Our Savior Lutheran Church

Open It

1. What standard would you use for testing a person’s credentials to do your job?

2. What makes something either “worldly” or “Christian”?

Explore It

The readers of this letter were members of a church in controversy. The opponents whom John was engaging were not professed pagans but people who claimed to be Christians. They had the intellectual ammunition to be persuasive. The effect on the church was to lead other people astray and to plant doubt in authentic believers.

In this type of setting, John needed to teach his readers how to discern between true and false teachers. He explained to them that the content of their teaching is the test of the teachers’ authenticity (vv.4-6).

3. What did John instruct his readers to do? (4:1)

After explaining what we should believe (3:23), John focused on what we should not believe. There is no such thing as “blind faith” for a true believer. The object of our faith is to be carefully chosen. We have the Holy Spirit in us, but there are other spirits in this world. We are commanded: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits” (4:1).

4. Who did John say had gone into the world? (4:1)

The testing of the spirits was necessary because many “false prophets had gone out into the world” (v.1c). A prophet was someone who spoke a message more than someone who foretold the future. Many who appeared as prophets were actually “false prophets” (pseudoprophetai). These are equated with the “many antichrists” of 2:18-19.

5. How is the Spirit of God recognized? (4:2)

How do you test the spirits? Verses 2-3 answer that question. It is a test of belief. The authenticity of the spirit can be discerned from the words of the teacher.

6. How can we distinguish truth from error in spiritual matters? (4:2-3)

The content of correct doctrine is narrowed to one simple truth, found in what a person “acknowledges” (v.2). To acknowledge means “to confess openly and publicly.” The Spirit from God leads a person to acknowledge that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (v.2). This simple phrase carries the essential elements of Christian faith. It is the test of what one believes about Jesus. The correct belief involves acceptance of Jesus as the preexistent, incarnate Christ.

7. What spirit does not acknowledge that Jesus is from God? (4:3)

The above is the crucial doctrinal test. In order to be a God-given, Spirit-led confession, the substance of the confession must have the right perspective on Christ Jesus. To make sure he was understood, John states the opposite in verse 3a: “Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” He shortened the phrase, but the substance of the confession is meant to be the same. These are not just false teachers. John called them the “spirit of the antichrist,” and they are already in the world.

8. Why did the writer say that believers had overcome the spirit of the antichrist? (4:4)

John now turned from the content of the message to the character of the listeners. Each verse in this section (vv.4-6) begins with a different personal pronoun: “you” (plural, v.4), “they (v.5), and “we” (v.6), referring respectively to John’s readers (i.e., true believers), the false prophets, and John as a representative of the apostles. He encouraged the readers in verse 4 and then applied the doctrinal test by way of the character of the listeners in verses 5-6.

John gave his readers assurance of their status with God: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them” (v.4a). Earlier in verses 2-3 he maintained that the Spirit that passes the doctrinal test is “from God.” Now he assured his readers that they, too, have passed this test and have overcome the false teachers. They have tested the spirits, found them to be false, and held to the proper doctrine. The perfect tense of “have overcome” is assuring, reflecting that the victory has come and the results will abide. This, no doubt, is why the false teachers “went out from” them (2:19).

The reason for their victory has nothing to do with their own abilities, but John credited “the one who is in” them (v.4b). This must be a reference to the Holy Spirit (2:20, 27), who John identified later as the “Spirit of truth” (4:6). No matter how great “the one who is in the world” may be, the victory of the true believers is secure because the Holy Spirit is greater than the devil. The Spirit continues to illumine the apostolic teaching and help true believers discern false doctrine.

9. Where is the spirit of the antichrist from? (4:5)

John turned from this strong word of encouragement to a strong contrast. In verses 5-6, he explained that he difference between true prophets and false prophets is not just the doctrine they teach but the character of those who listen to them. Verse 5 describes the false prophets (“they”), and verse6 describes the apostolic teachers (“we”) before John made a concluding remark.

The false prophets and the true teachers differ in origin and content of their teaching, but one key to recognizing who they are is to identify the character of their audience. The people of the world – those not born of God – listen to the false prophets. They like to hear from them. However, those who know God, the true believers, listen to the apostolic message.

Originally, the doctrinal test was about content. Do you accept that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (v.2)? Now the doctrine is tested by Christians and rejected by non-Christians. The people of God will listen to the Word of God while the people of the world will not. True believers have the Holy Spirit to encourage and help them listen, while those of the world do not. “This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (v.6b).

10. From what viewpoint does the spirit of the antichrist speak? (4:5)

11. Who does and does not listen to those who are from God? (4:6)

12. How are the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood recognized? (4:6)

Get It

13. What spirits should we be testing today?

14. What false prophets are in the world today?

15. What segments of our society would you say are influenced or controlled by the spirit of the antichrist?

16. What is the significance of acknowledging that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh?

17. In what way have you overcome the world?

18. How does the truth that Christ is greater than the devil make you feel?

19. How can we reflect our confidence in Christ’s supremacy over the devil?

20. How would you distinguish between seeing from the world’s viewpoint and seeing from God’s viewpoint?

Apply It

21. What influences in your life (for example, books, movies, music, ideas, etc.) will you “put to the test” this week to see whether they are from God?

22. What false prophets do you need to guard yourself against this week?