Thu, 25 May, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
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.
As we go through the book of 1 John, we see that John is very concerned about false teachers. In today’s reading, we see that there are false teachers who have left the church and are still influencing them. But John tells us something about these false teachers: they are speaking for false spirits.
What do we learn from this?
John warns against false spirits speaking through false prophets. There are human teachers who have been a part of the church but have apostatized and turned their backs on the church. They have gone out into the world. We must be on guard against the teachings of these false teachers.
John keeps telling us we need to abide in the Holy Spirit that God has given us. But, John warns us, there are false spirits that will try to deceive us. Every teacher speaks for a spirit. Either he speaks for the Holy Spirit, or for a false spirit. We must be on our guard against these false teachers bringing the word of false spirits.
Do not believe every spirit, John warns us. This is a present tense imperative, commanding continuous action. We are to continually not believe every spirit. It is not an option. Don’t blindly accept everything you are taught, John tells us emphatically, and keep not believing. Rather, we should test the spirits.
We are not to be credulous people. Faith is not “believing what you know isn’t true”, as the child put it. Christians shouldn’t “check their brains at the door” when we come into church. We are commanded to think very carefully about where we put our trust. Specifically, John is telling us that when some one teaches or preaches, there is a spiritual message. A false spirit can be using the teacher. The teaching can be wrong. We must listen carefully, think about what we hear, and compair it to scripture.
Think about what you are hearing. Test it. Check it out. Do not uncritically accept everything you hear. There are false teachers that are the mouthpieces for lying spirits.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus warned that we should be on guard against false teachers who would come. They will come claiming to bring a word from God, but they bring a false message from a false spirit.
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
