JOSEPH W. TKACH
June 1988
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your recent inquiry in which you asked about
the ANTICHRIST.
The term "antichrist" is found only in I and II John. Notice
I John 2:18: "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye
have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there MANY
ANTICHRISTS; whereby we know that it is the last time."
There were MANY antichrists in the days of the apostle John.
They pretended to be part of God's true Church. John wrote, "They
went out from us, but they were not of us" (verse 19).
What is an antichrist? The key is found in II John 7: "For
many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist." An antichrist IS a deceiver. But how does an
antichrist deceive us, and what does it mean, "who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh"?
The phrase "is come" in the King James Version is somewhat
obscure. The Williams translation renders it more clearly as
"continues to come." Christ not only came once in the flesh, but
by the Spirit of God dwelling in us, which is also in Him, He
CONTINUES TO COME INTO US EVEN AT THE PRESENT. In other words,
Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh RIGHT NOW by living His life
in His people. In I John 3:24 we read, "And he that keepeth his
commandments dwelleth in him [Christ], and he [dwells] in him.
And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he
hath given us.
Christ abides or lives in us THROUGH HIS SPIRIT. That is
exactly what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20: "I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me." It is Christ in us, "the hope of glory" (Col.
1:27). God actually works IN US "both to will and to do of his
good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
On the night before His crucifixion Jesus said, "If a man
love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and
WE WILL COME UNTO HIM, AND MAKE OUR ABODE WITH HIM" (John 14:23).
This would be impossible without God's Spirit working within us.
God's Holy Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts
(Rom. 5:5). And just what is the love of God? "For this is the
love of God, that we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: and his commandments
are not grievous" (I John 5:3).
The spirit of antichrist is lawlessness. An antichrist is
one who denies that Jesus Christ actually comes into our flesh
through His Spirit, and lives the very same life He did when He
was on earth -- a life of obedience to the law of God. Therefore,
an antichrist is one who is against Christ -- against His law and
way of life. Such a spirit of antichrist (lawlessness) was
widespread in Paul's day: "For the mystery of iniquity [the
original Greek means LAWLESSNESS] cloth already work ..." (II
Thess. 2:7).
Thank you for your interest. If you have further questions,
please let us know.
PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
PASTOR GENERAL