The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 15

 

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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and 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. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We 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. (1 John 4:1–6 ESV).

 

It cannot be denied that there are many false teachers in our culture. Many “churches” exist that are led by deceptive but convincing individuals whose knowledge of sound doctrine and biblical truth is at best dubious and often even dangerous. Add to that our tendency toward extreme emphasis on tolerance and pluralism that anyone who takes a stand against false teaching is labeled “bigoted” and “judgmental” and you may see the crisis as dangerous as I believe it to be. This shouldn’t be a great surprise, because the Adversary fuels its fire. Paul clearly warned that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Therefore, it’s easy to see how up-to-date John’s command is today: “… test the spirits” (v. 1).

 

Our reading today addresses the vital necessity of spiritual discernment, instructing believers to evaluate the source behind any spiritual teaching. During the late first century, proto-Gnostic false prophets were spreading the heresy that Jesus did not actually possess a physical, human body. While few would adhere to that heresy today, the principles John details in this passage is very important. There are three core components that will help us distinguish between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

 

The first is the mandate to discern. The apostle says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits..." (v. 1). Believers are commanded not to be spiritually gullible or easily swayed by supernatural displays or charismatic speakers. He goes on: "...because many false prophets have gone out into the world." The presence of deceptive teachers is not a rare exception but a widespread, ongoing reality that requires constant vigilance. In our world we tend to believe success is the test of truth. The bigger the church, the larger the membership, the more compelling the message must be a sign that this is of God. Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

Second, he gives us the Christological test, which is the Mark of God: "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God" (vv. 2-3).  A true, Holy Spirit-led teacher acknowledges both the full deity and the full, physical humanity of Jesus Christ. This is the mark of the antichrist: "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist..." Any doctrine that denies, alters, or diminishes the true nature, incarnation, and sufficient work of Jesus Christ stems from demonic deception, an opposing force already active in the world. Often this denial of the nature of Christ is subtle. We should look at who is the one being glorified. If it is the individual speaking, then it is not of God.

 

Third, John points to sovereign assurance: "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (vv. 4-6). Believers do not need to fear deception or spiritual warfare. The indwelling Holy Spirit provides the power and clarity to withstand and conquer worldly lies. We should take care to recognize two different audiences. There are those driven by worldly values who speak from a worldly perspective, and the secular culture embraces them ("therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them"); and, conversely, genuine believers align themselves with the foundational, apostolic teaching of Scripture ("he who knows God listens to us").

 

Take care in this world of ours that you discern the spirits! Measure everything by the truth of the Scripture!

 

The Beloved Disciple's First Epistle - Pt 4

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (1 John 3:19–24 ESV).

 

I have worked with so many people over the years who expressed doubt about their relationship to God because of shame and guilt. I have often used a quick illustration to introduce the immense grace God shows through the death of Jesus. When someone begins to tell me their story of sin and failure I typically listen intently without interruption and when they are finished, I set my hands on the table between us palms up and ask, “What do you see?” Almost always I am met with a blank look and some response like, “Your hands.” Occasionally, I will be met with and adjective of “old” before they say “hands,” though that response is nearly universal. I then say, “Perhaps I wasn’t exactly clear. Let me ask the question another way. What do you not see?” They still stutter and stammer a bit and usually surrender with an “I don’t know what you’re asking.” It is then that I am able to say, “Well, there are no nail-prints.” From there I am able to refocus their thoughts on the grace and wisdom of our heavenly Father who is the only One qualified to judge; and, He has already placed all of His judgement and wrath on His only begotten Son which is conveyed to us in forgiveness and restoration.  

 

This is what the Apostle John is writing in our reading today. He provides all believers with profound reassurance of their salvation and relationship with God when they struggle with self-doubt and guilt. He notes that if our hearts condemn us, "God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." (v. 20). When personal failures or heavy emotions make people feel unworthy, God's objective grace and omniscience offer a higher, forgiving truth.

 

John goes further and explains that a clear conscience allows us to approach God boldly and receive answers to their prayers. It teaches that spiritual security rests on God's unchanging character rather than fluctuating human feelings or lingering guilt. Of course there may be consequences of our sin that remain, but guilt and shame are not a part of that. The task of forgiving ourselves and moving forward in our journey, growing ever stronger in His presence, which allows us to walk as overcomers, resisting sin and glorifying the work of our Savior!

 

Perhaps it is time for you to lay the burden of guilt and shame at the Cross and reestablish your walk in Him! 

The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 13

 

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:11–15 ESV).

 

As I have mentioned before, one of my most vivid memories my first year at Texas A&M was entering the Memorial Student Center for the first time and seeing a bronze plaque just inside the door quoting John 15:12-13: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” As the building has been expanded with the growth of the university and its student population that plaque has been fixed to a granite memorial just outside the entrance (pictured here). You may glimpse the list of names beneath the plaque of the many who have served in the military and were students of Texas A&M with the dates of their death in defense of our freedom. It was a powerful reminder of the sacrifice that love often calls for.

