Vs. 4:1 – Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
'Dear friends' starts off this chapter ('beloved' in NASB). Sometimes it seems that John was writing more than an instructional letter, more than an a letter of exhortation. He is writing in a very tender way. It seems that Paul and James were pretty straight-forward, moving from greetings to instruction without much preamble. Paul does acknowledge care for his readers, but it is at the end of the letters, after business was done (so to speak). John uses 'little children', 'dear friends', 'children' throughout the letter (dear friends or beloved 6 (six) times, and 'children' or 'little children' 13 times).
Do not be confused, or don't be led astray. This is how you will know if a teacher is on the right track. In the early church (note: this is about 30 years after Christ's resurrection) false teachers were causing a problem, just as it happens today. In some cases, I would guess that a teacher was just misinformed, or ignorant. But the problem is worse when a leader comes along whose mission or goal is to feed you lies about the gospel. Why would they do that? The church body, being made of people, will have sincere believers and those who just want to hang around, and those who want power, or authority, just to tell people what to do.
Some of these will be from Satan, masquerading as believers. An effective way to stunt the power of the gospel in peoples' lives is to feed them falsehoods so they will not experience the love and power of the Holy Spirit. If the believers struggle in their Christian lives because on wrong information, then they cannot be effective witnesses to the resurrecting power of Christ in their lives. A weak and ineffective church means the outreach of the gospel is stunted. What better way to keep people from being saved?
| Test the spirits
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Paul said "Don't despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." 1 Thess. 5:20-22. Most of the teaching in the early church was done without a Bible (NT), which makes testing of the teachings critical. It is so now, but we have the Bible as our standard, our plumb line. The church was spreading, and new teachers were coming into being, teachers that were not apostles. So, the 'test' included comparing the teachings, especially from one who was not an apostle, with the teaching of one of the apostles. Like Paul, John is concerned for the spiritual well-being of the people he was shepherding.
There are two kinds of teachers - those teaching God's truth, and those not. John uses 'spirit' to speak of the teachers. Rather than worry about the person speaking or leading, John wants them to focus on the motivating spiritual connection. If the Holy Spirit is leading the heart and mind of the teacher, the output will be truth. If an unholy spirit, i.e., someone who is cooperating with or having been deluded by Satan, is leading the heart and mind of the teacher, there will be untruth and false information. Some of it may sound okay, but in the core it will lead to death.
From the notes in the Holman Study Bible "Discernment is critical for Christian disciples". Our faith does not mean we shut off our brain. A couple of my favorite books are "Know What You Believe," and "Know Why You Believe" by Paul Little also "Love the Lord with All Your Mind" by Moreland. These stress that our faith is not blind, but needs our thought processes and rigor to be sure we are not being led astray. We can also keep others from being fooled into believing a false teaching.
Test each spirit as they teach to determine if what they say is from God. Check what they say. Does it conform to orthodoxy? Orthodoxy is not a bad concept. In the spirit of rebellion of our time, 'orthodoxy' is too rigid, to constrictive, not allowing each of to go our own way. We want to determine what is right for ourselves. But God's truth is not obtained without guidance from the Holy Spirit. This is not a new phenomenon. Looking back to the time of the Judges, we see "...everyone did what he considered right in his own eyes." (Jdg. 21:25) their excuse was that they had no king. There was no one to tell them what to do - other than the Lord. From the escape from Egypt to the captivity in Babylon, the Israelites were guilty of straying by following wrong-headed teachings. We have the same problems facing the church today.
| How to differentiate: Confess Christ or not confess Not with us = listens to world Not with us = does not know you |
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Vs.4:2 – By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; -
How you know the spirits are from God: this is a simple yet foolproof test. Answer the question: did the man known as Jesus Christ come from God? Jesus is God in the flesh, made human. If the teacher will not say this - don't trust them, don't listen to them, they are not from God. Again, John uses 'spirits' as the person(s) to be trusted. John was not writing to warn them against seances, or mediums - although this also applies here. John was warning them about teachers, leaders, pastors, elders, or deacons who are speaking and guiding the church. It is your spirit, or soul, that drives you. If your spirit is filled, controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, you will have no trouble identifying Christ as God-Man - God the Son, who came to earth to become both wholly God (which he already was) and wholly man. See Eph. 2:5-11.
"Confess" that Jesus came from God... This 'confess' is not admitting to a crime, as is often used in our culture. Using notes from the HSB (Holman Study Bible) indicates this word (in Greek) "homologeo" most often means to publicly assert or declare. The public acknowledgement is an important facet of our faith - see 5"Therefore everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven." Also note that the outward confession can seen as an indicator of the person's actual beliefs - see Rom. 10:9,10 "if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes resulting in righteousnes, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation."
