1 John 4: A True or False Test

Who likes tests? I bet a few of you do. As much as people, especially students, hate to take tests, tests serve an important role. Tests reveal how much a person knows or how much a person has learned. Tests can also reveal a lot about a person, like the person’s identity. In 1 John 4, John poses a test. But this test isn’t just for people, it’s also for spirits.

Let’s set the scene and remember the context. The church in Ephesus (and possibly other churches in Asia Minor) was plagued with false prophets. Some of these false prophets might have even been former church members. They were claiming to be full of the Holy Spirit and to be bringing the good news, but their gospel message was much different from the one all the other apostles were presenting. Some of them were denying the deity of Jesus, while others were denying the humanity of Jesus. Some of them were teaching that sin didn’t matter to God, while others were preaching that loving fellowship is not needed. This left Christians in Ephesus very confused on who to listen to.

John knew the first step was to distinguish between a true apostle and a false apostle, a true teacher and a false teacher. Remember how John said 1 John 3 that children of God are of God, but children of the world are of the Devil? John wants the reader to apply that same principle to teachers and apostles. The true teachers are the ones who have the Holy Spirit. The false teachers do not have the Holy Spirit, but have the Devil. So the key is to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and the Devil, for that will reveal if the teacher is true or false. John gives an easy test that will hit home to the problem at hand. John declares that anyone who acknowledges Jesus is the Christ in the flesh is from God. Those who cannot acknowledge Jesus is the Christ cannot be from God, but rather from the Devil. Instantly, John declares anyone who denies the humanity of Jesus cannot be a true teacher. That person must be a false teacher. Well what about those who deny the deity of Jesus? Actually, John’s statement cuts down those people as well. A lot of Jewish tradition in the first century said that the Messiah, or the Christ, would have some kind of divine origin. John uses that tradition to display the truth that if Jesus is the Christ, then Jesus is God. So John finds it essential that every believer must acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, for it also acknowledges Jesus is God. If a person cannot acknowledge Jesus is God, the person is not a true believer and is not to be listened to.

It’s a simple as this. The Holy Spirit is God. God cannot tell a lie, for all God speaks happens. So God will always tell the truth. Since the Holy Spirit is God, the Holy Spirit will always speak the truth. And the truth is that Jesus is the Christ, both human and God. So anyone who declares that as truth, they must be speaking from the Holy Spirit, and thus, they are of God. Satan is the father of lies, and all he can speak is lies (see John 8:44). Therefore, since Jesus is God and man, Satan will never confess that. Satan will always deny that Jesus is God, that Jesus is human, or both. Thus, anyone who also says the same thing is speaking the same language as Satan. In 1 John 4:3, John calls this “the spirit of the antichrist.” Yes, anyone who makes false claims denying Jesus his deity or humanity is the opposite of Jesus, and just as bad as the Antichrist.

John gives an example in 1 John 4:4-6, and what better example than the audience themselves. Look carefully at 1 John 4:4-6. Notice John’s careful use of voice in the pronouns. Every time he speaks those of God, he uses the pronoun “we.” Every time he talks about those of the world, he uses the pronoun “they.” John displays a sharp contrast between the Christians and the people of the world. John makes it clear that because the rest of the world speaks differently than the Christians, it doesn’t make the world right and the Christians wrong. Truth is not a democracy. Something isn’t right because a majority of people says it’s right. True truth comes from God, and that truth will always be true, even if it’s the minority. In fact, John says that holding on to the true truth will help the Christian overcome the world, even if that truth is the minority in comparison to the truth of the world.

Doesn’t this sound like a plague the 21^st century church deals with a lot? In the early 1800s, a doctrine known as “utilitarianism” arose. The philosophy of utilitarianism believed that what is moral, what is right and what is true is whatever brings about the greatest overall happiness and approval within the community, both the local community and global community. Thus, something “immoral” could technically become “right” if anyone in the community would approve and be happy with the results. I do sometimes think that a lot of truths in the Bible have come under fire because they do not make most of the world happy. It’s like the world is saying, “If it was your Bible, Christians, everyone would be of accepting of (issue)” (homosexuality, for example). Don’t worry, John warns us his Gospel and his Epistles that the world will act that way. The real crime is what the liberal Christians the liberal churches do. Not wanting to be unpopular, unliked, or the odd man out, they have compromised their faith and agreed with the world. Do you not know, liberal churches, that you have sided with the Devil? The world is going to speak differently because they are not of God, but of the Devil, who is the price of the world. Thus, to agree with the world is to agree with the Devil and to disagree with God, or to side with the Devil and to be against God. Liberal churches, you are not doing the rest of greater, universal church a favor. You have made the truth, and the churches who hold to the truth, look like biased bigots, while in reality, you are lying to the world to fit into the world. I beg you, liberal churches, listen to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, and come over to the truth. Then you can be united with your fellow Christian brethren, and together, we can be a light to the world. (Before I move on, let me say that utilitarianism within itself is not bad or evil. In fact, utilitarianism can be an apologetic for God’s Laws. It’s when utilitarianism conflicts with God and His Laws that it becomes an evil.)

John provides another test in 1 John 4 to see if a person or a spirit is really from God or from the Devil. That test is love. John simply states, “God is love.” He says in 4:8 and 4:16. In Greek, “God is love” is an equitive sentence, meaning that John is saying they are equal. God = love. John provides proof God is love in 1 John 4:9,10. God loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus down to earth. Now remember in heaven Jesus is king and everyone and everything in heaven worships and adores Him. Yet He willingly left His throne in heaven to come down earth, a place that hated Him, abused Him and mistreated Him. But that’s not all. Jesus would go to the cross and died a slow, painful, agonizing death in order to pay for our sins. Now that’s love. John’s proof also serves as John’s example. Therefore, just as Jesus demonstrated God’s love, than if we, as Christians, truly have the Holy Spirit within us, we are also to love. John means this so much that if a Christian cannot love another person, (s)he is not really a Christian, but rather a child of the world. Those who cannot love do not know God, but those who do love have God the Holy Spirit living within them.

There you have. There’s the two tests. The first test is that a true Christian will confess Jesus is God, man and Christ. The second test is that a true Christian will love other people. If (s)he does both, (s)he is a Christian. If (s)he cannot, (s)he is of the world, and of the Devil.