Testing The Spirits: Day 12
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” - 1st John 4:1-6
Do not believe every spirit. This statement alone may shake up many people’s theology. In this statement, John acknowledges that there are other spirits out in the world among us. Often we get so carried away in today’s age of science, practical reasoning, and modern philosophy, that we have lost touch to realize that there is a very real spiritual realm in existence. There are spirits at play. Now this is not to say that we should look at everything through a hyper-spiritual lens and blame everything on spirits. However, there is a real existence of a spiritual presence in this world. It is important to acknowledge this to not only protect ourselves but be equipped and ready when we encounter this spiritual battle. There are two fronts to this battle.
1. Worldly spiritual experiences. There is a rising trend in embracing spirituality in society. Activities such as yoga, new age practices, astrology, stones, and so on have promoted a modern sense of spirituality today. John warns us as believers, not to fall into every pit of spiritualism. Not every spirit is from God. This world will promote spiritual transcendent experiences but will deny Jesus; this is the spirit of the Antichrist. They will tell you that you are a spiritual being that comes from the energy around you. They will push experiences to pull away from the foundation of truth found in Christ. Too often many Christians chalk this stuff up to “fluff” and “fake mysticism.” However, for many these experiences can feel and appear real. Again this is where John warns, that not every spirit is from God.
2. Church-related spiritual experiences. Often we can enter situations that we can’t seem to explain or understand, it is important that in this we do not get caught up in the mystic nature of the experience. We must remain grounded in truth. Throughout all of scripture, we see the existence of a spiritual realm, spiritual battles, and spiritual experiences that transcend the likes of understanding. At our core, we are spiritual beings in a physical body. Yet, there have been many false prophets who have infiltrated the church and pushed for a transcendent spiritual experience over the message of the Gospel. Entire denominations are built chasing a feeling and experiential high rather than focusing on what God has made plain. To be clear, when we encounter a supernatural God, who is preeminent above all creation, whose very breath gave life to humanity, to call any such encounter practical would be absurd. There is a reality of spiritual experiences. However, not every spirit is of God. John lays out the roadmap. There is no Jesus+ gospel. Jesus came in the flesh, bore our sins and the punishment we deserved, and through his death, burial, and resurrection we are given new life. What we need is to remind ourselves daily of the gospel. We don’t NEED a crazy spiritual high experience. We NEED Jesus. Yet there are cases where God will bless us with experiences that we can not understand or explain, but we know that they stir our faith to pursue him at a greater depth. The point is not the experience, the point is the savior.
How can we guard ourselves against these false spirits? John lays out the roadmap to test the spirits. How do we do that? Through discernment. Discernment is forged in the fires of the studious pursuit of God’s word. Here is an easy checklist.
Confesses Jesus Christ
That Jesus Physically Came in the Flesh
That He is Truly the Son of God
That He Died and Rose to Life Again
We do not have to fear the spirits of this world, we need only guard ourselves by equipping discernment and walking as we are called.
