1 John 4:1-3
"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. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming, and is now already in the world."
John's gospel warns that some will come into the church bringing heresies. These are often subtle changes to the truth, may not even be intentional, but ultimately, they deny the deity of Christ, for when Christ is declared as Lord, he must be worshiped. Heresies always lead us away from a right relationship with Christ.
To guard against heresies, John calls the church test every teaching against what it says about Jesus. If the teacher declares the truth of the gospel, that Jesus is God in flesh, come into this world to die as a sacrifice for our sins, you can know the teaching is of the Spirit. But if the teacher denies the Lord as taught to us in the Bible, then the spirit is not of God and should be shunned, no matter how good the teaching might sound, or the emotional response it brings.
Today, many of the world's ideas of what is right and wrong, or what is taught as reality, ultimately lead to a denial of Christ. For example no one really agrees to a pro choice agenda for abortion unless they deny Jesus has more of a right to be Lord over their life than they do. Alternatively, no one can embrace the principles of evolution without denying Jesus as the creator. In doing so, they deny the Bible's teachings.
What John does here is encourage us to go through life with a biblical world view, testing everything through us, by the lens of Jesus Christ. When we open our eyes accordingly, we'll see that so much in this world denies Christ, and if we don't guard our ways, we'll be carried along by such thinking.
During the last days, the Antichrist will try to assume Christ's position as the only one worthy of worship, displaying powers which deceive people into willingly following after him. While we probably won't recognize this person as he rises to power, you can bet he will deny Christ. But if you've made it your practice to test all teachers according to the Spirit, know to run the other way!
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for the truthfulness of your Spirit. May you open my eyes to truth, keeping my ears and mind focused on you alone. Amen.
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