1 John 4:1 (ESV)

[1] 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.

Just because someone stands up and says, “God told me…” does not mean that God has spoken through them. We are to test the spirits. 1John 4 gives us three tests to apply, and then a challenge concerning how believers are to live. The first test is in 1 John 4:3,

“…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.” The message and the messenger must acknowledge that Jesus is from God.

Second, verse 6 says, “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.” In other words, the message and the messenger must acknowledge and embrace the truths that John and the other apostles have taught. In short, any supposed message from God that contradicts the clear teachings of Scripture is not from God.

Third, John writes in verse 8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” The message and the messenger might acknowledge that Jesus was sent from God, and be in line with the teachings of Scripture, but if there is no love then the message is not from God. Love characterizes the people of God.

That brings us to the challenge concerning how believers are to live.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1Jn 4:15-16).

 Believing that Jesus is the Son of God leads one to live in God’s love. Saying the words

without expressing the love is just saying words. True faith results in love, not fear. 1John 4:18-19 are revealing, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” The Christian life is not based on fear, but on love. A life driven by fear that God will punish me if I step out of line is a life that has failed to grasp the gospel.

How did we come to the place where those who claim the name of Christ are known for their fear more than their love? How did we come to the place where our policies and practices are driven more by fear than by love? What a sad thing it is to find those who claim the name of Christ driven by fear, held in bondage by fear, motivated by fear, and failing to understand the depth and power of God’s love. It makes one wonder if we really understand God at all.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us resolve to stop allowing fear to drive us. Let us determine that today we will choose faith, and live in love. May the words of the old Hymn, May the Mind of Christ My Savior (written by Kate B. Wilkinson) characterize our lives today. The fourth verse reads,

May the love of Jesus fill me

As the waters fill the sea;

Him exalting, self abasing,

This is victory.