Dr Paul Allen

Antichrist with the devil, from the Deeds of the Antichrist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” ( 1 John 4:3 ) The four passages in the New Testament that use this term are unique to the apostle John ( 1 John 2:18 , 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7 ).The term itself is a transliteration of the Greek compound word anti plus christos, meaning one who is “against” Christ . John distinguishes between “the” Antichrist ( 1 John 2:18 ) and the “many” antichrists against whom we are continually fighting today. Although a sincere Christian should be aware of the Antichrist (the “man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 ), far more caution is urged to identify and fight the spirit of antichrist that is already here! To begin with, it should be noted that there is no specific word for “spirit” in 1 John 4:3 . The English word is supplied by the translators to clarify the obvious meaning of th...

Rembrandt's Timothy and his grandmother, 1648. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth." ( 2 John 1 ) The Greek word for "lady" (kuria) is used only two times in the Bible , and both of these occurrences are here in the one-chapter epistle of 2 John. It is also fascinating to note that kuria is the feminine form of kurios, which is the Greek word for "Lord." Evidently this "elect lady" was a special woman, very highly esteemed by the apostle John as a capable and conscientious mother to her children. It is uncertain however, whether this distinguished lady was a literal mother in the church with literal children or possibly a metaphor for the church itself, with the "children" its individual members. Good reasons can be given for both interpretations, and it may even be that John wrote his letter with t...