The Spirit of Antichrist

The spirit of Antichrist is that which promotes another Lord and Savior instead of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – the true Christ or Messiah.

So there are many antichrist spirits in the world.

For many, SELF is promoted as Lord and Savior instead of Jesus Christ.

Salvation encompasses many things. It is more than forgiveness and pardon from God. A Christian might be trusting Christ for pardon from sins. But at the same time, they may be self-reliant for other things. In this world we must learn that we don’t have all the answers we need. We can’t even access them without the true God. Some people never learn this. Therefore, they may make themselves into their own god. This is the antichrist spirit. In this form of self-idolatry, people become hardened against the truth in their rebellion. And the remnants of this kind of iniquity can remain in Christians for a long time unless our eyes are opened and our hearts softened.

Self-will is related to the antichrist spirit. The spirit of antichrist is at work when we cannot say with Jesus “not my will [Father] but yours be done”. When the spirit of antichrist is at work in our hearts, we may be thinking like Saul when he sacrificed to God without waiting for Samuel, or like the King of Israel who said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (2 Kings 6:33). This spirit was at work in Judas when he tried to make something happen by betraying Jesus to the religious authorities. It is very dangerous. If antichrist related iniquity is allowed to grow in our hearts, we could end up turning away from the Lord completely and falling away from the faith.

This self-will/spirit of antichrist can even be at work in those who want to serve God and make a difference – people like myself. Many times I have wanted to somehow break out of my situation and go and do something for God without really hearing His voice. We can be motivated by a spirit of humanism rather than by the Lord. Sometimes the Lord locks us up in circumstances where we need to learn to worship and know Him, and we cannot simply use our gifts in service, no matter how powerful those gifts may be.

The spirit of Antichrist is related to demonic powers that promote the following attitudes: rebellion, lawlessness, blasphemy, pride, hardness of heart, stubbornness, accusation, judgmentalism, a critical spirit, cynicism, unbelief, skepticism, self-will, rejection and independence.

Barring a miraculous deliverance, the only cure for this is to humble oneself and bear the cross – embracing the will of God even when it is painful.