The Spirit of Antichrist

The Spirit of Antichrist

The verses we are looking at in I John 4 speak of the spirit

of antichrist that is in false prophets. We know that “anti” means

“against” and the Greek word for “Christ” is “The Anointed One.”

So this Scripture is telling us that anything that is against His

anointing is the spirit of antichrist. What is His anointing? In the

Old Testament the prophets used oil to anoint those who were

called of God. Today we who are called by His name have His

anointing within us. 1 John 2:27 says, But the anointing which

ye have received of him abideth in you... The anointing is symbolized

by the oil, and the oil represents the Holy Spirit. From this

we can see that anything that opposes the Holy Spirit is “antichrist.”

The Holy Spirit is represented always with power. We can

now see that those who oppose the power of God are against

Him. The Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost to give the disciples

power to witness. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are powerful gifts.

(1 Corinthians 12:8-10 says, For to one is given by the Spirit

the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by

the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another

the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the

working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning

of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another

the interpretation of tongues.) These gifts are for power

to speak words of God, power to heal, power to work miracles,

power to speak in other tongues, power to discern spirits, etc.

Those that oppose the power of the Holy Spirit are really being

influenced by the spirit of antichrist. Therefore we can see that

any doctrine that opposes the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit is

the spirit of error and not God’s truth.

Continuing our teaching on discerning false doctrines taught

by those who are in error, we are warned that this spirit exists, but

we are not to be fearful of it because 1 John 4:4 tells us that

greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. Since

Jesus dwells in us and Satan is the god of this world, this means

that through the Lord we have overcome the spirit of antichrist,

the lies of the false prophets, and the works of the devil. (This of

course only applies if we are committed to God and His will; if we

are not, we are open for error to deceive us.) Notice too in this

verse that John addresses them as little children. There is a lesson

here of which we need to be aware. In testing or proving others’

doctrines we should do so with a spirit of humility. We should

come before the Lord as a little child, not with a “know-it-all”

attitude. We should prayerfully ask God, “Am I wrong?” or “Lord,

is this doctrine false and not of you?” Without humility on our

part, we can be deceived also.

The Lord sums this lesson up on trying the spirits with two

important ways by which we can know whether it is the spirit of

truth or the spirit of error. He says that people that are in the

world (remember the world system is ruled by Satan) will speak

of the world, and those that are worldly minded will hear them. If

we are truly dedicated to God we will not be interested in the

things of this world, but our conversation will be on things above.

(Philippians 3:18-20 verifies this, For many walk, of whom I

have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they

are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction,

whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their

shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in

heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord

Jesus Christ.) Notice also in 1 John 4:6 that those who are God’s

own will agree with one another, but those that are not God’s,

will not. The true people of God will bear witness to truth when

they hear it. We may not always understand everything we hear

(just as we don’t understand everything in the Bible), but in our

spirits we will witness that it is true. We have all had the experience

of hearing a sermon and while agreeing with the preacher,

suddenly we hear a statement to which we do not agree. The

problem here is that one of us is in error, or we would agree or

witness with his or her statement. There is a possibility that it is

on our end that the error exists. We need to humbly submit the

thing in question to the Lord and ask Him to show us if we are

wrong, or if it is the preacher or teacher. We need to go to the

Word of God and seek the answer in the Bible. We should not

take another’s word unless it agrees with God’s Word. If truth is

being spoken through someone, we who have the Spirit of Truth

within us will be able to witness to and hear that truth.

Another test we can apply is pointed out in verse 8 of 1

John 4. What kind of spirit is behind the things being said? Is it

the spirit of love? The Scripture says, He that loveth not knoweth

not God; for God is Love. A spirit that is pushy, arrogant, overbearing,

rude, impatient, argumentative, envious, touchy, or prideful

is not the spirit of love (1 Corinthians 13). Even when the

spirit of God ministers a strong word it will have God’s authority,

stability, and love undergirding it. We are to try (test) the spirits

and not receive everything we hear, yet we are to always have this

balanced with a teachable spirit so that the Holy Spirit can correct

us when necessary.