1 John 4:1-6
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.
There is a spirit of error in the world that is set against the truth. Therefore, we are called to test what we hear taught to determine if the teaching comes from God or not. We do this by comparing with what the scriptures teach, especially concerning the identity of the person of Christ as well as what it tells us about His work to save us. False prophetic statements from cults do not confess who Jesus the Christ is; they deny that the Christ is the Son of God, the word become flesh. His identity as God (John 10:30, 33, 37-38) is essential to be able to save us from our sin as the perfect sacrificial Passover Lamb of God. False teachers would have us believe that He was only a man or a prophet who was not of a supernatural birth in contradiction to scripture. These are opposed to Christ, antichrist, in false doctrine that offers no hope of a resurrection and eternal life bought at such a high price of the divine Son of God and man. This is why we are to identify the spirit of error from the spirit of truth; the Spirit of God Himself testifies to us as the words of Jesus echo in our souls and move our hearts and minds in syncopation of the divine truth of the Gospel. There are many such antichrists in the world even now under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19) who are battling against the minds and hearts of those who have the gospel testimony (Revelation 1:2, 12:17) of Jesus Christ. We overcome the world (Romans 8:37, 1 John 5:4, Revelation 12:11) and these lies by the truth of the person and work of Jesus Christ! Remembering that He in us is infinitely greater that these in the world and even the evil one behind them, we persevere to the end and listen to what we hear, comparing spiritual things with spiritual in the word of God to know the difference between the spirit of truth and that of such error. Doctrine matters (2 John 1:9), though these deceivers would have us believe otherwise that they might sneak the little lies in one at a time. We must test what we hear to ensure (Acts 17:11) what is right and what is not. Our doctrine must be what the scriptures tell us and not anyone else who contradicts them. Truth matters infinitely more than mere feelings and reasoning, for the gospel hangs on the divine identity of the Son of God (1 John 5:10, 12-13) in whom we trust for our salvation and entrance into the king of God by faith in the truth (1 John 5:20) of our identity in Him. Watch and beware of those who influence with philosophical stories and reasoning contrary to the truth to tickle our ears with some new thing or move us by emotional arguments to desire something less than God’s best in the gospel of the Son of God.
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