1 John - Chapter 4

The chapter gives instruction on how to recognize a cult that would claim itself as Christian, learn about the indwelling Holy Spirit, and conclude with the topic of love.

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I John - Chapter 4

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

In this verse, we need to step back and relook at chapter 1, verse 1 where the Apostle John is introducing Jesus and Him coming in the flesh (1 John 1:1-3).

  • 1 John 1:1-3  That which was from the beginnng, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Work of life - 2. the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Faither and was manifested to us.  3. that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

Early on in our first week of this study, we learned about Docetism and how that cult had entered into the church.  It is important to remember that these Gentile believers came out of paganism, believing their invisible gods roamed in the heavens.  As a result, some of the Gentile believers that came into the Church were mixing their pagan beliefs with Christianity.  

Docetism

For more information on Docetism, go to Single Articles - "Docetism and Gnostism." 

In its most simplest explanation, Docetism beliefs were:

  • Jesus did not come in the flesh as man to the earth.  He came as a spiritual being, and what was seen as a man was simply a figmentation of man's imagination - a ghost-like figure.
  • Even in Christ's crucifixion, Docetism claims it was not real - but simply spiritual in nature, and Jesus, who appeared to be real, was only a ghost-like figure.  If that was the case then, Jesus - his life, death, resurrection never happened because it was not physical; thus making our salvation null and void because our salvation rests upon Jesus' physical shed blood and resurrection for us.


Returning to chapter 4, verse 1, John is telling the Church not to believe every spirit - even within the Church.  Instead, we are to test these spirits to see if they are truly of God.  Many false prophets had come to mix Docetism and Christianity, claiming these cultic beliefs as Christian theology.  These false prophets were speaking lies against true Christianity. 

The Apostle John goes on to say: 

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

The apostle is pointing out here that Jesus did come in the flesh - not simply as a spirit.  His presence on the earth was NOT a figment of anyone's imagination.  Jesus left His divinity in heaven, physically came to earth as a human man, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, but was physically crucified on the cross, shedding His physical blood for the sins of mankind, as was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament.  Anyone then who spoke otherwise carried the "spirit" of anti-christ...anti-christ meaning against Christ.  So then, the test for all Christians then (and now) is to ask:  "Do you believe Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, but that He IS God, and that He came to the earth in the flesh - not just the spirit?"

Let's look at modern-day cults today, with Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness - both being the largest.

Mormonism
(Latter-Day Saints (LDS)

  • Today, nearly all Mormons will claim they are Christians; however, they do NOT believe Jesus is God - they simply believe He was only the Son of God.  That alone would make this belief system a cult.  
  • They DO believe that Jesus came in the flesh; however, they believe that believers in Christ will end up as spirits in the heavenlies, ruling the worlds, similar to what the Gentiles believed of their pagan gods.
  • Mormons use the King James Version of the Bible supported by the Book of Mormons, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as their canonical (true) writings.  They strongly believe the Holy Scriptures were incomplete, so the Book of Mormons was created to give extra revelation.
  • Mormons claim that God the Father is a physical being of flesh and bones.  He once dwelt upon the earth in the same way Jesus did, and just as you and I do today.
  • Their cultic beliefs claim that God "attained" the status of becoming a god, however, all earthly human beings could attain the same status.  In other words, man can become God. 
  • They claim the earth is just one of many inhabited world with many governing heavenly bodies. 
  • The goal of all Mormons is to receive "exaltation" through the atonement sacrifice of Jesus, receiving exaltation and hopefully obtaining the "godhood" status, believing they will become gods and goddesses in the afterlife, having all knowledge, power, glory and dominion.  Again, we all could become on equal status with God.
  • Mormonism believes they will live eternally with their earthly families in the heavenlies, which is why Mormons study genealogy to the degree they do.  They will then have spiritual children and grow in their godhood posterity forever. 

This kind of belief is not supported by Scripture, and is contrary to it in many ways.  As a result, Mormonism is regarded as a cult with all mainline Christianity.

