Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
Hereby is the knowing of the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. This confession is the test for discerning whether a spirit is from God amid deceptive spirits and false prophets. The reverse is also true, for a spirit that does not confess Christ is not of God but is of antichrist and of error. This distinguishes the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, because many false prophets have gone out into the world and that spirit is already in the world in the perils of the last days.
In John's time the church was full of peril from satanic delusions, misrepresentation and falsehood, skepticism, deceptive doctrines, dissensions and heresies. That condition required faithful and earnest testimony for Christ on every suitable occasion. The confession means upholding the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells and in whom believers are complete, with Christ in them as the hope of glory. Magnifying Christ and His incarnation is the great theme of the gospel.
The confession means confessing that He has come in our flesh. Taking hold of His death by faith for salvation brings a new beginning in which the past life is as though it had not been. Laying aside own sins to live to the glory of God by walking with Him, the believer is made free in receiving Him and sins no more through understanding His sufficiency as He reveals Himself in the heart. The confession is revealed in character and life, not in mere words, and denial in teaching or in life proves a false spirit. Only the light of the Word shining from the converted soul in good works constitutes discipleship and, reflected from followers' lives, can save souls, while false spirits are proved by bringing damnable heresies and living in transgression of the divine law.
The verse unmasks emissaries opposing the doctrines of Christ. Those are such as profess Christ yet claim His love releases them from obedience to the law of God, such as teach that Jewish customs and ceremonies must be observed and that mere law-keeping without faith in Christ's blood suffices for salvation, such as hold that Christ was a good man but deny His divinity, and such as pretend to be true while living in transgression, in practice denying Christ and His gospel and bringing heresies that lead many into skepticism and delusion. The verse gives one of the divinely appointed tests of anyone claiming the gift of prophecy, so affirming the incarnation shows the Spirit of God while rejecting it shows a false prophet, and acceptance or rejection of this vital truth decides a prophetic claim.
The verse exposes spiritualist messages and false teachings, which must be judged by God's word rather than accepted as messages from the dead. It applies to skepticism and infidelity that deny Christ's divinity and reject divine truth from pride and love of sin. It applies also to false prophets through whom the antichrist works to seduce believers by spiritualistic suppositions and fables clothed in garments of truth, presenting captivating ideas to minds not established in present truth and spreading worldly sentiments and false representations of God. Protection comes by watching unto prayer in constant dependence on God, with Christ formed in the heart to enlighten, sanctify and strengthen. Safety is by holding the apostles' teaching as the standard that those who know God hear and that must not be set aside, while those striving lawfully need the grace God gives for every victory, and rescuing souls that helped Dr. Kellogg to stand where he now stands requires the power of a living Christ to go with the work and the speaking of John's test.
Hereby is the knowing of the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. This confession is the test for discerning whether a spirit is from God amid deceptive spirits and false prophets. The reverse is also true, for a spirit that does not confess Christ is not of God but is of antichrist and of error. This distinguishes the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, because many false prophets have gone out into the world and that spirit is already in the world in the perils of the last days.
In John's time the church was full of peril from satanic delusions, misrepresentation and falsehood, skepticism, deceptive doctrines, dissensions and heresies. That condition required faithful and earnest testimony for Christ on every suitable occasion. The confession means upholding the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells and in whom believers are complete, with Christ in them as the hope of glory. Magnifying Christ and His incarnation is the great theme of the gospel.
The confession means confessing that He has come in our flesh. Taking hold of His death by faith for salvation brings a new beginning in which the past life is as though it had not been. Laying aside own sins to live to the glory of God by walking with Him, the believer is made free in receiving Him and sins no more through understanding His sufficiency as He reveals Himself in the heart. The confession is revealed in character and life, not in mere words, and denial in teaching or in life proves a false spirit. Only the light of the Word shining from the converted soul in good works constitutes discipleship and, reflected from followers' lives, can save souls, while false spirits are proved by bringing damnable heresies and living in transgression of the divine law.
The verse unmasks emissaries opposing the doctrines of Christ. Those are such as profess Christ yet claim His love releases them from obedience to the law of God, such as teach that Jewish customs and ceremonies must be observed and that mere law-keeping without faith in Christ's blood suffices for salvation, such as hold that Christ was a good man but deny His divinity, and such as pretend to be true while living in transgression, in practice denying Christ and His gospel and bringing heresies that lead many into skepticism and delusion. The verse gives one of the divinely appointed tests of anyone claiming the gift of prophecy, so affirming the incarnation shows the Spirit of God while rejecting it shows a false prophet, and acceptance or rejection of this vital truth decides a prophetic claim.
The verse exposes spiritualist messages and false teachings, which must be judged by God's word rather than accepted as messages from the dead. It applies to skepticism and infidelity that deny Christ's divinity and reject divine truth from pride and love of sin. It applies also to false prophets through whom the antichrist works to seduce believers by spiritualistic suppositions and fables clothed in garments of truth, presenting captivating ideas to minds not established in present truth and spreading worldly sentiments and false representations of God. Protection comes by watching unto prayer in constant dependence on God, with Christ formed in the heart to enlighten, sanctify and strengthen. Safety is by holding the apostles' teaching as the standard that those who know God hear and that must not be set aside, while those striving lawfully need the grace God gives for every victory, and rescuing souls that helped Dr. Kellogg to stand where he now stands requires the power of a living Christ to go with the work and the speaking of John's test.