Since the pope has stated that “Jesus is God,” how can the Papacy be considered the Antichrist in light of 1 John 4:1–6?
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because 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 of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:1–6
This issue in the text is not the idea that “Jesus is God” but the idea that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (in the Greek: sarx, human nature with its frailties). Catholic doctrine denies this by making Mary holy through the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception:
“The most blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” (Pope Pius IX, 1854, Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 124, 1994 edition).
So these verses hit the proverbial nail on the head by identifying the Antichrist as doing exactly what the Papacy does—deny that Christ came in the flesh, human nature like ours as noted in the Bible:
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not [a]give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 2:14–17
In order to deny the completeness of Christ’s human nature, Catholic Church dogma must make Mary holy from birth, without sin—or what they call “original sin.” They have done this with the following statement:
“Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, ‘full of grace’ through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854….” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 124, 1994 edition).
Having created this dogma out of thin air—for the Bible teaches that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23), the Catholic Church can now deny that Jesus came in the flesh we possess, and therefore deny the ability of the gospel to deliver us from this same flesh. Notice how contrary this is the teaching of the Bible:
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3–4
So John sets the foundation for what he’s about to address regarding this “spirit of the Antichrist.” He counsels us to test the spirits so we might be able to determine if this is from God or not. He refers to the ones who fail the test as “false prophets.” Remember, Jesus describes false prophets as ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). The very nature of a religious false prophet is to deceive.
Let’s go back to the verses 2 and 3:
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” 1 John 4:2–3
In these verses, John highlights the main issue of his day. Many people scoffed and mocked the idea of God becoming flesh, but Jesus manifested Himself as the Son of God in human flesh. A movement had begun in John’s day that taught that God really hadn’t become flesh, and therefore, Jesus could not have been the Son of God. This movement became known as Gnosticism. So John is counseling the Church of his day to beware of this “spirit of the Antichrist,” and this same counsel goes for us.
However, there are many more identifying factors to the Antichrist that must be tested by the Bible. For instance, the latter part of verse 6 counsels us to be able to discern between “the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” When we compare the Catechism of Catholic doctrine with the Bible, we find a clear difference regarding both Mary and Jesus. We see the spirit of truth in the Bible and the spirit of error in the Catholic Catechism.
The very essence of deception is that one is unaware that they are deceived. And the only way we can make sure we’re not deceived by an Antichrist is to make sure we are constantly looking to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and following the teachings of the Word of God.