Jehovah's Witness

  • Jehovah's Witnesses focus on God the Father.  Jesus is considered God's Son, but not part of the Godhead.  In other words, they do NOT believe Jesus is God. 
  • God created Jesus His Son, meaning He is NOT God, but came from God.   Jesus is not co-equaled with God.  In other words, there is no Trinity.  This violates Scripture; thus making them a cult.
  • To counteract their false beliefs, Jehovah's Witnesses have rewritten their own Bible called the New World Translation.  There are a lot of scripture rewritten to support their beliefs.
  • The Holy Spirit also is not equal with God.  Instead, they believe the Holy Spirit is a force applied by God.  He is NOT the 3rd person of the Trinity.
  • Along with these cultic beliefs, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas or Easter because they believe Jesus is NOT God.  In addition, they do not celebrate other national holidays or birthdays, believing they must be separate from the world.
  • Jehovah's Witnesses try to remain politically neutral. They don't believe in serving in politics or in the military, mainly as another way for them to distance themselves from the culture they live in. Instead, they emphasize citizenship in God's heavenly kingdom.  Their government then is the hierarchy of the leadership within Jehovah's Witnesses.
  • Jehovah's Witnesses hold the controversial view of rejecting blood transfusions, even in life or death situations.
  • Jehovah's Witnesses gatherings are called Kingdom Hall, not a church.

While there are many other cults out today that would call themselves Christians, the way to test the spirit is to see if they support the Word of God.  By looking at the real, it then becomes easier to recognize the counterfeit.

The Five Major Points of True Christianity

  • Jesus is the Son of God, yet He is God.
  • Jesus died on the cross, shedding His physical blood for you.
  • God raised Jesus from the dead.
  • Jesus is now up in heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for you.
  • Jesus is coming back soon to get His body to bring them all unto Himself to spend eternity with Him.

Anything that differs from these foundational biblical beliefs are either cultic or a false religion.

There are many doctrinal differences within all the denominations of the Christian church, such as end time theology, doctrines on healing, baptisms, or the prophetic gifts, which would still be considered Christian; however, they all carry the same basic foundational doctrine as listed above.

Greater is the Holy Spirit Within You

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

The Apostle John is speaking here to all children of God, encouraging them (us) that we all belong to God, having the Holy Spirit living within us.  The apostle is encouraging us that because we have the Holy Spirit living within us, we have power and authority over Satan, who is of this world.  Not only is he our enemy, he is under our feet and has no power over us, unless we allow it.  As Christians, having the indwelling Holy Spirit, we must never forget our position in Christ. 

 

Recognizing the Work of the Indwelling Holy Spirit

As children of God, the Holy Spirit living within us wants to show us God's truth.  That is done by fellowshipping with the Lord through reading and meditating on His Word, along with time spent alone with God in prayer.  The scriptures tell us over and over that we have the Holy Spirit living in us to comfort, teach, guide, reveal truth, and empower us to understand God's truth (Rom 8:11).  When we are reading and reflecting on scripture verses or passages, we need to know that the Holy Spirit is busily teaching us truth, so that when we do see the counterfeit, the Holy Spirit has already revealed to us that the counterfeit is a lie (1 John 2:27).  God shows us by His Spirit what is truth and what is a lie.  Then, we must be obedient to obey that truth.  That's why knowing the Word of God, supported by personal prayer is so critical to our Christian growth.   If we don't, we can easily become carnal (fleshly) thus be sucked into this world's system.  (Heb 12:5-11).

The Carnal Mind

 

The Bible says that to be carnally minded is death.  Does this mean that when a believer is carnally minded, he or she will not go to heaven?  That is a yes and no answer.  While we, as believers, do think carnally minded from time to time, this is where it is critically important to repent and get back on track with God.  If we don't, our hearts begin to harden to the things of God and we are on a slippery slope toward death.  Staying on that slippery slope hardens our heart even more.  Done long enough, our belief system begins to change from belief to unbelief, and one day, our carnal mind becomes so against the things of God and we force the Holy Spirit out of our lives.  At that point, our hearts have become so hardened that it becomes impossible to ever come back to God.  You have now done what the Bible refers to as the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit.


