(1) Repeated words:
a. Spirit
v.1 do not believe every spirit
v.1-2 test the spirit to determine...the Spirit of God:
v.2-3 Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist
v.4b the one (Holy Spirit) who is in you is greater than the one who (spirit) is in the world
However, the frustrating thing is that even believers are from God and have the Spirit of God, but the world does not listen to us. Only the person who knows God listens to us. Therefore, do not measure the "success" of a church by the number of their attendances or how well received is their message.
v.6 By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
b. from God vs from the world
b. from God vs from the world
v.4a You are from God, ...and have conquered them
v.5 they are from the world, they speak from the world's perspective (the world listens to them)v.6a We are from God (the person who knows God listens to us)
v.6b Whoever is not from God does not listen to us.
(2) Main ideas:
What did the spirit of the false prophets look like? They may claim that the spirit inside of them gives them some insight and "revelation." They may even possess the power of doing miracles or healing. However, as long as they do not confess that Jesus is from God/Jesus is the Christ then they are not from God. Watch out for people who may use very similar terms as ours, but they do not necessarily belong to us.
From 3:24, believers have the Holy Spirit residing in us. However, the false prophets might say that they also have a "spirit" v.1 and when they spoke to the world the world listened to them v.5.
John can be sure they were the false prophets because they did not confess that (a) Jesus is the Christ (the Savior-King) (b) Jesus came in the flesh and (c) Jesus is from God v.2-3.
He told his audience (1) not to believe them v.1, (2) test them v.1, (3) that they had already conquered them and therefore, not be afraid of them. When did they conquer the false prophets? It is because the Holy Spirit Who resides in them is greater in authority than the spirits in the false teachers v.4, (4) Do not be discouraged when the believers see that the world do not listens to them v.5, the person who knows God will listen to the believers v.6 Actually the spirit in them is the spirit of the deceit or of Satan.
(3) [Optional] background information about false prophets
(NET) ...it appears highly probable that his concept of testing the spirits is drawn from the OT concept of testing a prophet to see whether he is a false prophet or a true one. The procedure for testing a prophet is found in Deut 13:2–6 and 18:15–22. An OT prophet was to be tested on the basis of (a) whether or not his predictive prophecies came true (Deut 18:22) and (b) whether or not he advocated idolatry (Deut 13:1–3). In the latter case the people of Israel are warned that even if the prophet should perform an authenticating sign or wonder, his truth or falsity is still to be judged on the basis of his claims, that is, whether or not he advocates idolatry. Here in 1 John the idea of “testing the spirits” comes closer to the second OT example of “testing the prophets” mentioned above. According to 1 John 4:2–3, the spirits are to be tested on the basis of their christological confession: The person motivated by the Spirit of God will confess Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh, while the person motivated by the spirit of deceit will not confess Jesus and is therefore not from God. This comes close to the idea expressed by Paul in 1 Cor 12:3 where the person speaking charismatic utterances is also to be judged on the basis of his christological confession: “So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is cursed,’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
(4) Reflection:What did the spirit of the false prophets look like? They may claim that the spirit inside of them gives them some insight and "revelation." They may even possess the power of doing miracles or healing. However, as long as they do not confess that Jesus is from God/Jesus is the Christ then they are not from God. Watch out for people who may use very similar terms as ours, but they do not necessarily belong to us.
However, the frustrating thing is that even believers are from God and have the Spirit of God, but the world does not listen to us. Only the person who knows God listens to us. Therefore, do not measure the "success" of a church by the number of their attendances or how well received is their message.
Finally, because the spirit of the antichrist is the spirit of deceit. People like to listen to them. Do not be frustrated when you share the true Gospel and people turn away from you.
Audrey
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