Introduction
The message of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is not simply a call to an initial conversion; it is also a call to perseverance. The Lord Jesus Himself stated it plainly in the Gospel of Matthew: “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). To endure, however, is not merely to reach the end of one’s life without formally abandoning the faith. It means something far deeper and more demanding: standing firm in what one has been taught, holding fast to sound doctrine, developing it, and living by it. It means abiding in Jesus.
The apostle Paul also emphasized this necessity when writing to communities of faith. When addressing the Corinthians, he made clear that he had not come to them with human wisdom but in the power of the Spirit of God, conveying the message of the gospel of the Kingdom. And it is precisely that message — received, kept, and lived out — that makes eternal life and genuine spiritual growth possible.
But what does it truly mean to abide in Jesus? Many answers come to mind: being faithful to a congregation, a denomination, or a ministry. Yet there is only one spiritual answer. This answer is not academic or merely theological; it is a definition revealed by the Spirit of God through His Word. This chapter aims to explore that definition, examine the biblical evidence that supports it, and warn about a danger the Holy Spirit urgently names: the process of forming antichrists within the church itself.
Part One: What Does It Truly Mean to Abide in Jesus?
The Image of the Vine and the Branches
On the night Jesus celebrated the solemn Passover feast — His last night before His arrest — He chose to teach His disciples about the necessity of abiding in Him. He knew He was about to be taken, and as He Himself had warned them, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” That is why the central theme of His teaching that night was precisely this: do not separate yourselves from Me.
In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 4 through 6, the Lord Jesus expresses it with a powerful image:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (John 15:4-6).
The warning is solemn: without Him, nothing. The branch that separates from the vine not only ceases to bear fruit; it withers, is lost, and burns. This image underscores the gravity of not abiding in Christ.
The Spiritual Definition: Hating Every Apostate Doctrine
We now come to the heart of the matter. The apostle John — who more than any other apostolic writer insisted on the reality of abiding in Jesus — provides in his first epistle the spiritual definition we are seeking. Both he and the apostle Paul agree: abiding in Jesus means hating every apostate doctrine. Not tolerating it, not considering it, not allowing it, not forming any bond with it.
This is the only truly spiritual answer to the question. If there is tolerance toward apostate doctrines — if there is openness or consideration toward them — the person is not abiding in Jesus: there are elements of darkness within them. The apostle John develops this through four concrete evidences that allow us to identify what constitutes an apostate doctrine.
First Evidence: Denying That Jesus Is the Christ
In chapter 2, verses 22 and 23 of his first epistle, the apostle John writes:
“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. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:22-23).
The gospel message preached on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts chapter 2, clearly establishes what the gospel consists of: “This Jesus, whom you crucified, God has raised up, and has made him both Lord and Christ.” Everyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ — the Messiah, the Sent One of God — practices an apostate doctrine.
This reality calls us to an honest review. There are messages and teachings — some widely spread and even historically accepted — that classify Jesus as a good man, a prophet, a teacher, or a rabbi, but that do not confess Him as the Christ. In the face of these, God’s Word is clear: they cannot be tolerated, embraced, or allowed. To reject them is not intolerance; it is the condition for abiding in Jesus.
Second Evidence: Denying That Jesus Christ Has Come in the Flesh
The second evidence of apostate doctrine appears in chapter 4, verses 1 through 3 of the first epistle:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already” (1 John 4:1-3).
Any doctrine claiming that Jesus did not come in the flesh — that He was merely a spirit, a non-tangible manifestation, or a superior spiritual being distinct from God Himself — is an apostate doctrine. The foundational truth of the gospel is that God became flesh. The apostle John proclaims this from the opening of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). The apostle Paul affirms it as well in his writings.
The epistle to the Hebrews, in its first chapter, confirms that Jesus is not an angel. The sacred author asks: “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son’?” To none. Jesus is God Himself incarnate, not a perfect or superior being separate from the Father. Every doctrine that reduces Him to the category of an angel or a spiritual being distinct from God must be rejected.
The apostle John also warns in his second epistle about this same reality, pointing out that doctrines such as those denying the physical and visible second coming of Christ fit this category. Preterism, for example — the teaching that Jesus already appeared to the world in a spiritual rather than physical, visible manner — is one of those doctrines that must be rejected.
Third Evidence: The Deceiver Who Does Not Confess Christ Come in the Flesh
In verse 7 of the first chapter of his second epistle, the apostle John broadens the warning:
“For 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 1:7).