 

The Apostle John is calling the believers in Ephesus to make such a sacrifice in the face of severe opposition and prejudice, He reminds us that is a choice, and yes, even a command, to express the love that we receive from our Lord. It is a choice to show others that we love in all circumstances. It is the choice to let our Lord live in and through us. This choice is empathy, seeking the best for all of the “one-anothers”. This choice to love is perhaps one of the main reasons that we have difficulty with the priorities that we have seen earlier in the epistle.

 

Of course, we mustn’t confuse loving one another with pleasing one another. This ‘loving one another’ is actually doing and being God’s will for one another. Since God lives in us, He expresses through us what is needed for others. We express to others the will and love of God for them. This would clearly include ‘tough love’ and would include saying ‘no’ as well as correction and expressing priorities.

 

This love also needs to start close to home and extend outward. It needs to start with the people we see daily. Our family, our neighbors, the barista, the grocer. We can express this far away, in generosity toward the various agencies and organizations that are serving God around the world. But the Lord was clear when he said to love our neighbor, it starts close to home.

 

How is your “love-life”?

 

The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 12

 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1–3 ESV).

 

The Apostle John transitions a bit as he comes to the subject of our reading today. Here he focuses on the profound depth of God's love, the present and future reality of being children of God, and the transformational hope that leads to personal purity. Understanding the original language is particularly revealing here as it adds vivid layers of meaning to what has often been call “lavished love and divine adoption.”

 

The apostle begins by instructing his readers to see “what kind” of love God has given. The Greek word translated here is ποταπός (potapos). It carries the sense of a startled question or exclamation: “What sort?”, “What manner?”, “How great?” Its use highlights something so extraordinary that the observer is driven to pause, ponder, and respond. He is prompting his readers to go from mere familiarity to reverent wonder. He is directing them to see the otherworldly, extraordinary love of God toward them.

 

This is the same love He has shown to all believers of whatever generation or nationality. Look how he emphatically affirms, "And that is what we are!" Believers do not have to wait until heaven to be adopted; they are full status family members right now. And there is more. John writes of the final glorification and beatific vision: Beloved, “… we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared” (v. 2). The "not yet" is significant. While believers are truly God's children today, their ultimate, fully realized state is still hidden and unmanifested.

 

This beatific vision is the catalyst for our ultimate spiritual transformation to be found in sight. Looking upon Christ perfectly ("we shall see him as he is") acts as a mirror that instantly and permanently conforms believers into His exact moral likeness. This brings us to a hope that is never passive complacency. This is the hope that strengthens us to stand firm in every circumstance merely smiling at the storm surrounding us because those circumstances are nothing compared to what God has already given us! Jake Remington first said: "Fate whispers to the warrior, 'You cannot withstand the storm.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.' " And so we are!

The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 11

 

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (1 John 2:18–25 ESV).

 

Today we come to the last verse in this paragraph: And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life (v. 25). This verse is a core declaration from the Apostle John regarding the certainty of salvation and the eternal security given to believers through Jesus Christ. John urges believers to let what they heard from the beginning (the true gospel message about Jesus) remain in them. Doing so keeps them in fellowship with both the Son and the Father. Remember that John wrote to early Christian communities in Asia Minor to counter false teachers and antichrists who tried to introduce spiritual systems based on human works or deny the true identity of Christ. That makes this truth even more consequential in our lives. John is presenting eternal life as a guaranteed gift tied to abiding in the foundational truth of Christ. It offers steadfast assurance rather than anxiety, contrasting the temporary nature of the world with the unchanging, faithful nature of God.

 

Life passes more quickly than we expect. Birthdays come and go. Children grow up. Hair turns gray. Cemeteries quietly remind us that every life on earth has an appointment with eternity. Most people spend their lives preparing for retirement, careers, or tomorrow—but very few prepare for forever. Whether we are young or old, healthy or frail, the question is not if eternity is coming but where will we spend it.

 

I would remind you that eternal life is not merely about duration. It cannot be measured quantitatively; rather, we must understand it qualitatively. It is about our relationship with Christ. Imagine receiving the title deed to an eternal inheritance. You may not be living in the house yet, but the ownership is already secured. In the same way, believers have not yet entered heaven, but God’s promise guarantees what is already theirs in Christ. Eternity is not wishful thinking — it is a settled promise. Scripture repeatedly confirms this glorious hope. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus declared, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). Eternal life is not earned by good works — it is received by grace through faith in Christ alone.

 

Many people tragically live as though this world is all there is. Jesus said, “… In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20). Don’t build your entire future on a world Christ has already defeated. Earth is temporary. Heaven is eternity.

 

I can honestly echo the words of the Apostle Paul: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 ESV). Can you echo those words?

 

 

The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 10

 

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (1 John 2:18–25 ESV).

