1 John 4:2: By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
For those of you who are either in school or can remember your school days, your anxiety level likely goes up when you hear the teacher inform you there’s a test coming. The purpose of a test is to gauge your level of understanding of the topic to which you’re being tested. In other words, a test is designed to answer the question, “Do I really know what I’m learning?”
If you believe in a spirit world – something beyond what you can see or touch, you should realize that just as there are good and bad things in the physical world, so there are good and bad things in the spirit world. The challenge for most of us is trying to know what is truly good and what is bad. Sometimes, things that are bad are disguised as good, and you find out the hard way through painful experiences the truth of good vs. bad. If there was only a way to test the truth of something. If there was only a test you could administer to know for sure whether something is good or bad.
One of the things that I love about God’s Word is He realizes how simple I am. As I get into my older years, I’m finding a greater appreciation for the uncomplicated – for straightforwardness. In today’s verse, the Apostle John provides a wonderful tool to help us determine the goodness of the spirit world. This is a one question test, and it has only one answer. The question to ask the person who is “spiritual” is does he/she believe that Jesus Christ is of God and came in the flesh? A simple question demands a simple answer, so if the answer is simply “yes”, then you are dealing with someone who should be operating in the same belief and value system as you are.
However, if there answer is either “no”, or “yes, but…..”, then you are dealing with the spirit of Antichrist. This spirit is one of denial of the God of the Bible. How is the believer in and follower of Jesus Christ to respond to those who don’t pass the test? Are you to condemn them and walk away? No, earlier in John’s first epistle, he implored you, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11) Just as a teacher should seek to further educate those who don’t get the answers right to their tests, so must you be willing to “educate”, or witness, the love of God to those who fail this simple spiritual test.
What that educating looks like to you will be based on the gifts God has given you via the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you have the gift of kindness, so your acts of kindness in a world that is so void of such a thing may be the light that shines in this person’s darkness? Maybe your strong knowledge of God’s Word might help teach them the truth? Whatever that method is you use, the motivation behind it should be love. Your flesh might be offended by and seek to condemn the spirit of Antichrist, but you must remember your Lord’s directive to love others. A few verses later in this chapter, you’ll be reminded that you love Him because He first loved you. (1 John 4:19)
Prior to your faith in Christ, you were once walking in the spirit of Antichrist. You must challenge yourself to live in a manner that every other person you know and encounter is entitled to the same grace you received. If you have passed this simple spiritual test, then the true proof of your understanding of the answer will be evident in how you love others. Just like the tests in school, this test should answer the question, “Do I really know Who I am learning?”