by Dr. Grant C. Richison
“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
And by this we know that He abides in us,
Applying truth to experience is valid proof of our fellowship with the Lord. Application of […]
“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.”
John begins chapter four in the minor key and warns against false teachers.
Beloved,
God loves every believer with exactly the same amount of love. God loves that miserable believer just as […]
“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.”
but test the spirits,
The word “but” is a term of strong contrast. Instead of gullibly believing religious leaders, we test their teaching by the Word of God.
John puts the […]
“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.”
because many false prophets have gone out into the world
The world was full of false prophets. There were not just a few but “many” false prophets even in John’s day.
The […]
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God…”
By this you know the Spirit of God:
The specific doctrine whereby we test to find whether a teacher is false or true is the doctrine of Christ. If a person denies either […]
“…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.”
and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is […]
“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.”
You are of God, little children,
The readers of this epistle belonged to God’s family and as such had God’s resources to fight false teaching. New birth, spiritual birth has affinity […]
“They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.”
They are of the world.
False prophets find the source of their teaching in the satanic world system. They do not understand God’s viewpoint on life. God’s apostles are “of God” (4:4) and speak from God.
Therefore they speak […]
“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.”
We are of God.
The “we” here refers to the apostles who authored the New Testament. The “we” is set in contrast to the […]
“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.”
By this
This phrase refers to the previous part of the verse. We can distinguish truth and error from the special revelation of God’s […]
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