Determining what is true is more challenging than it used to be because we are exposed to more information than at any previous time in history. We are confronted by news outlets, advertising, social media, phone calls, emails, texts and people knocking on our doors. Some tools are available to determine what is true or false but much is left to individual discernment.
In our passage today we consider what is true and right. READ 1 John 4:1-6 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+4%3A1-6&version=NIVUK
The writer highlights two directly opposing influences, the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. The main concern is given in verses 2 and 3 “every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” This statement directly addressed an erroneous view by false teachers regarding who Jesus Christ is.
We do well to ask the same question that Jesus asked his disciples
“Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’
“They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.’
“‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’
“Peter answered, ‘God’s Messiah’” (Luke 9:18–20). Parallel accounts are found in Matthew 16 and Mark 8.
Matthew relates that Peter did more than just identify Jesus as the Christ; he also proclaimed Jesus’ divine nature: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
This is the most critical question to ask of anyone who claims to know the truth. Who is Jesus Christ? Is he fully man and fully God…or something else?
John explains that every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God is the spirit of the antichrist which is already in the world. The antichrist is against Christ and everything he stands for. We are not to fear this opposing person because there is a great promise and assurance in this short passage of Scripture found in verse 4 “… the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Reading the whole Word of God, our Bible reveals who Jesus Christ is, the Holy Spirit of God who indwells us teaches us about him and leads us into a deepening relationship with Jesus.
God will give you his peace, his power, his wisdom and his courage to stand up for Jesus Christ as you trust in Him.