Requirement to test all things.
1 John 4:1-8 (NKJV)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because 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 of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world.
Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In the scripture above we are given a strategy through which believers can learn how to discern between the genuine work of the Spirit and the false prophets’ counterfeit ministries.
Here are some of the questions that believers can ask to test the validity of a message
- Does the work exalt the true Christ?
- Does it oppose wordiness?
- Does it point to scripture?
- Does it elevate the truth?
- Does it produce love for God & others?
In this blog, we hope to encourage believers to evaluate some of the erroneous teachings that are probably found within their church and which may have an impact on their spiritual walk with God.