62-25 Testing the Spirits—Part 2

1 John 4:2-3

Just read a report on biblical illiteracy speaking of the lack of biblical and theological knowledge in American churches.  From all the studies, it appears to be a growing problem.

Barna “The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy…How else can you describe matters when most churchgoing adults reject the accuracy of the Bible, reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God to forgive their sins, and describe their commitment to Christianity as moderate or even less firm?”

Other factors give evidence of this:

The most widely known Bible verse among adult and teen believers is “God helps those who help themselves”—Not in Scripture and contradicts what God’s Word says.

Less than 1 out of every 10 believers possess a biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or behavior

When given thirteen basic teachings from the Bible, only 1% of adult believers firmly embraced all thirteen as being biblical perspectives.

Xianity Today ran story from prof at Wheaton College, IL, who found in a survey of incoming freshman students:

1/3 could not put in chronological order: Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and Pentecost.

1/2 could not sequence Isaac’s birth, Moses in Egypt, Saul’s death, and Judah’s exile.

1/3 could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a list of New Testament names.

When asked to locate the biblical book supplying a given story, 1/3 could not find Paul’s travels in Acts, 1/2 did not know that the Christmas story was in Matthew, 1/2 did not know that the Passover story was in Exodus.

These stats are troubling when taken in light of John’s exhortation to test the spirits to see whether they are from God.  How can test something if you have nothing to measure it against.  If Scripture is to be standard for determining who is teaching truth, then we need to know the truth.

In his 8 volume tome on the “history of the Christian Church,” Philip Schaff delivers an impressive list of heresies that faced the church up to the time of the reformation in the 16th century.

These heresies were all solidly refuted from Scripture by men who were devoted to the truth.

Ebionites—Jesus was promised Messiah but just a man

Gnosticism—started during 1st C denied the deity of JC

Nicolaitans—were a licentious sect that was indifferent toward adultery

Marcionism—Marcion called “the son of Satan” by Polycarp (disciple of John).  Taught that angry God of OT was different from loving God of NT.  He mutilated the Scriptures to accord with his teaching.

Manichaeans—were like Gnostics and pantheistic (everything is God)

Arianism—denial of deity of Christ

Pelagianism—trumpeted freewill over divine grace, was condemned by the church (early church fathers) in 4-5th C.

Unitarianism—rejected the Trinity—thus deity of Christ HS

Deism—God was detached from creation and uninterested

Modernism—only science could explain reality.  There was nothing supernatural—taught the Bible was untrue and that incarnation of Christ was a myth.

Post-Modernism—believes that no absolute, objective, universal truth exists.  The church has redefined the message of the Gospel so as not to be offensive to those of this persuasion—Emergent Church comes along and denies perspicuity of Scripture—the teachings of Bible are clear.

Church history is filled with examples of false prophets and false teachers.  Most of these heresies have come from within the church.  God has preserved His message thru faithful saints that have taken Jude’s call to “contend earnestly for the faith” seriously.

We have similar responsibility to discern truth from error.  This protects us from the proliferation of false teaching that finds its way into the church and promotes the purity of doctrine that God desires of us.

1.  The Command to test

Purpose of the test—to determine if teaching is from God

Reason for the test—many false prophets in the world.

A Prophet is one who is inspired by a spirit to speak the message of that spirit.  In John’s day there were true prophets who speak forth God’s message, inspired by HS, but there were also false prophets inspired by unholy spirits—Satan.

2.   The Criteria for Testing the Spirits

(vv 2-3)

There is a fundamental test to determine if a messenger is speaking forth God’s truth or if he is speaking forth the doctrines of demons (1 Tim 4).

John makes an abrupt shift from talking about unholy spirits that inspire the human teachers to the spirits of human teachers themselves—vs 2.

“Every spirit” refers to the human spirits that offer a confession of the truth surrounding the person of JC.  Where that happens we know that comes from the Spirit of God—another title for the HS.

All those who make a true confession of the person of Christ do so under the influence of the HS.

1 Cor 12:1-3

The Spirit of God is responsible for this true confession made by true prophets/true teachers.

Now, a confession is much more than acknowledgement of a fact or conceding something to be true.  Gk—omo-logeo compound word—“speak the same thing.”  It is the profession of allegiance—making this one’s own position.

It is the same profession demanded of in saving faith that goes beyond mental assent to a truth (Romans 10:9-10).

Theological/Christological Test

2 Parts to the confession that are given by implication:

First:  Jesus Christ:  Jesus is the human name given to the God-Man at the command of the angel.  Jesus was the principle role Jesus took on at the incarnation—Savior. 

Christ:  speaks of the divine office of Anointed One who is prophet, priest and king.

8x John puts the two names together in his letters.  2x he clearly separates the 2 names:  Jesus is the Christ (2:22; 5:1).

When together the 2 names describe the abiding union of divine and human natures at the incarnation.

Second—come in the flesh.  John is refuting those who taught that Jesus was not the Christ or that Jesus did not come in flesh.

2 Types of Gnosticism—1)  Jesus was not the Christ but came upon Him at Jesus’ baptism and left before crucifixion.

2)  Jesus was merely a phantom and did not take on human flesh but only appeared to.

