the last time
1 John 2:18
2:18 the last time. This phrase actually reads “a last hour.” When the ultimate Antichrist comes, it will indeed be the last hour for this present world order. In John’s time, however, and in every generation since, many have arisen—even in the professing church—who manifest the spirit of “antichrist.” That is, they deny that God is Creator and that Jesus Christ is Savior, rejecting God’s Word and seeking to undermine and destroy every true church. When a particular church (or any Christian organization) allows such teaching to gain a secure foothold, it becomes a last hour for that church. Such antichrists are not “false Christs” (e.g., Matthew 24:24), pretending to be the returning Christ or a new manifestation of Christ (these are dangerous also, and are apparently proliferating in the New Age movement), but men openly opposing God, Christ, the Scriptures, and all they represent.
