The Sprit of Christ—The Spirit of Antichrist

Antichrist is the very opposite of Christ. We read in Philippians 2:5-8: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”

Concerning the Antichrist we read, “. . . the man of lawlessness . . . the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

Yes, this is a stark contrast. It is written of Jesus that when the devil came to tempt Him, he tempted Him to perform signs and wonders. The devil tempted Him by offering Him the opportunity to gain the whole world. Jesus was gifted enough and had that potential. He had only to worship Satan. But in so ding, He would have become the Antichrist. Matthew 4:1-4. Then He would not have been persecuted either.

In what we read previously about Jesus who gave us the gospel, the fact that He was of the seed of David according to the flesh, was stressed. There was nothing extraordinary about Him. There was nothing to admire about Him. That is why people saw in Him nothing more than a carpenter’s son.

Jesus worked hard at purging His disciples of the spirit that wanted to exalt itself. They did not understand Jesus, who humbled Himself. Matthew 20:21-28. But after He had arisen from the dead, they received clear light on this point. On the day of Pentecost they were filled with the Spirit of Christ, and then they could proclaim the gospel. Acts 13:37-39. Now there was One who was of the flesh of David who had put to death sin in the flesh—something the law could not do. He did not see corruption; He rose from the dead.

Now they could proclaim the forgiveness of sins through Him, which they had received by sacrificing animals, when they were under the law. They could also proclaim the gospel: “And by him every one that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” Verse 39.

This was a tremendous victory and a liberating message for the people. Now those who believed could be saved from death and from him who had the power of death. Hebrews 2:14-18. The Antichrist could not tolerate this. It became an urgent matter for him to explain away the gospel so that people could not enter into this salvation. He could not explain away Jesus’ greatness or deny the fact that He rose from the dead, but he could explain away His humiliation. He could explain away the fact that Jesus had the flesh of David, in which sin had to be put to death. The Antichrist not only wanted to magnify Christ on account of His resurrection from the dead, he also wanted to exalt him in the days of His flesh by making Him out to be someone who was not tempted lie we are. He wanted to make sure we did not get such a “lowly” Savior. He made Him appear to be so “exalted” in the days of His flesh that He was untouched by the sort of temptations that you and I have.

This is how the spirit of Antichrist has explained away the work God did in Jesus in the days of His flesh. The gospel, the very thing that gives us hope that we can be conformed to His image and partake of divine nature, gets explained away. Philippians 3:7-11; 2 Peter 1:3-4. Once the spirit of Antichrist has succeeded in explaining away the gospel, all that remains is the forgiveness of sins, which they already had under the law through the sacrifice of animals. Those who have been led astray by the spirit of Antichrist not only explain away the fact that Jesus had the same flesh as David, they also brand it as the most dangerous heresy anywhere. Thus they scare away simple souls. How significant that it is written, “And by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.” Romans 16:18.

When they speak about Jesus as the Son of Man, they construct a kind of flesh, which no one has ever had. In fact, Catholics even teach that the Virgin Mary had a “holy” flesh, which was supposed to have qualified her to bring forth Jesus in such a holy state. But then we must ask: What about Mary’s own mother? Yes, they are simple souls indeed that let themselves be deceived by such sweet words—words for which there is simply no support in Scripture.

None of these preachers have personally partaken of the gospel, which by the knowledge of Jesus has given us the greatest and most precious promises of becoming partakers of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:3-4. Consequently, they cannot proclaim the gospel either. But that isn’t all. They also have to explain away the gospel so that they themselves will not be revealed as deceivers.

John said in his time: “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 be plain that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:18-19.

The law said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7. to liberate people from coveting was impossible for the law, because the law was powerless on account of the flesh. But “God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3-4. Here we see the distinction John writes about. “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 thins of the Spirit.” Verse 5.

It is evident that the vast majority set their minds on the things of the flesh. They want to gratify their lusts and still have the forgiveness of sins. They are like those whom Paul often spoke about “and now even tell you with tears, [many] live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” Philippians 3:18-19.

