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THE NEED TO DISCERN BETWEEN TRUTH AND

ERROR
1 John 4:1-6 NKJV

[1] 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. [2] By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, [3] 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. [4] You are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you
is greater than he who is in the world. [5] They are of the world.
Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. [6] We
are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does
not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Notes:

[1] 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.

Having mentioned the Holy Spirit, John is reminded that there are other
spirits abroad in the world today, and that the children of God need to
be warned against them.

Thus he cautions the believer not to trust every spirit.

This testing, or trying, means that we shouldn’t believe everything we

hear just because someone says they have a message from God.
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Just because a man speaks about the Bible, God, and Jesus does not
mean that he is a true child of God.

We are to test the spirits, whether they are of God;

because many false prophets have gone out into the
world. These are people who profess to accept Christianity, but teach
another gospel altogether.

How do we test the Spirits?

There are several ways to test teachers to see if their teachings truly
come from the Lord.

First, we can check to see if their words match what God says in the
Bible. We can also test their commitment to the body of believers
(2:19), their lifestyles (3:23-24), and the fruit of their ministries (4:6).

But the most important test of all, says John, is what they believe about
Christ. Do they teach that Jesus is fully God and fully man? Our world
has many voices claiming to speak for God. Use these standards to see
if they are indeed speaking God’s truth.

[2] By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

John gives the actual tests by which these men are to be proven. The
great test of a teacher is, “What do you think of Christ?”

Illustration: A UCCP Pastor was arrested for involvement in an

ambush military personal by NPA’s. If true, what is a pastors business
with NPA’s.

Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in

the flesh is of God. It is not so much the confession of the
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historical fact, namely that Jesus was born into the world in a human
body, but rather it is the confession of a living Person, Jesus Christ
come in the flesh.

It is the confession that acknowledges Jesus as the Christ Incarnate.

And confessing Him means bowing to Him as Lord of one’s life.

Now if you ever hear a person presenting the Lord Jesus as the true
Christ of God, you will know that he is speaking by the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God calls on men to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and
to commit their lives to Him. The Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus.

[3] 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.

And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is not of God. This is how you can detect
the false teachers. They do not confess the Jesus who was described
in the previous verse. Meaning, they don’t recognize Christ as the
incarnate Son of God to whom we should pledge our allegiance as the
King of Kings and the Lord of Lords of our Lives.

This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which has been prophesied

and which is now already in the world. There are many today
who are willing to say acceptable things about Jesus, but they will not
confess Him as God Incarnate. They will say that Christ is “divine,” but
not that He is God.
They may even have songs like “Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just
alright!” (Dobbie Brothers) but not necessarily believe in Him and
surrender their lives fully to Him. It is religion for convenience.

[4] You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
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Humble believers are able to overcome these false teachers

because they have the Holy Spirit within them, and this enables them
to detect error and to refuse to listen to it.

[5] They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the
world hears them.

The false teachers are of the world and therefore, the source of
all that they speak is the world. The world is the spring of all that
they teach, and therefore the world hears them.

This reminds us that the approval of the world is not a test as to the
truthfulness of one’s teachings. If a man simply wants to be popular, all
he needs to do is to speak as the world speaks, but if he is to be faithful
to God, then he must face the disapproval of the world.

[6] We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God
does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.

In verse 6, John speaks as representing the apostles. He says, “We are

of God. He who knows God hears us.”

This means that all who are really born of God will accept the teaching
of the apostles found in the NT. On the other hand, those who are not
of God refuse the testimony of the NT, or they seek to add to or
adulterate it.

False teachers are popular today because, like the false prophets of the
Old Testament, they tell people what they want to hear. And with all the
media outlets available to them, they can spread their message easily.
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John warns that Christians who faithfully teach God’s Word will not win
any popularity contests in the world. People don’t want to hear their
sins denounced; they don’t want to listen to demands that they change
their behavior. False teachers will be well received by many who don’t
follow Jesus.