“AFTER CAREFUL EXAMINATION”

“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.”

1 John 4:1

In our opening blog for this series, we said that a discerning mind demonstrates wisdom and insight that goes beyond what is seen and heard.  A discerning person acknowledges God’s word from falsehood.

In today’s verse, John cautions believers not to trust every spirit, which likely refers to teachers. He tells them to test (dokimazō, to recognize as genuine after careful examination) every spirit to determine whether or not they come from God. By saying so, John clarifies that not everyone who speaks about the Bible, God, and Jesus does not necessarily speaks the truth. Some profess a faith in Christ but teach a radically different Jesus.

To those with untrained ears and a lack of discernment, detecting false teachers can be quite challenging because counterfeit teachers often convey a significant amount of truth. Think of it this way: if everything they say is false, who would listen to them? The key to discerning them is to discover their main points. It’s possible to present some truth but still fail to apply it properly. 

So, ask these questions: 

• What do they say about God? 
• What do they say about Christ? 
• What do they say about sin?
• What do they say about salvation? 

We should exercise discernment in any teaching. To do this, it's critical to have a clear understanding of biblical truth. We first need to know what is true in order to identify what is untrue.

Satan is the deceiver who has a false gospel preached by false teachers, producing false Christians. He plants his false teachers wherever God plants true believers. (Warren Wiersbe)

On a lighter note, it’s comforting to know that false teachers cannot deceive everyone in the church, especially those who are discerning, who are like the Bereans of the Book of Acts. With humble hearts and discerning minds, let’s carefully examine each teaching and determine whether it is from God or not.

Pursue the Savior today!

Photo by José M. Reyes on Unsplash