As an analogy: I have found in my work as an electrical engineer, as I try to explain or defend a technical decision if I can formulate and explain it, and it makes sense, then I know I have a defendable decision. If as I try to explain, the position becomes less clear to me, I realize that I am on the wrong track. I need to articulate what I believe. My mind formulates what I know to be true into words, if the words make sense it then becomes anchored in my mind and heart.
Not speaking it, by holding it in and not saying it out loud for others to hear, can give you an 'out'. I don't know why the process of 'telling' locks or confirms it in our minds. That confession has another ramification: I confess Jesus, He acknowledges me. This is important. When time ceases: and we all face God our Judge, Jesus as confessor, advocate, propitiation for my sins, means that my name is IN the Lamb's book of life.
| This the test: who is Jesus?
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Vs. 4:3 – "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
That to which we commit (confess) is that which our spirit (soul) directs us. It is not just mental, it is deeper than that. We formulate the words, and actions, which will signify our confession, in our minds. The mind, thought process is not tangible, but abstract. That does not mean our confession is imaginary, a figment. The mind, soul and spirit are not one and the same. The soul and spirit are used interchangeably at times in the Bible. And yet, when we die our mind does not cease (I think). When we are in heaven, or on the new earth, we will be able to praise and acknowledge The Lord, and I think our minds will formulate the words of praise, but our spirt/soul directs that praise.
So, if the spirit/soul is not committed to Jesus, then there can be no confession. If no commitment to Jesus, then no relationship to God.
Why would someone who is not a believer be spending time with believers? Why bother? These are led to teach falsehoods, to ensnare and entrap people away from Jesus, or to lead people into falling away. Some people come to church who are searching for Christ - these can be directed away by false teaching. Others are new believers, learning to grow into their faith - these can be derailed by heresy (not losing the salvation, necessarily) but living a defeated, discouraged life. Jesus said that he came that we might have an abundant life. It is the Anti-Christ that propels these to teach falsehoods - it is Satan. Peter said, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
The false teachers are adversaries of believers, and are being urged on by the devil. So they spend time in the enemy camp to destroy the work of Christ.
See Eph. 6:11"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." We do not need to be passive - the full armor is for standing up and fighting. We need not, indeed dare not do this by our own power. Jesus and the Holy Spirit will provide the means, the words, the power to oppose those from Satan. Also we can see in speaking about church leaders in 1 Tim. 3:6 "and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil." We need mature, disciplined teachers. See Heb. 5:12 "You have had enough time to become teachers..." and
2 Tim. 3:7 "and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." tells us we can help people who are being fooled and entrapped by Satan.
| you are from God you have conquered you are greater |
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Vs. 4:4 – You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. -
Referring back to verse one of this chapter - always being aware if people around you, in the church in particular, are from God. John is assuring them they don't need to worry - they are from God - they who have confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and their Savior.
That confession has given them the power to overcome the obstacles thrown in front of them by the doubters, the unbelievers, the antichrists. The reason they are victorious is they have Jesus Christ. Who is greater? Jesus, the Son of God or Satan? Was Satan obedient to the point of sacrificing his wants to the commands of the Father? Was Satan willing to give up, voluntarily, his exalted position in heaven to achieve God's aims? See Rev. 12:7-9, Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:12-19, Luke 12:18. Satan was not powerful enough even against other angels. Satan is not God, nor a god, but a created being, subject to The Lord of the Universe and Heaven - Jesus Christ. Therefore we who have Jesus need not fear Satan. Jesus in me means Satan cannot defeat me. Important to know that it is not by myself that Satan has no power over me. I have been created as a being lower than the angels - both physically and spiritually. See: Psa. 8:4,5 - humans a little less than angels; 1 Cor. 6:3 - however, we will judge them (we not always be the lesser). But Christ in me (the hope of glory) gives me the power to overcome - not my power but His. See 2 Chron. 32:7 (the spiritual battle cry even in the Old Testament!)
| does not confess spirit of antichrist is in the world, now |
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Vs. 4:5 – They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. Again, this goes back to verse one, concerning whom you listen to. The ones to avoid are the one who do not belong to God. The reason the world loves to listen to these false teachers is they tell the non-believers what they want to hear. The non- believers do not belong to Jesus, so they do not want to listen to His truth. When they try to teach the world's truth in the church they are to be rejected.
| they are from the world the world listens to them |
| xxx
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Vs. 4:6 – We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
This is a fairly straightforward statement. This is how we can know if someone is a believer or not. If you know God, then you will listen to the teachings of the apostles, Christ, and pastors or teachers who are fundamental followers. The words "know" and "listen" are important. As discussed elsewhere, "know" is not just mental accumulation of information.
***| The test: To whom do you listen - spirit of truth or deception
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