Question: How often do we test people for the Spirit? How often are we tested by other?
Discerning False Prophets
1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet[a] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
Footnotes:
a. 1 John 4:2 Greek If a spirit; similarly in 4:3.
4 comments:
Not very often to either question. I like the part of verse 6 that says if they do not belong, they do not listen. It gives me some peace to know that we need to plant the seed, but the growth will come from God.
In His name,
cas
There are so many things out there today to distract us. As I read this I was struck by the simple truth. It is about Jesus and him alone. Lord help me focus on you and not be distracted. Remove everything from me that is not from you.
Once we believe that a person "believes in God", I think we can often project what we believe onto them and assume that we both have a common understanding. It's important to be discerning, especially since we are often in "learning mode". We don't want to become skeptics, because that's divisive, but rather, we need to be in constant contact with God's Word, which is the single source of truth.
LORD, keep me mindful of and reliant on Your truth and help me to be discerning of those who speak by Your authority, yet receptive to my brothers in Christ. Amen.
tba
I agree with cas. Not our work, but his.
I was also struck by the direct and harsh nature of scripture here. No politicial correctness here. In todays world, we don't want to call things what they are. Folks are either for God or against him.
Lord, thank you for pronmpting me to follow you. May I always be humble enough to realize that I did not earn this, and should have no pride in my salvation.
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