FALSE DOCTRINE: Anti-Christ
FALSE DOCTRINE: Anti-Christ
Far too many to name – but most of them entail an evil ruler coming into the world in the last days (meaning the future) to deceive many and cause great damage to the world and the church
Many wild teachings are taught on the Anti-Christ in conjunction with the book of Revelations
Just Google it and you get the idea (Bush, Obama, etc. is the Anti-Christ)
Just a shallow Bible study on this topic makes one wonder where this nonsense came from. Yet, this is a widely held belief throughout most of Christendom
Refutation:
The word is only used 5 times in the Bible (4 times in 1 John, once in 2 John)
Never used in Revelations (believe it or not)
In every case, the use of the word is clearly in the present or even past tense (1 John 2:18 / 1 John 4:3 / 2 John 1:7); meaning at the time 1st and 2nd John were written close to 2000 years ago
John 2:18 / 2 John 1:7 clearly state that there are many of them, not one single guy
“Anti-Christ” simply means someone who is against Christ, as stated in John 1:7 / John 4:3 / 1 John 2:22 – (just like Anti-semitism, for example - means those who show hatred or disdain for the Jewish race) - it’s as simple as that – this is clearly the context of John’s letters – warning the church against those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh – a common thing in those days – probably referring to a group such as the Docetists (a Gnostic group that believed Jesus' physical body was an illusion)
While this is not a salvation issue doctrine, it just goes to show how out of control and widespread man-made doctrines can get when not checked out by the Bible.