In Opposition to Christ

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

 

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life” (1 John 2:18-25 ESV).

 

So, let’s begin with a definition of “antichrist.” It means “opposite to, in place of” Christ, “someone acting in place of (against) Christ.” “One who opposes Christ.” “Either one who puts himself in place of or as the enemy (opponent) of Christ” (source: biblehub.com interlinear). And against Christ is contrary to, in contradiction of, and hostile to Christ. And who do the Scriptures teach are those who are hostile to Christ?

 

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8 ESV).

 

So, you can be professing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and still be antichrist in your actions, attitudes, beliefs, words, and behaviors. For if sin is what you practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, then you are against (anti) Christ, for you are acting in opposition to his divine character and will for our lives. You are doing the opposite of what he has called his followers to do. For your mind is set on acting out the deeds of the flesh and not on walking in obedience to the Lord.

 

So, when this says, “they went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us,” this is not speaking about people leaving the institutional denominational “church,” which is not the church, the body of Christ. This is about people deserting the faith by living in opposition to that faith, by living in opposition to Christ, by setting their minds on the flesh and living according to the flesh. For this is what it means to be “antichrist,” to be living in opposition to his divine purpose and will for our lives, which is hostility toward Christ.

 

Many denominational and institutional “churches,” in fact, are filled with people who are “antichrist,” because they are living in opposition to Christ by their sinful practices. And many of these denominational and institutional and/or and market-driven “churches” are even promoting living in opposition to Christ by the diluted and altered gospel messages which they are largely teaching the people, which are giving them permission to keep on living in sin while promising them heaven as their eternal destiny.

 

And a person can profess with his lips that Jesus is the Christ and yet deny him by his actions. Many professers of faith in Jesus Christ here in America are living opposite of God’s will and purpose for their lives. For many of them are still in love with the world and with the sinful pleasures of the world, and they are patterning their lives after the ways of the world and not after Christ. And we read in 1 John 1 and 2 that we can’t live that way and be “in Christ.” And if we claim that we are, we are liars.

 

For what does it say here? It says that we are to let what we heard from the beginning (if it was the truth) abide in us. If what we heard was the truth, according to the Scriptures, and if this is what we received and accepted, then we need to continue in that truth, but not in lip service only, but in daily practice. It means that the word of God is living within us and that we are abiding by its truth in practice, though not necessarily in absolute perfection. But lack of perfection is not license to make sin one’s practice.

 

So, the truth of the gospel is that if we want to come after Christ we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) our Lord, in practice. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Christ we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, in practice, then we have the promise and the hope of eternal life with God. But if we deny him by our actions, then when he returns, he will deny us (Luke 9:23-26).

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

For Our Nation  

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

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