¹⁸Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

Deadlines motivate, no doubt about it. From the earliest days of the movement, Christians have been anticipating the end times, when God will bring all creation into the consummation of His purposes. John points out the signs that will precede the return of Christ, namely the rise of the antichrist figure. In fact, there had been many by the time of John’s writing this letter whose teachings worked against the glorious truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John seems to be speaking more of those who, in general, work against the true knowledge of Jesus Christ, with the idea that there will be the ultimate opposer to Christ, the one called “the antichrist.” (Literally, the term means one who opposes Christ.) The apostle Paul was once an anti-Christ when he persecuted the church—that is, until Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) and made it clear that harassing Christians was tantamount to opposing Jesus Himself. Using Paul’s Hebrew name, our Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul then became an ardent promoter of Christ.

But others continued in their opposition to Jesus. John points out that many have come from within the ranks of the Christian community. They were fully entrenched in the local churches by all outward appearances, but their actions and teachings proved them not to be genuine members of the believing community. When John calls them antichrists, he means their teachings oppose the true understanding of Jesus Christ. In fact, the earliest controversies in church history had to do with wrestling with the nature of Christ’s incarnation and His effective work in salvation.

Jesus Himself had warned that some would arise, not just to oppose Christ but to claim to be Christ: “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many” (Matt. 24:5). Sadly, this has continued throughout history to our contemporary times. Scholars wrestle with what John means by “the last hour,” but his warning is clear to all generations of believers. There will always be false teachers opposing the true teachings about who Jesus Christ is. Anyone who opposes the apostolic teaching about the person and work of Jesus is an anti-Christ. We must be vigilant in our defense of Bible truth so as to be able to identify those who are anti-Christ in their teachings.

PRAYER: Lord, help me be careful in my devotion to and study of the knowledge of Christ.