An Elaboration Of The Doctrinal Test Series

Scripture

Let’s suppose you are new to town and you are looking for a place to worship and belong. And let’s suppose you visit a worshiping community, pick up a bulletin, and sit down. You read the mission of the group, which is as follows: “The mission of the [Blank] Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.”

“That’s good,” you think. “I certainly want to belong to group that encourages benevolence and empathy. I agree with them in rejecting tyrannical authority. And who doesn’t want to advocate practical common sense? Of course I oppose injustice. There is far too much of that in this world anyway. And I really want my life to count by undertaking noble pursuits. I think this might be a good place to check out.”

Now, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that the mission statement that I read to you is taken directly off the website of The Satanic Temple. It sounds benign, almost like a group to which you might want to belong. But, of course, it is the complete opposite of Biblical Christianity.

So, how do you discern between truth and error? How can know what teaching will get you to heaven and what teaching will get you to hell?

In his First Letter, the Apostle John helps his beloved flock know how to discern between truth and error.

Let’s read about an elaboration of the doctrinal test in 1 John 4:1-6:

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. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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. 4 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. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 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)

Introduction

In his book The Gospel According to Starbucks, Leonard Sweet tells the story of Ed Faubert. Faubert is what you call a “cupper” – in layman’s terms, he’s a coffee-taster. And his sensitive taste buds are actually certified by the state of New York!

So refined is Faubert’s sense of taste for coffee that even while blindfolded, he can take one sip of coffee and tell you “not just that it is from Guatemala, but from what state it comes, at what altitude it was grown, and on what mountain.”

That ability takes uncommon discernment. Very few people in the world are able to make that level of distinction.

I think that one of the greatest challenges for Christians today is to discern between truth and error. Some may assert that it takes an uncommon level of discernment to distinguish between truth and error. But I don’t believe that.

And I don’t believe that the Apostle John believed that either. He wrote his letter to help believers – believers at all levels of maturity – distinguish between truth and error.

Lesson

First John 4:1-6 teaches us how to discern between truth and error.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. A Command to Test the Spirits (4:1a)

2. A Reason to Test the Spirits (4:1b)

3. A Guide to Test the Spirits (4:2-6)

I. A Command to Test the Spirits (4:1a)

First, let’s look at a command to test the spirits.

John writes in verse 1a, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.” Let me begin by defining what John means by “spirit.” The Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma) occurs seven times in the Greek text in John 4:1-6. In the context of this paragraph, John uses the word “spirit” to refer to the animating force of a person. In other words, John has already taught that there are only two groups in the world: those who are the children of God and those who are the children of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:10). So, every person is a voice either for God or for the devil. Therefore, the “spirit” behind each person is either God or the devil.

John says that Christians must “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.” He was warning his beloved flock against the false teachers who were teaching that they had special knowledge of God. They claimed to have the Spirit of God in them. But John insists that they have the spirit of the devil in them. Not everyone who claimed to speak by the Spirit of God was doing so. John did not want believers to accept every claim to inspiration. Believers must “test the spirits.” John wants believers to be aware that there are many false claims to Spirit-inspired speech. Therefore, believers must always “test the spirits” to determine whether they are speaking from God or from the devil.