TESTING THE SPIRITS
1 John chapter 4:1 to 6
Beloved believe not (or stop believing) every spirit, is an accurate translation of the Greek: the same word for the type of love mentioned earlier composes the word beloved: it is not that the readers were necessarily John's friends, but that John loved them in the way in which he had been exhorting them to love each other.
Believe, or stop believing, implies credulity, gullibility: in the same way as at the time this letter was written, there is a lot of hocus-pocus going on today, camouflaged as Christianity which has nothing spiritual in it at all. There is an abnormal preoccupation with the occult on the part of many Christians today which is a most dangerous thing, and there is a danger of going off the deep end and becoming rather fanatical.
About the spirit world the Bible says, among other things: "And of the angels He says: 'Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.'" (Hebrews 1:7 quoting Psalm 104:4) and "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).
Rather than on angels, we now need to put the emphasis upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives. Not only are there good angels who serve God, but there are also fallen angels and they too are called spirits in the Scriptures. The Gospels speak a great deal of the "unclean spirits" in Christ's day. Their reality is also admitted today: even Satan is openly worshipped by his dedicated priests and priestesses. As believers, we are warned to put on the whole armour of God because we are in a gigantic spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Our foes are very well organised, as if they were an army.
We must remember that this letter is addressed to God's children, and as such we have been told how we are to love each other and to help each other, but we must be careful: "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment" (Philippians 1:9). It is a wonderful thing to love, but we are in a big, mean, wicked world, and it will deceive us if it is allowed to. The idea liberals have of love slopping over on every side is not what the Word of God teaches. Our love must be used wisely, not to be deceived by everyone who comes along and says that he is a Christian, because many of them are not.
There have always been false "prophets". The Lord Jesus had warned people against them (Matthew 7:15), even of false "Christs" working portents (Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22). It is an old story (Luke 6:26) and recurs again and again in Scripture (Acts 13:6; Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). In fact now they are false teachers, as there were false prophets among the Israelites (2 Peter 2:1).
There are many teachers around today of whom we need to beware for they may be ignoring or adding to what the Scriptures say. Just because someone comes along saying "Jesus" or "Lord" a lot, or has ecclesiastical degrees or accomplishments, does not mean that we should love and trust him. That may be the person who is more dangerous than a rattlesnake because he teaches a false doctrine, or has little regard for true doctrine. He may not be really teaching the Word of God, although he carries a big Bible under his arm.
Spirits should be tested, or proved, to see whether they are of God. It is the acid test of truth, as the metallurgist does his metals. If it stands the test like a coin, it is acceptable (2 Corinthians 10:18), otherwise it is rejected (2 Corinthians 13:5-7).
The test to be made is quite simple and gives an immediate result: any spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ (the Saviour Messiah) has come to the world as a human being is of God (a similar test is proposed for confessing the deity of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:3 and for the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ in Romans 10:6-10).
It acknowledges the fact that He is "the Word": God, the creator of all things, Who became flesh fulfilling prophecies about the Messiah written centuries before He was born, e.g. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given . . ." (Isaiah 9:6). The child is born, but the Son is given. The Son came out of eternity, the Ancient of Days, but the child, His humanity, was conceived in the virgin's womb. His death and resurrection are meaningless unless He is who He claimed to be, the Son of God become man.
Conversely, any and every spirit that denies the divine humanity of Jesus Christ, is not of God. It is of the Antichrist. This word is mentioned before in this letter (chapter 2:18, 22), and can be used in the sense of pretending to be Christ (Matthew 24:5) and of being against Him. There will be a great religious leader and a great political ruler in the future who, together, will show both facets of the Antichrist: one looking like a lamb will pretend to be a priest like Christ, upholding the other for worship, who will be against the real Christ (Revelation 13).
Our contemporary civilisation is building up to the coming of Antichrist: all the religions of the world, Babylon, are drawing together, under the ecumenical movement, towards the leadership of one man, who in the spirit of antichrist calls himself the "vicar", or substitute of Christ, the nations are moving politically towards one ruler for this world. He will bring peace into the world temporarily, but it is going to be the most frightful time the world has ever seen.
The spirit of the antichrist has been in the world from early days. It is revealed in the false teachers who preach heresy and a false gospel.
These first six verses of chapter 4 are a warning light: love must be exercised with judgement and knowledge. We are to love believers, but we need to be sure that the so-called Christians are not false teachers. Those who deny the incarnation of Christ are such, and are revealed by this test.
There is no reason for us, who are of God (not from God as in the NIV), not of the world, as the Lord Jesus is not nor His disciples (John 17:14), to be taken in by antichristian teaching. The Spirit of God, indwelling every believer (Romans 5:5, 8:9), is greater than he that is in the world. He reveals the truth to us when we seek His guidance, in His word, so that we are able to overcome all the false teaching we hear.
We cannot stay away from the Bible, be ignorant of it, ignore it, and yet expect to have the Spirit of God lead us and guide us. But they can be tested by the Word of God for the Holy Spirit is there to be our teacher and guide.
Generally, these false teachers are very attractive persons; they talk in the language of the world, and win a ready hearing; many of them have charisma, and they make a fleshly appeal to folk. They are in perfect harmony with the world. The occult and the cults grow very fast, for they appeal to the flesh. Many professing Christians also use worldly means to draw in a crowd, but God cannot bless them at all. In sharp contrast with the false prophets and the world, we are in tune with the Infinite God.
Hence whoever knows God and wishes to know Him more, listens to us: to our preaching and our teaching in the church, and in Bible studies. We need to be sure that the Word of God is being given out in the power of the Spirit so that the Spirit of God can take it and use it. People should not come for the sake of earthly pleasure, but in order to hear the Word of God and to get to know the Lord Jesus Christ. The important thing is that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, and that is what needs to be made very clear to unbelievers. This is how the spirit of truth is distinguished from the spirit of falsehood.
R David Jones
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.
4 Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.