Carnality is so very dangerous for Christians

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit living and operating within us, part of His responsibility in leading us is to show us what is truth and what is error.  Our responsibility, in return, is to be listening to His voice or promptings.  If we do, we will definitely be able to tell what is of God and what is a spirit of error.  While we don't always hear the voice of the Lord, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit is always active in our lives, and we need to be aware of His presence at all times.  A word of sound doctrine would be: In all things, if you follow after peace, being obedient to the Word of God, you will be following the leading of the Lord.

Knowing God Through Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Out of the overflow of spending quality time in God's Word and in prayer, being obedient to what God is showing us, love for others begins to flow out of our heart.  First, and especially first, love for other believers permeates our heart, and secondly, we begin to have a love and longing for the salvation of the world.  It becomes the cry of our heart.  We recognize sin and righteousness, and we long for the world to live in the righteousness of God, avoiding the life of sin that leads people to hell.  Because our salvation rests upon Jesus who suffered and died, paying the penalty for our sins, the love He gave to us, He is asking us to live for Him and to show His love toward others.  As such, carnality should never be a part of a Christian's life.

The Manifestation of God to Others

12 No one has seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

While no one has seen God, at least not physically, God has revealed Himself in many ways.  In Scripture, God has revealed Himself under the Old Testament through nature, human life, angelic visitations, a burning bush, the words of the prophets, and many other ways.  Under the New Covenant, God has revealed Himself through His Son, as well as miracles and wonders.  This is how the world can see that God is real and that He is love.  The greatest way, however, that God has revealed Himself to the world is through love.  God is love, and those who truly follow after Him will love others like God loves us. 

he world watches Christians because they know they are different from other people.  Sadly, if the world sees anger, bitterness, verbal attacks, and hatred, then Christians are failing to show the world they are believers.  What the world needs to see  in believers is the fruit of the Spirit being manifested, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

 

The Manifestation of God Within You

13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

How is it then that we know within that God lives within us?  How does He manifest Himself to us personally?  Since the Day of Pentecost, God has revealed Himself by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in His people.  So then, how do we know the Holy Spirit lives within us?  Often we sense His anointing, He speaks to us in many different ways, such as:  He speaks to us through His Word, and we often receive a rhema word where our spirits know as we know God is speaking to us.  In prayer, we can have a sense of peace, hear in our spirit His still small voice, He speaks loud within our Spirit, and in a rare moment, it will sound very audible as if He is yelling where everyone can hear Him.   There are even times when His anointing is so tangible to where it can be felt.  And then, God is always reaching out to His people through the eyes of love.  As we grow in Him, we internally see our life changed.  The old life is gone, and our new life in Christ is completely changed.  We develop a heart of love for God and for others, and as such, God reveals Himself through us we we love others.  Jesus said "by this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"  (John 13:35).

Struggles in Faith
 
Because we live in a fallen world with Satan being the god of this world, all believers struggle in their faith.  Christians of today are no different than the Christians of the 1st century in that just about every Christian at one time or another has struggled with the assurance of their salvation or condemnation over certain sins.   Sadly, there will always be scoffers in the world that would try to give doubt to your faith.  There are also times when it seems that God is not answering our prayers and we even wonder if He is real. 
The Development of Faith
 
The development of your faith in Christ is not a blind leap in the dark. It is based on knowing that God dwells within you through His Spirit, and He is operating in your life.  At the moment that you are born of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit activates Himself in you. In other words, He becomes alive in you.  You then have a responsibility to fulfill in the development of your faith. 
 
The apostle uses the word "abide" over and over, which means to fellowship, or live with Christ.  Every believer, without exception, has Christ abiding within them through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  In other words, the moment you received Christ into your life by acknowledge Jesus as Lord and confessing what He has done for you, the Holy Spirit activates Himself in you through the power of the Holy Spirit.   From that moment on, the Holy Spirit works in your life as you begin to hunger after the things of God.  You find yourself wanting to read your Bible and pray.  God created that hunger within you.  Even though you may hunger, it is still up to you to respond to that hunger.  In other words, be obedient to that hunger.  You will discover that the more you are obedient to that hunger the more you will hunger after the things of God.  As you keep responding to the callings of the Lord you will have the assurance that the Holy Spirit is indwelling and operating in your spirit.  As we continue to fellowship with the Lord through meditating on His Word and spending time fellowshipping with Him in prayer, you will discover that you are beginning to hate sin.  You no longer want that part of your life any longer (Gal. 5:17).  You are personally witnessing God's hand at work in your life?  You begin to see God as your loving Father, not as your eternal judge.  Those tempting sins are no longer tempting and peace and joy takes over your life to where you automatically operate in the fruit of the Spirit, with love being the key fruit in operation (Gal 5:22-23).  
 
