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Answer
A false Christ or a false Messiah is a pretender who claims to be the One sent from God to save humanity. In Matthew 24:23–24, Jesus says, “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” This is part of a larger teaching about what to expect in the end times. In Matthew 24, Jesus repeats this teaching, adding, “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (verses 26–27).
The “end times” means several things in the Bible. According to Hebrews 1:2, the “last days” is the New Testament era, starting with the first coming of Jesus Christ. This is also the sense in Acts 2:16–17, 1 John 2:18, and 1 Peter 1:20. In this sense, we are living in the “end times”; that is, we are in the final dispensation before the second coming of Christ. In Matthew 13:49, the “end of the age” refers to the time of judgment at the Lord’s second coming. The Lord’s return and the events leading up to it (see Revelation 6–16) are commonly referred to as the “end times” today. Although the “end times” may have begun 2,000 years ago, there will be a rapid escalation of the signs Jesus gave as time draws nearer to His return. We believe the “end times,” as commonly understood, will begin with the rapture of the church.
False Christs have come and gone since the first century (Mark 13:22;2 Peter 2:1). They arise when someone claims to be the Messiah or when a branch of Christianity veers from the clear teaching of God’s Word and tries to define.
Jesus as other than He is. The apostles addressed false doctrine in many of their letters to the churches, cautioning believers about the false christs and false prophets among them «For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. », (2 Corinthians 11:13). John provided a clear definition of accurate Christology: “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” (I John 4:2-3).
False christs have continued to emerge. Even in the last century, certain individuals like Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, and David Koresh gained prominence by claiming to be God or His right-hand man. They often began with the Bible but then latched onto a single verse or idea and constructed their own theology around it, turning their group into a self-affirming cult. Cult leaders often lure their victims by portraying themselves as Bible-believing Christians. Movements such as the Mormons, the Church of Christ, Scientist, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses all profess to be Christian, yet they all reject the divinity and mission of Jesus, the Son of God, as our sole path to forgiveness and eternal life see John 14:6.
Closer to home, a proliferation of false christs has emerged in unexpected places: Christian church pulpits. When a teaching distorts Jesus as someone other than He is or deliberately downplays the more challenging truths of His gospel, it presents a false christ. With the rise of hyper-grace teaching and Your Best Life Now theology, the glory of Jesus Christ has been diminished in favor of self-worship. Jesus, if mentioned at all, is often portrayed as merely the means to obtaining God’s blessings. In this era of biblical illiteracy, mAny listeners eagerly accept this man-made representation of Christ, without questioning the distorted doctrine that originated it. Even when individuals are presented with an opportunity to “make a decision” for Jesus, one must ponder: to which Christ are they dedicating themselves?
Second Timothy 4:3–4 cautioned us that a time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine. As the days become darker and sin increases, a more appealing Christ becomes alluring to those who “preferred the darkness rather than the light” «And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. », (John 3:19). Second Thessalonians 2:11–12 explains why many are drawn to false Christs. Verse 10 states, “They perish because they rejected the love of the truth and so be saved.” When individuals reject the love of the truth, the true Jesus, or God’s sacred Word, God allows them to follow their own notions and their false Christs, none of which possess the power to rescue (Romans 1:21-23).
