Anyone who detracts from the deity of Jesus Christ, His miraculous conception, His vicarious atonement, His bodily resurrection, and His visible return, is an imposter and a false teacher. The Confession of a Divine Lordġ John 4:2-3 says, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.”Ĭhristianity is wrapped around the person of Jesus Christ. And then he concludes in the latter part of verse 6 by saying that this is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. John, in the first six verses of chapter 4, shows us three simple rules by which we can distinguish between the true and the false. John concludes the first six verses of chapter 4 by saying, “Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” You say, “But is it possible amidst all this maze of religious teaching, to know the difference between truth and error? Can we distinguish between the false and the true? Can we sort out what comes from God and what comes from the devil?” And the answer is definitely “yes.” We can know the difference. We must examine it and analyze it and see to it that we accept only that which is true. The word “try” means “to prove or test.” We are not to be like a sponge soaking up everything we hear, John says, there are too many false teachers around.
Verse 1 of our lesson in 1 John 4 says that we must “try” the spirits. Therefore we must learn the art of discernment we must learn to sort out the true from the false. Many times the teachings presented become conflicting and bewildering and we hardly know which way to turn. In our day there is a babel of confusing voices all around us. Paul says that evil men and seducers (those who lead astray) will wax worse and worse as we approach the time of the end. Jesus warned His disciples that deception would increase as we approach the end of the age. And certainly if it was necessary to distinguish between the false and the true in John’s day, it is all the more needful today. John says in chapter 2:26, “These things have I written unto you, concerning them that seduce you.” The word “seduce” means “to lead astray.” We need instruction and guidance in order that we might distinguish between the false and the true, because there are seducers trying to mislead us. One of the reasons John was inspired to write the first Epistle, was to help us become aware of false teaching, and to help us distinguish between the true and the false.
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