The Lie of the Last Days

I believe the Epistle of I John has an end time aspect. It is a highly prophetic book. I think it is time that we look at it more in that light. The conditions described in I John are the same conditions given by Jesus in Matthew 24, dealing with the Great Tribulation. These conditions include:
False Christs (comp. I John 2:18 and Matt. 24:4,5,23,24),
Anti-Christ (comp. I John 2:18,22; 4:3 and Matt. 24:15,16),
False Prophets (comp. I John 4:1 with Matt. 24:11,24),
Doctrines of Devils (comp. I John 4:3 with I Tim. 4:1).

Given that I John seems to be an end time book, I believe it also gives us a glimpse into the specific deception which will be prevalent in the last days. There is a specific form of deception that was in John's mind when he wrote this epistle. That deception was Gnosticism. In the very opening verse of this epistle, John began a salvo attacking this heresy.

Writing in the second century, Irenaeus described John's conflict with the Gnostic Cerinthus. Irenaeus also described some of the Gnostic teachings of Cerinthus:
Cerinthus asserted that Jesus was born the son of Joseph and Mary according to the normal means of human generation, thus denying the Virgin Birth.
Cerinthus denied that Jesus and the Christ were one and the same. Cerinthus maintained that the Christ descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove at his baptism. Cerinthus also maintained that the Christ left Jesus prior to the crucifixion, and that it was Jesus, not Christ, who suffered on the cross.

Gnostic beliefs also included the following doctrines:
They believed that the material world is evil. Thus, they denied the possibility of the incarnation. Christ could have never come in the flesh according to their doctrines.
They believed that there was a true God, referred to by some Gnostics as "Abraxas". Beneath that supreme deity, there was a hierarchy of lesser gods known as the Pleroma. Christ was one of those beings and his consort was Sophia. Sophia had given birth to an evil being, called the Demiurge, who created the material world. The Demiurge was the Jehovah of the OT according to Gnostic belief. Thus, in the story of the fall in Genesis 3, it was the serpent, not Jehovah, who is the "hero" of the story. In Gnostic belief, Jesus came to declare the true God.
Gnostics maintained that Mary Magdalene had a closer relationship with Jesus than the Twelve. They believed that Jesus had communicated secret doctrine to Mary that he didn't communicate to the Twelve. Thus, Mary had superior enlightenment, and Gnostics identified themselves as the carriers of that secret doctrine. The modern idea that Jesus was married stems from these Gnostic teachings.
Gnostics interpreted Christian doctrine through the lens of Platonic philosophy. A Victorian scholar said that Gnosticism was Platonism run wild.
Gnostics taught that salvation comes from within. God is within the self in Gnostic thought, and salvation is found when you turn inward.
Gnostics held that God was both Mother/Father.
Gnosticism was a philosophy of subjectivism. No Gnostic believer was expected to look at scripture as an objective criteria of truth.
Gnostics emphasized the charismatic gifts, believing that each Gnostic could receive new revelation from God. It is interesting to note the prevalence of "Charismatic" doctrines today.
The Gnostics held an egalitarian view of the sexes. Male leadership was rejected and Gnostic women served as priests, bishops, and prophets.
Gnostics denied the literal interpretation of scripture.

It seems that the trends of the day are moving in these directions. That would be expected since I John is an end time epistle describing the deception of the last days.