An antichrist is someone who sets himself up against Jesus or instead of Jesus and who denies that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22). In 1 John the author says that there are many antichrists already in the world (1 John 2:18) and that the ‘spirit of the antichrist’ is in the world (1 John 4:3). In other words, there are already many who oppose Jesus or who seek to replace him, or both. John says that these antichrists are people who have claimed to be Christians but have actually been against Him. Some think that the ‘man of lawlessness’ prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 is the same as ‘The Antichrist’ in 1 John 2:18.
