Discerning false teaching

 

2 Chronicles 5:1–6:11; Nahum 3; Luke 19; 1 John 4

Years ago a young girl came to a youth group meeting in our house. I asked her what she thought about the way to be saved from sin. She said, “By doing good works” so I had her read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Then I asked her what this said about the way to be saved, and she said, “By doing good works.” She could not see or even hear the words in front of her. I found out that she belonged to a group who believe that Jesus is not God who became flesh . . .

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

In a day when Christian teaching is muddled by many groups who claim to have the “truth” it is helpful to know that there are tests that will reveal what is from God and what is not. This passage tells me several things.

First, the original readers did not have the New Testament  as we do so they were told to “tests the spirits” rather than compare their teaching with the Scriptures. We now have the Bible as our plumbline, but devious false teachers know how to ‘sound good’ and twist Scripture to fool people.

Testing spirits is sometimes that ability to just know someone is off. I do it all the time when watching mysteries and can usually identify the perpetrator long before the story reveals who is guilty. This passage gives a more specific test: What does that spirit say about the identity of Jesus Christ? Does their teaching say that Jesus came from God as fully human? Some do not. They say He was an angel or a created being, even a figment of the disciples’ imagination. They might use the term ‘son of God’ but not in the sense that He was God revealed to us in a human being. They deny or twist the Scriptures that declare His deity and/or His humanity.

The next test is about their attitude towards this world. In 1 John, the “world” refers to a system of thinking rather than a planet or its inhabitants. It is not the same sense as God loving the world but the attitude of leaving God out of everything. We might say “secular” or even “godless” yet this is also about an over-emphasis on temporary stuff.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

I’m thinking of the false teachers who tell people that God wants them wealthy, or perfectly healthy, or always happy and prosperous. The false prophets of the OT told the people this when the genuine prophets were telling them to repent or otherwise be prepared for God’s discipline on their sin.

In other words, a false prophet declares only the parts of the Bible that will gather listeners who will do everything they say. These ‘leaders’ profit, usually in finances and popularity. They are not interested in eternal matters as much as “bigger, better more” in this life. Some use fear tactics. For them, overcoming the world is not about escaping its selfish desires but about having all those desires fulfilled.

The next test is love. False spirits focus on a mushy love that doesn’t care about sin. The love of God was demonstrated by Jesus dying as our sacrifice so we could be saved from wrath because of sin. His love casts out fear of judgment yet false teachers focus on fear and use it to manipulate followers.

APPLY: False teachers anger me but also break my heart by their deceptive ways. They distract and deceive to the point that discernment becomes clouded. The Lord can lift them out of darkness and into the light of faith in Christ. For this I fervently pray.