XPost: alt.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
   Scripture identifies both a present spirit of opposition to Christ and a   
   climactic man of lawlessness who will stand in open rebellion before the   
   return of the Lord.   
      
   John writes, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that   
   antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18,   
   ESV). He speaks of a coming individual, and also of many who already   
   reflect that same spirit. He then defines the mark of such opposition:   
   “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” (1 John 2:22, ESV). To   
   deny the Son severs oneself from the Father. “No one who denies the Son   
   has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John   
   2:23, ESV).   
      
   John presses further: “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not   
   from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3, ESV). And   
   again, “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not   
   confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the   
   deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7, ESV). Any teaching that   
   diminishes who Jesus is, or rejects what God has revealed about His   
   person, bears that mark.   
      
   The testimony of Scripture about the Son leaves no room for a reduced   
   Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and   
   the Word was God” (John 1:1, ESV). “And the Word became flesh and dwelt   
   among us” (John 1:14, ESV). He is not merely a messenger. He is God in   
   the flesh.   
      
   Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, ESV). Jesus did   
   not correct him. The Father says of the Son, “Your throne, O God, is   
   forever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8, ESV). Paul declares that Christ Jesus,   
   “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a   
   thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6, ESV). He is “our great God and   
   Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13, ESV).   
      
   The Son receives worship that belongs to God alone. “Let all God’s   
   angels worship him” (Hebrews 1:6, ESV). Yet God has said, “You shall   
   worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10,   
   ESV). The only way both statements stand true is if the Son shares the   
   divine nature.   
      
   Scripture also reveals a future world ruler who will embody this   
   rebellion in concentrated form. Paul speaks of “the man of   
   lawlessness…who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god   
   or object of worship” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, ESV). His coming will be   
   “by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2   
   Thessalonians 2:9, ESV). Daniel foresaw a king who “shall exalt himself   
   and magnify himself above every god” (Daniel 11:36, ESV). Revelation   
   describes a beast who demands worship and blasphemes God (Revelation   
   13:5–8, ESV).   
      
   Thus Scripture presents both the ongoing spirit that rejects the Son and   
   a final figure who will personify that defiance. The common thread runs   
   clear: rejection of the true identity of Jesus Christ.   
      
   The apostles did not treat this as a minor doctrinal detail. John   
   writes, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching   
   of Christ, does not have God” (2 John 9, ESV). Eternal life rests on   
   knowing the Son as He truly is. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever   
   does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12, ESV).   
      
   The issue, then, centers on the person of Christ. To confess Him as God   
   the Son who came in the flesh, died for our sins, and rose again secures   
   fellowship with the Father (1 Corinthians 15:1–4, ESV). To deny Him in   
   His true identity aligns with the spirit Scripture warns against. The   
   dividing line stands where God Himself has drawn it: the Son.   
      
      
   --   
   Have you heard the good news Christ died for our sins (†), and God   
   raised Him from the dead?   
      
   That Christ died for our sins shows we're sinners who deserve the death   
   penalty. That God raised Him from the dead shows Christ's death   
   satisfied God's righteous demands against our sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John   
   2:1-2). This means God can now remain just, while forgiving you of your   
   sins, and saving you from eternal damnation.   
      
   On the basis of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins, call on   
   the name of the Lord to save you: "For 'everyone who calls on the name   
   of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV).   
      
   https://christrose.news/salvation   
      
   To automatically receive daily Bible teaching updates with colorful   
   images and website formatting, subscribe to my feed in a client like   
   Thunderbird:   
      
   https://www.christrose.news/feeds/posts/default   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)