When speaking of “deceivers,” the apostle is not referring only to individuals who profess apostate doctrines. The term also encompasses cultural, commercial, financial, historical, and media channels — everything that surrounds human beings and attempts to establish that Jesus is not who Scripture says He is constitutes a vehicle of deception.
Fourth Evidence: Not Persevering in the Doctrine of Christ
The fourth evidence appears in verses 9 through 11 of the first chapter of the apostle John’s second epistle:
“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works” (2 John 1:9-11).
This instruction leaves no room for well-intentioned exceptions. It is not permissible to welcome into one’s home or greet someone who does not bring the doctrine of Christ, even under the pretext of evangelizing or rescuing them from error. Verse 11 is explicit: whoever greets such a person becomes a participant in their wicked works. There is a clear boundary the Spirit of God sets for sharing the gospel message — a boundary that must not be crossed, because genuine evangelism operates by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by human strength, skill, or resources.
In summary of this first section: abiding in Jesus means hating every apostate doctrine, not tolerating it, not consenting to it, not forming any bond with it. It does not matter whether a person is part of a ministry or a congregation: if they embrace or tolerate apostate doctrines, there are elements of darkness within them, and they are not truly abiding in Jesus.
Part Two: The Process of Forming Antichrists Within the Church
An Urgent Warning from the Spirit of God
In chapter 2, verses 18 and 19 of his first epistle, the apostle John writes:
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:18-19).
These verses are not speaking of people who infiltrated the church from the outside having never had a genuine encounter with God. The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy in his first epistle, describes them this way: those who “made shipwreck of their faith.” They were men and women who had converted to the Lord, who had confessed Jesus Christ, but who subsequently entered a process of forming the antichrist and fell away.
This is the urgent alarm the Spirit of God raises: antichrists are not formed outside the church; they are being formed within it. The concern is not about external enemies but about an internal process that can happen to anyone who is not watchful.
The apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4, describes the antichrist as one who seats himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God, and who is accepted as such by those inside. There is a double relationship: the one who passes himself off as God, and those who accept him as such. This underscores that the process operates within the sphere of faith, not outside it.
The question every believer must honestly ask is this: Could I be walking through a process of forming the antichrist without having recognized it? The apostle John, in the chapters following verse 19, presents seven concrete manifestations that allow us to identify that process. Examining them honestly is an act of spiritual responsibility.
First Manifestation: Minimizing or Excusing Sin
In chapter 1, verses 8 through 10, the apostle writes:
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).
The antichrist is, at his core, one who denies the reconciling work of Jesus in mankind. For whom did Jesus come? For sinners. If someone minimizes their sinful condition — if they believe they were not really that bad, that circumstances forced their hand, that external pressure led them to act against their will — they are effectively invalidating the work of Christ on the cross. They are implying, however subtly, that they did not need the Savior as much as Scripture says.
Excusing sin, hiding it, minimizing it, or justifying it with external circumstances is the beginning of an antichrist path. The remedy the Word provides is sincere confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Second Manifestation: Drifting Away from the Word of God
In chapter 2, verse 4, the apostle writes:
201cWhoever says 2018I know him2019 but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him201d (1 John 2:4).
This manifestation appears in many forms. One of the most common is the attitude of those who believe that, having received the Spirit of God or having confessed Christ, they no longer need the Bible, Scripture study, or biblical messages. The reasoning may sound spiritual, but it is deceptive: replacing Scripture with experiences or exclusively “positive” messages is equivalent to departing from the commandments of the Lord.
The apostle Paul preached from the Old Testament, because Jesus Christ is present in the Scriptures from the book of Genesis to the book of Malachi. Not having the New Testament was no obstacle for the apostles. Today, those who have both Testaments and set them aside are walking a path of antichrist.
Third Manifestation: Showing Partiality
In chapter 2, verse 9, the apostle writes:
“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness” (1 John 2:9).
Love, as Scripture presents it, has nothing to do with emotions, feelings, or elaborate expressions of affection. To love, in the biblical sense, means recognizing that God has done in another person what He has done in us, and responding to that reality without marginalizing or discriminating. The Lord Jesus expresses it in the Sermon on the Mount: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” — and as evidence of that perfection He points out that God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. God shows no partiality.
When a believer shows partiality — favoring some and marginalizing others according to human criteria — they are hating their brother. And whoever hates their brother, says the apostle, is still in darkness. This is the third manifestation of the process of forming the antichrist.
