Test Everything

“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.” (1 John 4:1-3 ESV)

Do you believe everyone who claims to preach the word of God? Do you check them on what they say? This scripture tells us to “test the spirits” and the person. We must test those who preach the word of God. Everything we write in InMessiah is based on scripture. We strive to ensure that our expositions on scripture are correct. We use many theological references, and overseers and elders help keep us on track.

But this is not always the case. John reminds us that when we test the spirits, we test the person. Do they confess the Lord and that He is the Son of God who came in the flesh? But is that enough?

We live in a world deep in the grip of the prince of the power of the air. There are false teachers and false prophets everywhere. John warned us of this in 1 John 2. Testing is critical as Satan exists, demons exist, and within this world are demonic principalities. So, we must always test what we are hearing. The corruption within this world is not entirely of Satan; it is of the flesh, the flesh that God has turned over to us. Satan is behind the false religions. Even religions within Christianity that have deviated from scripture. They have deviated from scripture because they have been compromised morally and led astray by Satan.

Our spiritual war is a war of the mind. We are not chasing Satan and his demonic henchmen around. We are battling a system that is anti-God or, as John put it, anti-Christ. We battle society's mindset. Our responsibility is to obliterate these morally destructive ideologies. We are to make every thought about Christ. We cannot change hearts; only God can. We can only provide the truth to the minds lost in this society.

We must live for the truth. The truth is that Jesus Christ is the only way to defeat the entrenched minds of this world. The truth is the Gospel, which is Christ. John addresses false teaching in 1, 2, and 3 John. He addresses it to Gaius and the elect lady, warning Gaius of Diotrephesm and the elect lady he encourages to stay focused on the Gospel.

Testing the spirit is so essential that Jonathan Edwards completed a writing called “The Distinguishing Mark of the Works of the Spirit of God.” Edwards based this writing on 2 John 4, and the tests Edwards found so critical are contained therein. Everyone is to test anything that is claimed to be the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to test pastors, ministers, and all people.

Do not be a wanderer. Test those around you, test those whose preaching you follow, and test your spiritual leaders. We cannot tell when the Spirit guides us or someone else; the results in our lives and theirs are the movement of the Spirit, and only this is visible to us. Remain vigil against false teachings and test the spirit.

Grace and Peace!