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What does 1 John 4:1 mean?


Introduction. 1 John 4: 1 reads as follows: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." A number among the early Christians possessed miraculous gifts. There were nine gifts in all (1 Cor. 12: 7-11). The seventh gift enumerated was "discerning of spirits" (1 Cor. 12: 10). Those who possessed this gift could miraculously determine if one were teaching the truth and if they were of God. This gift was especially needed in the First Century in the absence of the compiled New Testament (see 1 Cor. 13: 8-10; Jas. 1: 25 as to the duration of these gifts). It appears many among those to whom John wrote possessed such spiritual assistance (cf. 1 John 2: 27). Of course, God's word enables us to try or test the teachers today.

Test the teachers by their teaching. If a teacher tells you that baptism is not for the remission of sin, you know he is not of God. You know this because God's word says baptism is for the remission of sin (Acts 2: 38, 22: 16). If preachers omit part of God's will, you can take the word of God and so determine that they are not of God (Acts 20: 20, 27: John 12: 48). Those who teach and preach are required to "speak as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4: 11).

Test the teachers by their life styles. Jesus warned of false prophets (Matt. 7: 15-20). They appear righteous (vs. 15). However, we can "know them by their fruits" (vs. 16). Their teaching and life reveal who they really are. Those of God teach the truth (God's word) and live it. Christians are not to receive those who do not bring the doctrine of Christ.(2 John 9-11).

There is not justification for our being misled today. We need to do as the Bereans who "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17: 11).

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