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“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” (1 John 4:1, ESV) After warning believers against a gullible approach to spirits (i.e., teachers), John then commands believers to test the spirits. The word test is an interesting word packed with meaning. Ultimately, however, the word means to evaluate. Evaluations are a routine part of life. Employers consistently evaluate their employees with annual evaluations. These are times when managers or supervisors sit down with the employee and discuss their performance at their job. I spent over five years as an Assistant to the Store Manager with Walmart. Though there were challenges, one of my favor
TEST THE SPIRITS (Part 2) In 1 John 4:1, John writes “Beloved, do not believe every spirit” (NASB). It is a prohibition. Just as individuals are called to believe on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:9-10), believers are equally called to not believe every spirit. Believers, in other words, must exercise a form of caution when dealing with “every spirit.” Now, questions may arise in your minds, “What is a spirit? Is it referring to demons? Are these angelic spirits?” John is not discussing those spirits, however. Colin Kruse calls these spirits “secessionists.”[1] These individuals were with the apostle at first (2:19), but because of the separation of doctrine and practice (2:3-6, 19-23) they s
I recently finished preaching through 1 John 4:1-6. In this portion of Scripture, John commands believers to test the spirits. Why is this important? In our present day, we see that believers are gullible. We are easily deceived. Like the kid who, when told that the word gullible is not in the dictionary, replies “It’s not?” believers today are prone to deception, just like the believers of John’s day. This is evidenced by the confusion recently discussed in the joint efforts of Ligonier and LifeWay Research, published in the report, "The State of Theology: What Do People Really Believe in 2018?" The depressing results demonstrated a severe lack of knowledge regarding the crucial doctrines o