (v 4)? Who else but Antichrist, Satan's world ruler, would have such authority? "And all that dwell upon earth shall worship him..." (Rev 13:3-4,8).

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