October 22, 2013
Testing the spirits
1 John 4:1-6 (NKJV)
4 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, 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.
Commentary:
According to God’s word, we must test the spirits because of the false teachers who give the appearance of being godly but are corrupted. All teachings must be tested against the revelation of God’s truth and scripture. It must be backed up by scripture. The spirit of the teaching must be tested. Does the teaching bear the same kind of spirits and emphasis of apostolic teaching? Beware of any teaching that a person claims to have received from angels that cannot be supported by sound doctrine. No personal theology should be the final authority on interpreting scripture. God gave us the Holy Spirit as our counselor and teacher and comforter. A teacher’s life must be tested as to have consistency over what he says and does. The two must match. (Stamps)
One evidence of false teaching is when the full deity of Jesus Christ is denied. Jesus is both God and man. He was of virgin birth. His death was redemptive. He redeemed us from the devil by the shedding of His blood and demonstrated the power of God through the resurrection on the third day for our salvation. Any teaching that departs from this revelation of Jesus Christ will open a person to demonic forces which creates deception, false teachings, and misunderstanding. The main reason is because this teaching sets aside the divine authority and complete trustworthiness of God’s word. So any person who denies this full deity of God and man, his divine sacrifice at the cross, paying the penalty for our sins, or his redemptive power from the dead and He being resurrected and has ascended to Heaven is not of God.
This is the spirit of the prevailing condition. This anti-christ spirit has invaded the churches, the families, the government, and every aspect of the world’s society. So now that it is confirmed by scripture and the Holy Spirit that you are of God and that by faith, you have a higher power residing in you and living in you, this higher power is Jesus Christ. Because you have accepted, believed and received Jesus who came in the flesh, you are already established as a child of God. Therefore, you have become born again with a new spirit: the spirit of Jesus Christ. So scripture says He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4) This “He” is Jesus Christ, the higher power.
So this part emphasizes that the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer. Through the Holy Spirit, we can look upon the evil in this world, including satan, sin, self, persecution, the false teachings and have victorious achievement of God’s will in our lives. (Stamps)
1 John 5:1-5 NKJV
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:18-19 NKJV
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
One of God’s will is for us to sin no more because if you are born of God as we have just discussed, you are now a child of God.
In conclusion, we must test every spirit so that we would know the difference between the child of God and the anti-christ. We know that according to His word today, whomever confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and believes in his heart that God has raised HIm from the dead and that He was sent as a gift and a sacrifice for our sins and for our eternal life. He had to first demonstrate His power and authority by His death, burial and resurrection. Otherwise, people would think that He is merely just another prophet or godly person. So therefore, for me personally, if I am born of God, I am a child of God, only in Christ Jesus.
Work Cited
Stamps, Donald C., The Full Life Study Bible King James Version, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992
Aldwin (Miyagi) Naruse
The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship
Makaha, HI USA
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