They desire the things of the flesh and are not interested in hearing about how God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh. They only want to hear bout how God did what the law could not do—that is, how He sent His Son to keep the law in our stead. They are only too happy to read the first part of Romans 8:3, but they want no part of verse 4, which explains that the just requirement of the law shall be fulfilled in us. They don’t want to be among those who fulfill that verse.

There are many such people, Paul writes. Indeed, they have formed large denominations and started many Bible schools. “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:17.

Those who remained, out of all the souls John had gathered (1 John 2:19), were able to say with Paul, “But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:20-21.

These souls are just as happy to read verse 4 of Romans 8. In their flesh the same thing is accomplished as was accomplished in the flesh of Jesus. They walk in the Spirit. Their comfort is not only that they have the forgiveness of sins, but that their lusts are put to death—which the law was powerless to do. Romans 8:12-14. Thus they also become one flesh with Him. Ephesians 5:31-32. They experience the truth of the scripture, “In everything God works for good.” And so they are conformed to the image of the Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Romans 8:28-29.

The apostle John has been called the apostle of love, because he wrote much about love. Jesus called him “son of thunder.” Mark 3:17. Both names suite him very well. His love for his fellow man stirred him to warn against deceiving spirits; he demonstrated that they were of the spirit of Antichrist. He could recognize them because they did not confess that Jesus was the Christ and that He had come in the flesh. 1 John 4:1-3.

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward.” 2 John 7-8.

In Philippians we are exhorted to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. This exhortation comes right after Paul had explained that Jesus emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself. Then he adds, “for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Read Philippians 2:5-15) If, having heard about the mind that was in Christ Jesus, the Philippians were to be gin to work out their salvation according to the leading of the Spirit, they would make great progress in “being conformed to the image of his Son.” But if, on the other hand, they were to receive the spirit of Antichrist, which denies that Jesus has come in the flesh, they would lose all hope of being conformed to the image of Jesus. In that case, all their work on their salvation would turn out to have been in vain.

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling! Who has ever heard such an exhortation? You never hear it from the spirit of Antichrist. “Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14. Who has ever heard an exhortation like this? The spirit of Antichrist never exhorts us to do anything of the kind! And we can thereby clearly distinguish between the spirit of Antichrist and the Spirit of Christ.

When we receive light about how the spirit of Antichrist works and what it has accomplished in the religious world, it is simply astounding. The spirit of Antichrist has so denied and twisted the work God accomplished by sending His Son and condemning sin in the flesh that virtually all religious people regard the gospel about his work as the worst heresy there is. Acts 28:22. This spirit has preached away the entire gospel. That is why almost nowhere in the world will you hear anyone stressing the first pat of the gospel “concerning his Son, who has descended from David according to the flesh.”

It is just the same with grace, which is falsified in the same way. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17. But the spirit of Antichrist has preached grace to mean that Jesus fulfilled the law in our stead, and that His righteousness is imputed to us. “Now we are under grace, so it doesn’t really matter if we commit sin. The worse sinners we are, the more that grace abounds.” This notion already existed in the time of the apostles. Hebrews 2:1-4.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:1-2. “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” Verses 14-15. In these passages, the apostle battled against the spirit of Antichrist, which had lulled people into taking false comfort in grace.

“For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Before this he writes, “but even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed . . . .” Galatians 1:8-12.

Jesus was the surety of a better hope than the hope they had under the law. Hebrews 7:19-25. God did not send His Son in order to cover up sin, but to save us and deliver us from sin. The epistle of Jude tells us how some had already succeeded in falsifying God’s grace. These were ungodly men who turned the grace of God into licentiousness. They were so bold in their licentiousness that they shamelessly caroused together at the church’s love feasts. How strange that there were none among them who had the power to deal with the situation.

