Explore: Is this of God?

• The Explore the Bible lesson for June 28 focuses on 1 John 4:1-6.

Believers must be discerning about the teachers and the teachings they follow. We unfortunately have become all too accustomed to news regarding pastors who fleece their flocks. Some ministers even seem to build tremendous empires by threatening others, neglecting the Scripture and profaning God’s name in pursuit of wealth. Yet, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The Apostle John faced immense challenges from false teachers and others who would attempt to mislead people into following the ways of the world. John even called such false teachers “antichrists.” An “antichrist” is an adversary to Jesus. 

We will examine some of the teachings of false prophets and how we can recognize them more effectively. Discernment is a valuable and powerful spiritual discipline. The lesson will encourage believers to look closely at the doctrine and practices of those who claim to know the truth.

Be discerning (4:1)

Believers must examine diligently the teachings presented as truth. John emphatically called for his beloved children in the faith to stop blindly or gullibly following false teachers. The main false teachers in John’s context consisted of Gnostics and those who took up Docetism. Gnostic belief flatly denied the full divinity and full humanity of Jesus. They also put forth the idea that through secret knowledge a person could achieve a rather untenable knowledge of the divine unavailable to the common man. Docetic teachers proclaimed the man Jesus was only an apparition or had the appearance of a man. They believed Jesus was divine but not fully man. 

Therefore John rightly stated, “Test the spirits.” The word for “test” was a common 

Greek term that referred to the purification of metals. Will the false teachings withstand the fires of truth? If any teaching cannot stand the test of truth, then it ought to be discarded. Obviously, Christians must perform such tests in order to know if a teaching is in accordance to God’s Spirit. There are different views of “the spirits” as John sees them, but we can safely surmise John referred to those teachings or powers that try to hold sway over someone’s mind in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit.

Test the message (4:2-3)

How ought a Christian test the spirits? John explains a true teaching affirms the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ. In other words, an orthodox Christian teaching proclaims Jesus came “in the flesh,” or as a fully human person in bodily form. Jesus, therefore, was not somehow disguised as a human or appeared as some sort of phantom. Christians believe Jesus is truly God Incarnate—the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14).

Another way of explaining such a test comes in the form of a question: How would anyone who is inspired by God’s Spirit say, “Jesus is definitely not God”? The Apostle Paul, who dealt with many of the same false teachers, also taught no one could say, “Jesus is Lord” without inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The one who takes lightly the full humanity of Jesus certainly is in danger of taking lightly the full divinity of Jesus, as well.

John further stated false teachers or spirits came from the antichrist. This statement was made in reference to an earlier teaching (2:18-25), and John accordingly reminds us the spirit of Christ’s adversary already was at work through Gnosticism and Docetism. How many more false teachings appear in our day yet refer back to a basic and demonic denial of Christ’s Lordship (2 John)?

Observe the audience (4:4-6)

The audience of a teacher reveals a great deal about his or her message. An audience dominated by worldly individuals indicates questionable teaching. Simply put, if followers of a teacher are of the world, then the teacher is of the world. Christians will be known as people who are in the world but not of it. Remember, too, John’s definition of the world. He called it “the kosmos,” or that which is opposed to the things of God. There are many times when Christians become too comfortable with the world and with the unholy. Teachers must become especially wary of the influences of our world.