As used in the Bible, the term combines the Greek word, "anti", with the title commonly given to Jesus. The main meaning of this word is, "instead of" or, "in place of".

"Antichrist", therefore means, literally, "someone who stands instead of, or in place of, the real Jesus Christ".

It could be someone who bears the actual name, "Antichrist".

It could be someone who falsely claims to be Christ.

It could be a false Christ, promoted by others, in place of the real one.

It could be someone who falsely claims authority to speak for and exercise the authority of the real Christ.

Less obviously, but nevertheless equally valid, it could describe a religion with the outward form of Christianity, but using the Bible and the name of the real Jesus, to disguise a Christ whose teachings and standards are quite different to those of the real one. Such a Christ would also be, really, a false Christ and those who preached about him would be false prophets.

All of these possibilities imply apostate, counterfeit Christianity and, in fact, all are relevant to our recognition of the identity of Antichrist.

In John's first epistle we are told that the prophecies about Antichrist do not speak of one person, but many; are not for a remote future, but already begun; and they speak of men who claim to be Christian, but are not.

This is our starting point. We do not need to indulge in speculation about the future. This will only cloud our vision of the truth about the past and the present. Instead, we need to identify the counterfeit forms of Christianity, which clearly bear the identifying marks found in the word of God and have existed almost since the beginning of the church.