Antichrist:
Denying Jesus Christ is Come in the Flesh
There are only 4 verses in scripture that actually use the word Antichrist:
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard
that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we
know that it is the last time.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out,
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath
both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2 John 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
I would like to focus initially on the last two passages, that give a
special identifiable characteristic of Antichrist. Clearly, the spirit of
Antichrist denies the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This
seems initially to be fairly straightforward, but actually involves a subtlety
that requires study and understanding to perceive the deception spoken of in 2
John 1:7. So, just what does "flesh" mean in those verses?
Defining The "Flesh"
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell
in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live
after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God.
1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1 Cor 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were
not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1 Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and
strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Clearly, "flesh" can be interpreted as synonymous with being a
sinner, or "carnal", which is defined as lacking the Holy Spirit.
Adam and Eve when they were created were in perfect harmony with God, and had
a spiritual nature. When they sinned, they lost this spiritual nature, and
became carnal sinners. Ever since the fall, the children of Adam and Eve and
their descendents are born carnal, lacking the spiritual nature forfeited in
the garden. So when John says that Christ is "come in the flesh", he
is actually saying that Christ was born by a sinner that had a carnal nature.
Note what the following says about being carnal:
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold
under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it
is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good
I find not.
To be carnal is to be sold under sin. So Jesus Christ had to born of
a sinner to "come in the flesh":
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto
this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an
oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every man. ...
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took
on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
All Have Sinned - Except Jesus Christ The
Son Of God
So Christ was born of a sinner, Mary, a descendant of Adam and Eve, and
Abraham, and David, who herself needed redemption from sin, and this is
something that she herself clearly recognized:
Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Mary is no exception. As a sinner, she like the rest of us also needed a
Saviour.
1 Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth
not,) ...
2 Chr 6:36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which
sinneth not,) ...
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me.
Eccl 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and
sinneth not.
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God.
Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Christ could only inherit the fallen nature of the children of Adam and
Eve from his mother, because she was a sinner, yet scripture tells
us that Christ was NOT a sinner, and never sinned:
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
2 Cor 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Last Adam (Jesus Christ) Was Made
Spiritual
Born of a sinner with a carnal nature, Jesus Christ knew no sin. How is
that possible? How was His birth different from the rest of us?
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be
born again.
While Christ was indeed born of a sinner that lacked a spiritual nature, He
was also born of the Holy Spirit:
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God.
Though born of the flesh (of a sinner), scripture tells us that Jesus Christ had, before
the incarnation, and from His conception, the spiritual nature that Adam and
Eve had lost!
1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory.
1 Cor 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1 Cor 15:46 Howbeit that was not first [Adam] which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that [last Adam] which is spiritual.
1 Cor 15:47 The first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy: the second man
[Jesus Christ] is the Lord from heaven.
So a prominent characteristic of Antichrist is a denial that Jesus Christ
"came in the flesh", which is to say a denial that He was born of a
sinner (Mary), who herself could only pass on a carnal human nature.
Note the following papal decree:
We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the
most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a
singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits
of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all
stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be
believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.
Hence, if anyone shall dare -- which God forbid! -- to think otherwise than
as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned
by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he
has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his
own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should dare to
express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he
think in his heart. ...
Let all the children of the Catholic Church, who are so very dear to us,
hear these words of ours. With a still more ardent zeal for piety, religion
and love, let them continue to venerate, invoke and pray to the most Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived without original sin. Let them fly
with utter confidence to this most sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all
dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts and fears. Under her guidance, under
her patronage, under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared;
nothing is hopeless. ...
Source: 
Ineffabilis Deus,
Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception
(December 8, 1854)
The decree of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that Mary was sinless from
her conception in her mother's womb, is considered to be an ex
cathedra teaching, from Peter's Chair, an infallible article of faith
binding on all Roman Catholics. Shortly after the dogmatic declaration of Pius
IX, an alleged apparition repeatedly appeared to a young girl,
Bernadette Soubirous, at Lourdes, France. The apparition identified herself as
the "Immaculate Conception." John warns us to try the spirits:
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
The apparition at Lourdes fails the test, by claiming to be
the "Immaculate Conception." Catholics are also taught that Mary never
sinned her entire life:
411 ... Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's
victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a
special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly
life.306
306 Cf. Pius IXs Ineffabilis Deus: DS 2803;
Council of Trent: DS 1573 [ Sixth
Session, Canon XXIII on Justification].
Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by Ligouri
Publications, English translation copyright 1994 by the United States
Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the Imprimi
Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 104.
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, online at the Vatican.
Catholics also teach that Jesus Christ inherited His sinless immaculate
nature from His mother Mary:
... I admit we [Catholics] speak glowingly of Mary (who doesn't love and speak well
of their mother?), but in this context I was being the prosaic, theological
one. I wasn't using poetic, superlative language about the Blessed Virgin. I
was simply laying out the logic: Jesus was the sinless Son of God.
