1 John 4:1-10 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, 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.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Today’s reading continues the focus on faith and love. Knowing our Father rightly, having the right faith, is essential. But there are many spirits, many spiritual teachings about God, that do not come from God. They come from the evil one. They are destructive lies, being spread by false teachers.
So John urges us to “test the spirits.” The only way to test them is with the Holy Spirit’s own inspired words and teachings, given through the prophets and apostles. The example John gives in these verses is the true humanity of Jesus. Anyone who denies this is spreading the teaching, not of Christ, but of the Antichrist. Later, John will give other examples concerning the true divinity of Jesus (4:15) and about Jesus being the Christ (5:1). It is not love for God to simply accept every nice-sounding teaching about God. It is not love for God to minimize the importance of doctrine. No, love for Christ compels us to make sure that nothing but the true teaching of Christ is accepted among us.
And when we adhere faithfully to the apostles’ teachings, we can be sure that we have overcome the world and all the lying spirits of the world, because the Spirit of God is greater than the devil and his false teachers, who are his antichristian representatives. The world gladly listens to lies, but “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus said. The children of God will be able to see through the lies, if we listen carefully to God’s Word.
After tending to the faith God has given, we return again to the love of God as the source and pattern of our love. “God is love,” John says. God’s character faces outward, with genuine care, showing goodness to all, not because of anything good in us, but because that’s who He is. He demonstrated His love by sending His only-begotten Son into the world and causing Him to suffer and die for us, not because we deserved it, but because that’s who He is. If this is how God is, then let us strive, with the help of His Spirit, to become like Him.
Let us pray: Father, grant us discernment that we may distinguish between truth and lies. And, knowing You rightly, help us to become people who truly love as You love; through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.