Test Them

Dear friends, do not believe everyone
who claims to speak by the Spirit.
You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.
For there are many false prophets in the world. I John 4:1

This verse makes it clear that there is falseness, deception, in the world. That deception is of a spiritual nature. And the deception takes the form of someone who appears to speak in conformance with God’s will. We would not be deceived by something that is obviously evil. The evil hides behind an apparent good or truth, and so we are deceived.

So how should we learn to know the false from the truthful? God tells us to “…test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God”. God would not give us instructions and not give us the tools to obey, so we do have the means to test false spirits. Deception that is secular (fleshly) in nature can be perceived by secular (fleshly) means. But deception that is spiritual can only be perceived by spiritual means.

Many false prophets and teachers are in the world, and many people believe and follow them. Just because someone has followers does not make them Truthful.

These people belong to this world,
so they speak from the world's viewpoint,
and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:5

How do we know if a new teacher “passes the spiritual test”? The True Teacher or Pastor will preach Christ. And spirit knows spirit. The spirit of God within the Christian believer teaches us the truth if we ask of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. I Cor 2:12