1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for 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 from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” – 1 John 4:1-6
One of the brothers in our cell group asked a very good question: how can a young Christian discern what is right or wrong when he could be in a group that has been mixing truth with error?
His question has to do with ability by the verb ‘can’. At least two answers came in mind; first, the good practice of checking the Scriptures like what the Berean Jews did (Acts 17:10-11). They received the Word of God and carefully investigated in the Scriptures if what they were hearing were indeed true or not. They had the Old Testament manuscripts as their reference point. In our case today, we have the full canon of the Old and New Testaments available to us.
Secondly, an elder must be approached. When I speak of elder, I mean the biblical kind as defined by Paul where the criteria was handed to Timothy and Titus, both of whom are elders themselves. This particular elder is equipped to teach and by this I mean that he has a grasp of the whole counsel of God according to the Scriptures along with the ability to convey thoughts clearly to the flock of God entrusted to his care and to rebuke those who contradict that counsel.
However, Scriptures and a faithful elder alone cannot full satisfy the answer to the question of ability. Our text above provides the primary key to discerning truth and error – the Holy Spirit. He is referred to as the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:6-7). He is the One deposited in every believer (Eph 1:13-14) and faithfully upholds the testimony of the Scriptures about the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:13-15).
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” -. John 16:13-15
This same Spirit, through the written Word, teaches and equips each believer. And the litmus question should be: does the explanation that is brought to my attention, whether in print or in preaching, ushers me to a fuller understanding of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures? The apostle John succinctly said that the Scriptures are written so that we may know that Jesus is the Son of God and by believing in His name we have eternal life (John 20:31). Luke records the narrative about how the Lord Jesus interpreted everything that is written in the Law and the Prophets concerning Himself to the two men along the road to Emmaus. The Scripture also records for us that both John and Luke wrote accurately under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21).
In John’s 1st letter, a gnostic lie that sought to gain a foothold among the believers is exposed and chapter 4:2 tells us that the false gnostic teaching challenges the incarnation of the Lord. These gnostics apparently have claimed that they have received special revelation that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh because the material world is evil (a main premise of gnosticism) and Jesus, being God, cannot possess a human body because th human body belongs to the evil material world. Assuming the Lord did not come in the flesh, then his death on the cross is not real, then He was not buried nor did He rise up in a glorified body after 3 days. Consequently, there can be no propitiation for our sin by the death of His body and the pouring of His blood as an offering to God, thus we are still spiritually dead and our faith is a lie. Above all this, we are, of all people, hopeless and foolish. You see, the false teachers always seek to challenge and negate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But because of the Holy Spirit, all true believers know that the Gospel is true and gnosticism a wicked lie.
Discerning and overcoming every deception, as verse 4 reveals, does not spring from our human ability but by grace of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. And there is a radical difference, indeed poles apart in the proclamation of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth – versus the propagated lie of the devil. Those who do not have the Spirit of Truth will never seek to conform to the apostolic writings recorded in the New Testament that revealed the fullness of the Old Testament proclamations realized in Christ Jesus.
Such is the confidence therefore of a true believer, that the Holy Spirit who indwells him, will certainly lead him to truth – all truth – either by direct Scriptures study or through another believer – an elder perhaps, who remains faithfully studying and handling the Scriptures or through the result of the Spirit’s collective work in the church through the ages as He preserves and upholds the truth through the Body of Christ (1 Timothy 3:15). That is why it is wise even today for believers to refer to preachings and essays by Christians hundreds of years ago for there is but one consistent message carried and preserved by the Spirit Himself over time until the return of whom He testifies – the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is through the loving intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ for His disciples that guaranteed the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence for each believer. And through this, every adopted child of God in Christ Jesus is eternally blessed.
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells in you, and will be with you.” – John 14:15-17
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