A second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. We looked on as John revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community in true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are taught by others.

As followers of Jesus, we are not just to gullibly trust everyone who claims to be speaking for God. Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God, as followers of Jesus, we are to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they are genuinely speaking on behalf of God.

We looked on as John provided the first of two different tests that the readers of his letter throughout history were to employ to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they were genuinely speaking on behalf of God. John explained that a person can arrive at the knowledge, that someone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is actually speaking on behalf of God by the content of their message.

As followers of Jesus, we are to ask "Does the content of the message being taught proclaim and pledge allegiance to Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?"  Or "Does content of the message being taught deny and reject Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?"

 But not only does the content of the message being taught provide a timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We see John provide a second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. So let’s discover that test together, beginning in 1 John 4:4-6:

 ⁴ 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. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Now to fully understand what John is communicating in these verses, we first need to define some terms. First, when John uses the word overcome, this word conveys the sense of an action that has ongoing results. John was pointing the members of the church at Ephesus to the reality that, as followers of Jesus, their identity is that of one who has the victory over the spirit of those who oppose Jesus and that influence the words of the false prophets and their attempt to keep them from the relationship that they were created for with Jesus Christ.

In addition, when John uses the phrase “because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: greater is the Holy Spirit who is in you than the spirit of rebellion and opposition to God and His kingdom that influence and empower the false prophets who place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God". John’s point is that the victory over the spirit of those who oppose Jesus and that influence the words of the false prophets that they have achieved is the direct result of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. John’s point is that it is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that enabled the members of the church at Ephesus to overcome the influence of the false teachers and their attempts to influence them to abandon the message and teaching of Jesus to instead embrace their false teaching.

John then continued to expose the false teachers in verse 5 by explaining that they are from the world. As we discovered earlier in this series, when John refers to the word world here, he is referring to those things in the world system around us that are hostile to God and that place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God. And because they are a part of the world system around us that is hostile to God and places themselves in opposition to God, John explained that they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. John’s point is that as these false teachers, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of God, spoke a message that was in opposition to God, those in the world who were also in opposition to God would pay attention to their message and would embrace their message.

By contrast, John explained in verse 6 that he and other leaders of the early church who were communicating the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel were from God. And as John and other early followers of Jesus communicated the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, those who were influenced by the Spirit of God would pay attention to their message and embrace the message. However, those who were in opposition to God would not pay attention or embrace the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

By this, John explained, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. In other words, the truth of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that was being communicated by John and early followers of Jesus who were influenced by the Holy Spirit would be received and embraced by those who were also influenced by the Holy Spirit. However, the false teaching that was being communicated by the false teachers who claimed to be speaking for God but were in fact influenced by spiritual beings who were opposed to God would be received and embraced by those who embraced the same spirit of rebellion and opposition to God and the kingdom of God.

And here we see John reveal a second timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. And that test is this: What is the response that the message that we are being taught requires?

Is the response to the message being taught a response that proclaims and pledges allegiance to Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?  Or is the response to the message being taught a response that denies and rejects Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?

Because the timeless reality is that true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are taught by others. True community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test the content of the message that we are being are taught by others. And true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test the response the message that we are being are taught by others requires.

True community and connection with God is not a passive endeavor that is driven by a desire to be entertained. True community and connection with God is an active endeavor that is driven by a desire to become like Jesus as we actively engage in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: Are you gullibly trusting everything that you are being taught by others?  Or are you putting to the test what you are being taught by others?  Because that is what true community and connection with God requires of you...