 

As we have seen in earlier devotionals, the false teachers who were troubling the original audience of John’s epistle were probably proto-Gnostics. That is to say, the things they taught had much in common with the teachings of Gnostics, even though their false teaching did not flourish until the second century. Gnosticism, we have noted, viewed salvation primarily as an acquisition of secret knowledge. However, this knowledge was only available to a select few. It was a so-called “higher” knowledge the ordinary person could not acquire.

 

Though John’s audience was able to resist these teachers to the point that they were forced to leave the community (1 John 2:19), these claims of special knowledge caused many of the truly faithful to doubt the reality of their redemption. That is why, in today’s passage, John reminds his audience again that they have true faith. We read in verses 20–21 that unlike the false teachers, John’s audience had been anointed by the Holy One and did know the truth.

 

It is a fatal flaw of many denominations when they seek to “add” actions or deeds to the work of Christ in the redemption of an individual. And, we all know there is some of that in all of us as individuals. We can’t believe that we could possess such an incredible gift without paying for it in some way. However, John assures his audience (v. 20) that they all have been anointed by the Holy One. That is to say, all of them have received the outpouring of the Spirit. The false teachers claimed to possess a “higher truth,” but this “truth” denied the elementary truths of incarnation, love, and personal righteousness, revealing they were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But those in John’s faithful audience did not deny these truths — truths that are available to all who will believe them — revealing they had the Spirit and thus true faith. There is nothing else that must be done to have eternal life. Jesus has done it all!

 

The Beloved Disciple's First Letter - Pt 9

 

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (1 John 2:18–25 ESV).

 

As I wrote in yesterday’s devotional, there are several principles the apostle uses in our reading for these days. We looked at his meaning for this being the last hour and “antichrist coming” yesterday. Today the key passage is on “the perseverance of the saints”, or true versus false faith, and the spiritual anointing of believers. This is a key principle for those who hold to a more reformed view of Scripture and practice. Here John states that false teachers ("antichrists") "went out from us, but they were not of us". While these individuals were visibly part of the visible church community, they never possessed true, regenerating union with Christ. He explains that if they had truly belonged to the body of believers, "they would have continued with us". Their eventual departure and apostasy (falling away from the faith) serves to make it plain that they did not possess genuine saving faith.

 

It is a basis to support the doctrine of eternal security—true believers will never finally fall away, and those who permanently abandon Christ demonstrate that their inward nature was never truly transformed. In the surrounding context, proto-Gnostic false teachers claimed a "higher" or secret knowledge available only to an elite few. This notion is countered by declaring that ordinary believers have "an anointing from the Holy One," meaning the indwelling Holy Spirit. Because of this divine anointing, all true Christians possess a fundamental understanding of the truth of God and do not need to rely on worldly or false teachers for secret spiritual insights

 

It is always a quandary when we observe people who appear to be believers but then walk away from the faith. Since Scripture teaches that all who truly believe in Christ are justified and will never fall away finally so as to be cut off from salvation (cf. Romans 8:29–30). Many of you may have known or will know someone who appeared to be a genuine believer but then renounced Christ. This “falling away” from the Christian faith is known as apostasy, and there are examples of this reality throughout church history. Even the Apostles had to deal with individuals who abandoned their profession of faith. We can think, for example, of Hymenaeus and Alexander, two men who made shipwreck of their faith during Paul's ministry (cf. 1 Timothy 1:18–20). Certainly, these examples prove that it is possible to renounce one's profession of faith. But do they demonstrate that Christians who actually possess faith can commit final apostasy? We should consider two important matters that will help us answer this question.

 

First, we must consider whether the falling away that we see is actually final. After all, Scripture gives us examples of people who fell from grace only later to repent and return to a life of discipleship. Just think of the Apostle Peter, who denied Christ and then was later restored (John 18:15–27; 21:15–19). If early church tradition is correct, he even was martyred for his faith under Emperor Nero. King David, similarly, had a great fall into adultery and murder, but he later repented and was forgiven (cf. 2 Samuel 11:1–12:15a). In both cases, the man who fell was ultimately restored to a right relationship with God and His people.

 

Second, we need to understand the difference between professing faith and possessing faith. Remember that many people claim the name of Christ without ever actually having the gift of faith in Jesus for salvation (v. 19). They were never one of us; that is, they never possessed living faith in the Savior. Only God can see the heart, so we should not be surprised that some people can make a good show of faith without truly believing in the name of Christ. Not all who profess faith in Christ really believe in Him, and those who fully fall away never had true faith.

 

As creatures, our view of others is limited. We can only evaluate outward appearances. Thus, when someone seems to fall away, all we can surmise is that the faith we thought we saw was likely an illusion. Yet even here we must not assume that a fall from grace is final. There is always the chance for repentance and restoration up until the point of death. Thus, we should pray for people who seem to have fallen away, asking God to grant them repentant hearts. It is never just a matter of what we do or don’t do; it is a matter of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person. That is where true, eternal faith begins. It is always a work of God, not man (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).

 

If you are struggling with doubt or guilt, please understand that is a good sign that the Holy Spirit is calling you to life through faith. Repent and keep walking in the path He leads you!