Test the Spirits

February 08, 2016

In John's first epistle, he cautions the believers to be aware of forces trying to mislead the church. In verse 4:1, John states:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

As it is today, there were false prophets and teachers, antichrists, spewing heresies, attempting to sway believers from the truth. In verse 2:18 John states:

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

Is there a way to detect these antichrists? Fortunately, John gives us tests to help reveal false prophets or teachers. John states in verses 4:2-3:

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. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Many today are willing to say acceptable things about Jesus. They would say that Jesus was a great prophet, or that he was a perfect man that gave us a wonderful code of morals. They may even say that Jesus is “divine,” but not that He is God. This is not just confessing the historical fact of Jesus' birth into the world in a human body, but rather the confession that acknowledges Jesus as the Christ Incarnate.

Do not let yourself be mislead.