Fourth Manifestation: Loving the World
In chapter 2, verse 15, the apostle says:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
The drive to be like everyone else, to achieve what the world values, to compete with the world, to build alliances with it, or to seek a recognized position within its structures is a manifestation of loving the world. The Lord may allow His children to hold jobs, run businesses, and develop economic activities — but that must never be confused with seeking recognition or status within the world’s system. Whoever loves the world is walking a path of forming the antichrist.
Fifth Manifestation: Remaining in Old Patterns of Conduct
In chapter 3, verses 6 through 8, the apostle writes:
“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:6-8).
Whoever has confessed Jesus Christ and continues in the habits and vices they had before their conversion — unable or unwilling to leave them — reveals that they did not truly come to know Jesus but rather came to know a church. There is a crucial distinction: knowing a church is not necessarily the same as knowing Jesus. Someone who enters a congregation and tries to leave their vices through personal effort, without genuinely surrendering them to the Lord, has not known Jesus — they have known an institution.
The only way out of sinful processes, vices, and patterns is by genuinely surrendering one’s life to Jesus. “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.” If someone’s life continues to be governed by old patterns of conduct, the question they must ask is not whether they attend a church, but whether they have truly given their life to Jesus.
Sixth Manifestation: Failing to Pursue Justice
In chapter 3, verses 10, 14, and 15, the apostle writes:
“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother… We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:10, 14-15).
True love and justice are intimately linked in Scripture. The way to manifest the love of God is by establishing justice. That is why the Lord Jesus taught: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Whoever does not practice justice is not loving but hating their brother. And whoever hates their brother is walking through the process of forming the antichrist.
Seventh Manifestation: Speaking with the Language of the World
In chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, the apostle closes the picture with a seventh evidence:
“They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:5-6).
Where do the words, expressions, and communication codes we use come from? If a believer continues using the vocabulary, slogans, phrases, and codes of this world as though there were no difference between them and those who do not know the Lord, they are showing that they are not abiding in Jesus.
This warning extends to the visual and gestural codes of contemporary communication: signs, figures, images, and graphic elements circulating on social media platforms. Many of those codes were created by the world, and those who use them may be conveying messages whose true meaning they do not know. Just as it was discovered that certain children’s songs, when played in reverse, contained diabolical expressions, certain apparently innocent graphic symbols may likewise carry crude or perverse meanings. Believers must carefully examine the communication codes they use, because through them it may become evident that the world is imposing itself on men and women of God.
Practical Application and Call to Repentance
In light of everything presented, every believer stands before two paths. The first is to receive these teachings as an interesting biblical exposition — “what a great topic, I’d never heard this before” — and continue without any real change taking place. The second is to make concrete decisions, make adjustments, transform attitudes and behaviors in light of what the Word of the Lord establishes.
The Lord Jesus said that whoever hears His words and does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. If no decisions are made, the results will come: a shipwreck of faith, as the apostle Paul describes when speaking of those who fell away.
The message to the seven churches in Revelation — which the Lord Jesus addresses directly to communities of faith, not to pagans or unbelievers — repeats the same call again and again: “Repent.” Repentance is not an experience exclusive to the moment of conversion; it is a permanent posture to which the believer is called whenever the Spirit of God reveals that they have strayed from the path.
The Lord speaks in time. In time the Spirit of God sounds the alarm so that each one of us may repent and turn back. The invitation stands open.
Conclusion
Abiding in Jesus is not simply remaining in a congregation, being faithful to a ministry, or keeping one’s membership in a denomination. Abiding in Jesus, according to the spiritual definition the Word of the Lord gives us, means hating every apostate doctrine — rejecting it without tolerance, without permission, without bond. And it also means continuously examining one’s own life in light of the seven manifestations the apostle John presents: honest acknowledgment of sin, steadfastness in the Word, love for one’s neighbor without partiality, detachment from the world, abandonment of old patterns of conduct, the practice of justice, and the use of language that belongs to the Kingdom of God.
All of this is in the Word. The Spirit of God has opened it so that we may understand and live it. May the Lord grant us the grace to abide in Him.
Review Questions
- According to the teaching in this chapter, what is the spiritual definition of “abiding in Jesus”? Why is it not enough to belong to a congregation or be faithful to a ministry to ensure that one is truly abiding in Him?
- The apostle John warns that antichrists are not formed outside the church, but within it. Looking at the seven manifestations of the process of forming antichrists, which do you consider most present or most underestimated in contemporary Christian life? Why?
The chapter concludes with a call to repentance. In light of what you have learned, what concrete decisions should you make to ensure that you are genuinely abiding in Jesus?
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