Carnal Faith
 
Carnal faith comes as a result of not responding to those hungerings or yearnings that the Holy Spirit causes within you.  When you do not obey those hungerings, and continue on in the sins that operate in your life, your spirit hardens to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Often it is a slow process where a believer is hardly even aware of it happening.  Such as:  "I'll read my Bible tomorrow."  I don't have time to pray right now - I have to do this or that."  Eventually we find ourselves in the same position as before we were saved, acting just like the world, except we believe in Christ.  Are we still saved?  Yes, but that kind of living is a slippery slope that eventually leads to hell.
 
 
Can a Believer Lose Faith?
 
Losing our faith can happen.  It begins by not harkening to the voice of the Holy Spirit when those yearnings for God enter in.  Every time we disobey, and do not ask for foregiveness, we harden our heart.  Doubt and disobedience chips away a little at a time in various areas of our life.  Carnality takes over and the deeds of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21) take over our life in the same way as we were before we came to the Lord.  Love for the brethren, as well as others wanes and we find ourself at odds with others.  This is why it is so important to keep in continuous fellowship with the Lord through His Word and in prayer to avoid that temptation that wants to steal our faith.  It is also critical that Christians gather together to help one another if someone begins to wane in his or her faith.  The Body of Christ consists of Christians of varying degrees of faith - from seasoned believers who have a deeper walk of faith, to new believers, and even carnal believers.  We all need each other to encourage each other in our faith to where we can all grow to become more like Jesus.
 
 The early Church Father Tertullian once said: “It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Look,’ they say, ‘How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to even die for one another!’”  Would the world describe you in that way? 

The Consummation of Love - Our Rewards

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 

When the love of God consumes us - as we love Him and other believers, along with that flow of love being demonstated to the world, we never have to fear the Day of Judgment.  When we leave this world, how exciting it will be to hear those wonderful words from Jesus, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of the Lord." (Matt 25:23).  We can stand boldly before the judgment seat of Christ in heaven without any fear, knowing we were faithful in what God has required of us in this world. 

For those, however, who lived carnally in their faith, acting just like those in the world, will not enjoy the time of the Judgment Seat of Christ, because their life will be revealed and they will know they did not please God.  Yes, they will go to heaven, and there will be no punishment, but they will suffer a lack of rewards for all eternity.  Remember, this life is only a preparation for an eternity to come to rule and reign with Christ for an eternity.  The books will be opened and we will be judged.  Missing out on our full rewards will most definitely have consequences in our eternal life. 

Those of the world, meaning unbelievers, will face God at a different judgment - one that will not happen until after the 1000 year Millennial reign of Christ.  Unbelievers will go to hell upon death and await their eternal judgment to one day face God at the Great White Throne Judgment.  This judgment will banish them into the eternal lake of fire for all eternity.  Most of them will not care or refuse to believe the truth in this life in this life, but the day will come when hell, that judgment, and the eternal lake of fire will become a reality for them - for all eternity, and then they will most definitely care, but it will be far too late.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  19  We love Him because He first loved us.

How exciting it is for Christians to never have to fear again - both in this life and in the life to come.  When we face Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will never have to face punishment.  There is no punishment in heaven - only rewards.    So many in the world live in fear in this life, then they will have to face the eternal judgment which involves torment for all eternity for those not in Christ.  

Perfect love with Christ gets rid of all fear.  Remember, we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.  2 Tim 1:7.


Perfect love casts out ALL fear

Obedience by Faith

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Again, out of the overflow of loving God, we love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We can't see God, yet we love Him.  If, however, we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ, whom we can see, something is wrong with our relationship with Christ.  The love for God and the love for other believers in Christ go hand in hand.

 

 

Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson

Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/