Answer
To put it bluntly, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda was a heretic. He was a native Puerto Rican and a false messiah who claimed to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. He founded the Ministerio Creciendo en Gracia (“Growing in Grace”) church and referred to himself as “Jesus Christ Man.” He claimed that, in 1973, through a vision he received, Jesus Christ “integrated with him.” In 1998, he claimed that he was the reincarnation of the apostle Paul. In 2005, he officially claimed to be Christ.
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda’s followers disbanded after his death in 2013, but some formed various religious groups of their own. His Growing in Grace group had all of the classic signs of a cult. De Jesus claimed to have extrabiblical authority by way of sharing Christ’s spirit. He was the sole, undisputed leader of his movement and as such exerted total authority over his ministry. He taught aberrant doctrines, saying that the devil, hell, and sin did not exist; prayer was futile; and God’s moral code (i.e., the Ten Commandments) was irrelevant. De Jesus exploited his people financially, living a lavish lifestyle based on the generosity of his followers. Finally, he claimed to be greater than Jesus Christ and that his teachings superseded those of Christ.
The Bible predicted that there will be people coming in the last days claiming to be Christ. In Matthew 24:5, Jesus told His disciples, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda was one such false christ.
Pardoxically, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda also referred to himself as the Antichrist and sported a “666” tattoo on his forearm. He claimed that, since He was Christ, worship of Jesus was invalid. He told his followers to get 666 tattoos themselves to declare their allegiance to him. The Bible says that the Antichrist will be a world leader, a satanically empowered dictator. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda was not such a man. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda was simply a charismatic cult leader, a charlatan, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and yet another in a long line of false prophets and false messiahs. He was an antichrist, not THE Antichrist.
