Do Not Believe Every Spirit

“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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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. 

“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. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 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 ESV).

Now, I want to make one thing clear here that is critical that we understand as a basis here. When it says here that “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,” we need to understand this in the context of the whole of 1 John, and the whole of the New Testament Scriptures on the subject of who is “from God” and not “from God.” For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God (see Matthew 7:21-23).

And John makes it quite clear here that those who know God are those who are obeying the commandments of God (New Covenant), in practice, and for whom sin is not their practice, but righteousness is their practice (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10). And then this word “confess” means to be in agreement with and to speak to the same conclusion as and to align with God. And then we have to know that there are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who make false confessions in order to deceive naïve minds.

So, it is not enough to just make a verbal acknowledgment of who Jesus Christ is and of what he did for us in coming to the earth and in taking on human form and then to die for us on that cross to take away our sins. We have to believe in him, and by doing so we must die with him to sin and now live to his righteousness in his power and strength. We must forsake our sinful practices to now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, following our Lord wherever he leads, and submitting to his authority.

[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-32; Acts 26:18]

And, honestly, many are those who profess the name of Jesus who are liars, deceivers, tricksters, mind manipulators, con artists, swindlers, cheats, performers, actors, and posers who masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness but while they serve the devil, instead. For making a false profession of faith in Jesus Christ is their window into the lives and minds of people who profess to know Christ or who are seeking truth and who are on the verge of believing in Christ, in order to deceive them into believing lies.

And many of these who make false professions are also entertainers. They are fun and they are good at entertaining, and so people like them, and they trust them, and so many also fall prey to their lies and end up going the wrong direction. For they can be very charming, and they fake sincerity very well, and they come across as though they are your best friend, but with a snake’s bite. So we cannot go by what people profess with their lips. It is how they live which really tells us who they are and what they are about.

But.. we also have to pay attention to their words, for they are very smooth and very clever at introducing lies by blending them skillfully in with the truth to make the lies appear as though they are truth when they are not. And “misimpressions” is a very popular way now of telling lies while making them appear as truth. For they are “indirect lies,” and therefore much harder to spot for the unsuspecting and non-discerning. So you can’t just go by what they say on the surface, but you have to watch out for hidden messages. And this is why we MUST TEST the spirits and not believe all.

And this is the way that we overcome these liars and con artists is by not believing everything they tell us and by testing what they say against the truth of the Scriptures, IN CONTEXT. And context is critical, for the lies are usually based off of Scriptures taken out of context and made to say what they do not say in context. Like for example, 1 John 4:2 must be read in the context of the whole of 1 John and in the context of the whole of the teachings in the New Testament so that we don’t misinterpret what it says.

And we should not fear these liars and con artists, for they have no real power over us. Yes, they can hurt us with their lies, and yes, they can turn others against us and away from us with their lies, most certainly. But God is still completely sovereign over all that he has made, and he who is living within us is greater than those who are in and of this sinful world, including he is greater than the devil who is behind all these lies and persecutions and false accusations and deceptions and liars and deceivers.

But the truth is that those who are of God, who know God intimately, and who are listening to God will also be those who will listen to us if we are also of God and if we know him intimately and if we are listening to him and if we are obeying him, and if we are walking in his ways and truth, and not in sin. And if this is where we are, in truth, then those who do not listen to us when we speak the truth of the Scriptures are not truly from God. Thus those who are obeying the truth of God’s word are those who are truly of God.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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