He took
his sinless human nature from his mother. For that human nature to be really
human and really sinless its human source must have been uniquely pure. This
seems to be a simple, logical, and modest claim.
Source:
Mary: A
Catholic / Evangelical Debate, By
Dwight Longenecker, David Gustafson, Gracewing
Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0852445822, pg. 55.
... So much is Mary's very
being full of grace that this title [Immaculate Conception] serves to identify Mary in place of her
own name. It is also true that no person with a fallen nature could possess
a fullness of grace, a plentitude of grace, appropriate only for the woman
who was to give God the Son an identical, immaculate human nature. Mary was
conceived in providence to be the woman who would
give her same immaculate
nature to God when God became man. Certainly we can see the fittingness in
God receiving a human nature from a human mother, and receiving an
immaculate nature from a truly immaculate mother.
Source:
The Four Marian Dogmas,
By Mark Miravalle, Mother of all Peoples web site, Friday, 06 January
2006, excerpted from Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine
and Devotion, Queenship Publishing, 1993, ISBN 1-882972-06-6, pg. 39.
... we affirm that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of
God, who in His divine nature is from all eternity begotten of the Father,
consubstantial with Him, was in the fullness of time again begotten, by be
born of the Virgin, thus taking to Himself, from her maternal womb, a human
nature of the same substance with hers.
Source
The Faith Of Our Fathers by James Cardinal Gibbons,
38th edition, 1891 by John Murphy & Company, Baltimore, R. Washbourne,
London, page 198.
The same quote of Cardinal Gibbons appears in
The Faith of Millions,
by the Reverend John A. O'Brien, PH.D, copyright by John A. O'Brien 1938,
published by Our Sunday Visitor, 1955, Huntington, Indiana, page 441.
Mary Declared The Mediatrix Of Salvation
Where does this alleged sinless immaculate nature of Mary ultimately lead
in Roman Catholic Church teaching?
969 ... "Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving
office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of
eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church
under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."510
510 Dogmatic Constitution
On The Church, Lumen Gentium,
promulgated by Pope Paul VI, Nov. 21, 1964, section #62.
Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by Ligouri
Publications, English translation copyright 1994 by the United States
Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the Imprimi
Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 252.
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, online at the Vatican.
Mary has been elevated in Roman Catholic teaching to a Mediatrix of
Salvation, interposing her between Christ and mankind, when scripture tells us
there is but one mediator:
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus;
Heb 8:6 But now hath he [Jesus] obtained a more excellent ministry, by
how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises.
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance.
Taking The Place Of Christ On Earth
In addition, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Pope, titled
Vicarius Christi (which is synonymous with the word Antichrist), takes the
place of Jesus Christ on Earth:
... We [the pope] hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty, ...
Source: Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Praeclara Gratulationis
Publicae (The Reunion of Christendom), dated June 20, 1894,
trans. in The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII (New York: Benziger,
1903), paragraph 5, page 304.
Another authentic papal title is Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of
God), which equals 666 (Rev. 13:18) when the Roman numeral value of the
letters are added up. It has a long documented history of use by the Roman Catholic
Church, and was used most recently by Pope Paul VI in two Apostolic Constitutions,
which are the highest form of official Papal decree in the Roman Catholic
Church. For the details see: 666, The Number of the Beast.
Ask a Catholic a question about the Holy Father, and they will likely think
you are talking about the Pope, yet this title is used only one time in all of
scripture (John 17:11), and it refers not to any man, but to God the Father.
The application of this title to anyone but God is a blasphemous antichrist
usurpation.
It is also a papal teaching that not just the Pope, but every
Catholic priest is, in fact, another Christ:
12. ... Thus the priest, as is said with good reason, is indeed
"another Christ"; for, in some way, he is himself a continuation
of Christ. ...
Source: Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter AD CATHOLICI
SACERDOTII (On the Catholic Priesthood), promulgated on 20
December 1935.
Conclusion
By denying Mary was a sinner in need of a redeemer, Roman Catholicism
denies Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and this is the deceptive teaching
and spirit of antichrist that John spoke of:
1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist.
And by teaching that the Catholic priest is "another Christ" and
that Mary is a Mediatrix, Advocate, and Co-redemptrix, placing her between God
and mankind and dispenser of all grace, the Roman Catholic Church fits this
characteristic identified by John:
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:
The above article is offered in response to Hugo Mendez's blog item
The Papacy as "the Antichrist"
where he asserts there is no biblical basis for applying the term antichrist to the papacy. It is also a rebuttal of
HERESIES EXPOSED, Indictment #3 — Christ’s Humanity, at
Bible Believers Resource Page.
See also:
The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism
What Does The Word VATICAN Mean?
The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast.