When Jesus took on the human body—the Bible teaches us that it was a permanent/abiding union.  Jesus will forever be the God-Man—fully divine and fully human.

Understand that John is setting forth a complete Christology but there are several truths affirmed by this simple phrase:

1)  Jesus is no less than fully God Himself.

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;

John 5:17-18 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working."  For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

2) Fully Human and Fully divine—he deserves to be honored, worshiped and adored just like the Father—share perfect nature

3)  Living Word revealed in human flesh to die as a substitutionary sacrifice.

4)  Virgin birth—though not emphasized here—he was conceived by the HS not a human father—so he does not receive a fallen human nature like us.

Today, many religions that are monotheistic (1 God) claim to serve the same God that Xians serve.  This is not true.  The Bible teaches, John affirms the exclusivity of the Gospel message that salvation is for those who embrace this fundamental truth about JC.

Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12

1 Jn 4:3

John clarifies the criteria to determine the origin of a messenger by stating the test negatively.

“does not confess…”

Not making distinction b/t believing vs. unbelief but active antichristian rebellion against God which promotes false teaching.

Notice what these human teachers/prophets refuse to confess—“the Jesus.”  This takes into account the entire person just referred to in vs 2.  This is a very specific failure of the false prophets.

It is possible to talk about Jesus with acceptance and even praise yet refuse to believe the apostolic teaching about Him.  There are many religions that acknowledge an historical Jesus but we must ask the question “Is your Jesus the real Jesus?”  There are many forms of corruption concerning His nature—Mormonism says He is a creature, Muslims call him a great prophet, JW say He is not God but was Michael the archangel before He lived on earth, Christian Science says He is not the Christ & God could never become flesh, Hinduism calls Him a teacher or guru.  These teachings do not agree with what God reveals about the character of His Son.

They are obviously not from God but a step beyond that—they promote active rebellion that is characteristic of the spirit of antichrist.  Another shift from human spirits to unholy spirits--the spirit of antichrist will inspire a future individual we know as Antichrist who will carry out the desires of Satan for a time. 

Back in ch 2 John mentioned antichrist and affirms here that the spirit of antichrist that will inspire that future individual is already in the world promoting the falsehood characterizes Satan.

Paul says the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thess 2:7).  The spirit of antichrist (1 spirit or many spirits) is responsible for the errant doctrine and false religions of the world which are actively taught by false prophets and false teachers who promote those false systems of belief.

Criteria for determining the source of a messenger’s teaching often lies in their understanding of the nature of the LJC.  If that doesn’t measure up to Scripture, you can be certain that they are not from God and you should refuse to follow them.

3.  The Contrast between the church and the world

Actually constitutes 1 final test to determine the true prophets and teachers of God.

several sets of contrasts to mention:

A.  Contrast between believers and false teachers

Vs 4—you are from God.  John’s readers had a special relationship with God and have their origin from God that false prophets did not share.

“From God” is equivalent to being born of God—saved.

“you have overcome them” –false prophets in vs 1 b/c they heard the message, recognized it as false teaching and rejected it.

“overcome” means to prevail, to win in the face of obstacles, conquer.  Found 29x in NT (John uses the word 25x, 6x in 1 Jn).

These believers had won a great doctrinal victory having tested the teachers and prevailed.  When we recognize the false teaching of someone, we should be encouraged at the victory we have over the enemy and it should motivate us to continue discerning truth from error.

B.  Contrast b/t one in us and one in the world

“Greater…”  the victory comes from the indwelling HS.  He provides us the victory and John affirms that HS is greater than the devil.  The world is not a battlefield of equals.  Satan is not equal to God but God has superior rank and power over the “ruler of this world.”  Jesus came to destroy his works and give believers victory over him.

C.  Contrast b/t True Apostles and false apostles

“They are from the world…we are from God…”

The source and character of the teaching of false prophets is the world/evil system under the temporary dominion of the evil one which stands opposed to God.

To be from the world includes the entire organism of evil—it is comprehensive:  all people, programs, activities, philosophies, attitudes, pursuits, value systems, institutions that comprise the organism.

“B/c of this out of the world they are speaking” (source of the message is the world).  Their message reveals what they are.  They promote the falsehood that has enslaved them—some do it unknowingly but others act as willing mouthpieces of the evil one.

Peter says you can tell the nature of those who are false:

2 Peter 2:1-22

False teachers are often driven by their own lusts:

Money

Popularity/power

Sex/immorality

Preoccupation on these things should raise a red flag.

John notes the world listens to them.  Those who are of the world listen to their own language with attentive reception and acceptance of the error.

When a teacher draws in a larger audience we should pay attention to the character of his teaching.

Sometimes the HS is using him to bring revival

But often the audience agrees with the false message b/c that’s what they want to hear and what they understand

But John says “we are from God”  he and the other apostles/writers of Scripture were truly inspired by God to reveal the truth about JC and God and everything else recorded in Scripture.

Those who have a saving relationship (Knows God) listens to the true message and the true messenger b/c he finds affinity with the message and is drawn to it.

That’s why believers long to study God’s Word.  That’s why they can say with psalmist “O how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all day.”

The more we immerse ourselves in Bible, the more our understanding of God grows—our knowledge of Him deepens and we are better equipped to discern the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.