In one sense it is easier for us now than it was in the apostles’ days. When they began to preach the gospel, there was only one gathering of Christians in any given locality. But it didn’t take long before many began to falsify the gospel, and John saw that many people went out from them. Gradually there were more and more places people could choose to go. Today there are countless places one can go. Therefore it is not our experience that people come among us, only to leave later. No, when this kind of people come to our meetings and hear about obedience and about taking up the cross daily in order to follow Jesus, they say: “This is bondage; these people are trying to save themselves.” They don’t believe in the finished work of Jesus, and they soon leave. There are many religious assemblies, so it is not difficult to find another place that is more to their taste. That is why we have peace and rest in which to be built up together on our most holy faith and to pray in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God as we wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 20-21.

“And as every one must confess, great is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16.

The spirit of Antichrist has managed to explain away the humiliation of Jesus so thoroughly that you would have a hard time finding a single person outside the church who understands it. When we think about how many learned people, professors, those with doctoral degrees, Bible teachers, and famous speakers there are, you would have thought that we would have encountered some among them in our time who had received revelation about Jesus manifested in the flesh and justified in the spirit; but we have not met anyone outside the church who has had this revelation. They have been deceived by the spirit of Antichrist, and they explain away Jesus’ humiliation in spite of the fact that it is written about so clearly. For example; Romans 1:3-4 and 8:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Philippians 3:10; Hebrews 2:10-11, 14-18; 4:14-16, 5:7-10; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-8—and many other scriptures as well. If you bring the teaching about Jesus’ humiliation to the attention of these learned people, who are so highly esteemed in the eyes of man, they just explain it away and regard it as heresy. This is how the spirit of Antichrist has succeeded in explaining away the salvation that God gave us when He sent His Son.

In our days God had to use a sailor to reveal this great mystery and this deception of Antichrist. He chose Johan O. Smith, a man who loved the truth, a man who did not seek honor. God chose one who was nothing in the eyes of man. The light he received was revelation from the Spirit and not a result of human study. This was in keeping with Jesus’ humiliation. This is how Jesus’ words were fulfilled: “At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; year, Father, for such was thy gracious will.’” Matthew 11:25-26.

And yet our comfort is that the only ones who will be led astray are those who do not love the truth but take pleasure in unrighteousness. The remainder will partake of sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth, to which He called us through the gospel so that we may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

“The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders . . . .” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. People today will travel far and wide and come together to see and experience something sensational. Frequently it involves healing for the body. Such activity became widespread particularly after the last World War. Preachers traveled around holding revival meetings that emphasized signs and wonders. They attracted thousands who came to see and to be healed. But it quickly became apparent that the object of all these revivals was to gather large crowds and big collections—nothing more! This is the spirit of Antichrist. Satan makes use of this to lead people away from sanctification so that they cannot see God. Hebrews 12:14.

“Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12.

Many religious people are conservative. They are not driven to and fro by every kind of advertisement or by those who are conformed to the world. Nevertheless, they have not acted on these words of Jesus: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24. They do not love the truth that they might partake of sanctification. 1 Corinthians 11:31-32. But then the time comes for God to send strong delusion that people might believe what is false, then they, too, will be led astray. In view of this, we can appreciate how precious the brothers are whom Paul writes about in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-14.

We can receive instruction from Peter’s two epistles. From them we can gain insight into those things which have true value. Peter had the gift of healing in such full measure that his mere shadow was sufficient to heal; he even raised people from the dead. Considering the fact that he wrote two epistles, we might have expected him to write a great deal bout all the miracles he had experienced; in fact, he doesn’t mention a word about them. Read his epistles and think carefully about what he writes, and follow his exhortations. Then you will not be deceived; you will come to the glory of Jesus Christ to which we are called. Then the spirit of Antichrist cannot deceive you.

Paul begins his epistle to the Romans by writing about obedience; he continues on the subject of obedience, and he concludes his letter by writing about obedience. If we speak about obedience, we must necessarily speak about works. We understand that we are members of Christ’s body, and we understand that Christ was not without works. As members of Christ’s body we are led by the Head, who is Christ. Ephesians 4:15-16. Then we have not received God’s grace in vain; God has fulfilled His plan with us. We have become partakers of the salvation that Jesus has made possible for us, and are untouched by the spirit of Antichrist.