The term, "Spirit of Antichrist", used by John, refers to the teaching of the antichrists. They were false prophets. What they said about their false Christ was not from the Holy Spirit. It was the work of a false spirit.

The many Antichrists are to be identified by their false teaching and the sinful behaviour which it condoned.

John's identification of the first century Antichrists shows us what we should look for to identify other Antichrists who we will find in the continuing history of the church. For our purposes we can condense what John says to four significant marks which reveal the Spirit of Antichrist at work in all ages of the church, including that in which we live now.

MARK NO 1 - THE NAME
John gave the name "Antichrist" to those in his day who fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus. It should not surprise us, therefore, to find that this name is actually used by men who continue to fulfil the prophecy.

MARK No 2 - THE CHRIST WHO IS NOT REALLY A MAN
Heretical opinions about a Jesus who was not completely a man continued to invade the church. As we shall see later, one of these man made opinions eventually gained such supremacy that it became the test of Orthodoxy in most of the church.

MARK NO 3 - THE PERSECUTING CHURCH
The third mark of Antichrist is hatred for the followers of the real Christ. This hostility dates back to the beginning of time, when Cain murdered his brother "because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous". (1 John 3:12).

This third mark of the Antichrist is clearly visible in the recorded history of the church which, in the name of the false Christ it serves, has persecuted and murdered those it calls "heretics".

MARK NO 4 - CONTINUING IN SIN
This is THE MARK which, more than any other, identifies the false Christianity of "Antichrist".

Those first century Antichrists claimed to be Christian, but in reality they had substituted a counterfeit Christianity in place of the real thing. Their heretical theology about the nature of Jesus was certainly a problem, but that was only a symptom of a deeper sickness of the human spirit. The real problem was that they were unwilling to hear the uncompromising call to repentance which is a non negotiable condition of the of the Gospel of the real Christ. Instead, they had invented a different Christ who allowed them to ignore his teaching or explain it away. With this false Christ, they could remain comfortable with the lie that they could continue in sin and still be saved.

It is, of course, just one more subtle variation of the ancient lie told to Eve by the Serpent in Eden. Since the beginning of time, the human race has wanted to believe that God does not really mean what He says and that sin does not really matter.

THE MARKS OF ANTICHRIST IN THE CONTINUING HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
The influence and teaching of those first century men, which John calls "the spirit of Antichrist", (1 John 4,3), has indeed continued, in various forms, throughout the history of the church.
. - The name has been, and still is, used openly.
- Salvation is promised without genuine life changing repentance.
- Continuing sin is tolerated, justified, or even encouraged.
- Hatred of true believers is manifested in frequent persecutions and murder.

In the following pages we will discuss, briefly, the history which reveals the presence of the false Christ and the Spirit of that false Christ, in the mainstream church. The bibliography in Appendix 1, lists sources from which this writer's summary has been obtained and can be confirmed, by anyone interested enough to read history in more detail.