³ But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

²² And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.^[a] Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.^[b]

⁷ I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came^[a] in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Warning about Antichrists

¹⁸ Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

³ Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness^[a] is revealed—the one who brings destruction.^{[b] 4} He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

⁵ Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? ⁶ And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. ⁷ For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. ⁸ Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.