The subject of 1 Jn 4:1-6 is “try the spirits”.  John exhorts us to believe not every spirit, v.1.  There are four main spirits.  The spirit of man, 1 Cor 2:11.  The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 2:11, 14.  The spirit of the world, 1 Cor 2:12, Col 2:8.  The spirit of the devil, Acts 5:3; Mk 5:8-13.  One of these four will come forth when a person speaks.

To discern which they are, you must try the spirits whether “they” (whoever is speaking) are of God.  To try is to put “them” to the test.  Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  

 This is going to be really important leading up to the return of Jesus, before the Rapture and before the second coming.

Matt 24:4 says, “Take heed that no man deceive you”.  Matt 24:11 says that many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  Matt 24:24 says that there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders.  

According to Matt 7:15-20, you discern false prophets by their fruits.  In Matt 7:21-23 the Lord said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord… many will say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?… I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”.  The wonderful works they will be doing are works of iniquity because they are from the wrong spirit.

There are three contrasts in this passage.  The Spirit of God, v.2 and the spirit of antichrist, v.3.  Those who are of God, v.4, and those who are of the world, v.5.  The spirit of truth, v.6, and the spirit of error, v.6.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God.  Every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.  This is not just a confession that a man named Jesus Christ was born.  This is a confession that God himself was manifest in the flesh, Jn 1:1, 14; 1 Tim 3:16.  It’s interesting that modern Bibles change “God” in 1 Tim 3:16 to “he” or “who”, and they take out 1 Jn 5:7 completely.  What spirit are they of?  Not the Spirit of God.  This is why Gail Riplinger concluded that the translators were influenced by Satan.

All religions that use the name of Jesus change this confession. 

The LDS says, “We believe Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten Son in the flesh”.  The LDS says they believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus so that all humanity could be resurrected.  Yet, Mormons do not believe in the Trinity.  They believe that Jesus was the firstborn of God and his wife, and that he is the elder brother of all humanity.  He was a man who became God through his sinlessness.  This is not the confession of 1 Jn 4:2.  This is clever deceit.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is the son of God but not part of a Trinity.  He was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed. So, Jesus is a lesser created God.  They do not believe that he is God manifest in the flesh.  This is not the confession of v.2.

Islam professes that Jesus is a prophet only, a great messenger of Allah.  But they do not believe that he is divine, that he is God manifest in the flesh.  They do not believe that he is the Son of God.  

So this spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.  It is the spirit of antichrist.  And it is already in the world.

“In the world”, v.3, there are those who are of God and those of the world.  He that is of God, Jn 8:47, heareth God’s words.  John wrote, Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.  Paul agrees, Rom 8:37-39.  

Those of the world, Jn 12:31, are under the influence of the prince of this world.  In 2 Cor 4:4 the god of this world is the devil.  In Eph 2:2 the course of this world is contrary to God.  That’s why, in 1 Jn 2:15, we are to love not the world.  If a person loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  And Jesus clearly taught his disciples in Jn 15:18-19 that “ye are not of the world”.  We talk like God; they talk like the world.

The Spirit of truth is Holy Spirit..  He is called the spirit of truth in Jn 14:17 15:26, 16:13.  In 2 Tim 3:16-17 The Holy Spirit gives the Scripture to you by inspiration.  

The spirit of error is seen in passages like Matt 22:29, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures”.  They use them but they don’t know them.  In 1 Ki 13:18 the old prophet was a lying prophet.  In 1 Ki 22:22, the prophets spoke by a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.  

2 Thes 2:9-12 explains what happens with this spirit of error.  Men won’t be able to discern the spirit of antichrist when he has all power and signs and lying wonders.  He will use deceit.  And he will persuade those who received not the love of the truth to believe the strong delusion.  They will believe a lie.

Conclusion: you can try any spirit based on these contrasts.  Try their confession concerning Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh.  Ultimately, the spirit of antichrist will lead the world to worship the devil as God, 2 Thes 2:3-4.

Try their doctrine.  Are these men “of the world” or “of God”.  Did their doctrine originate with man or with God?  Contrast in 1 Cor 1-3, man’s wisdom and God’s wisdom.  In 1 Thes 2:13, the believers received the words Paul preached as the word of God, not the word of men.  In Jas 3 there are two kinds of wisdom.  The earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom comes from men.  As in Mk 7:7, “Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”.

Try their words.  Are they truth or are they error?  They all “use” the scripture.  One believes the words in truth.  The other wrests the scripture to their own destruction, 2 Pet 3:16.

To study the prior lesson, see How We Know. To study the next lesson in this series, see Let Us Love One Another.