https://esv.literalword.com/?q=1+john+4
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 30 September 2024:
1 John 4:1-3 — 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.
Today, John warns against ‘teachers’ who promote the spirit of “antichrist,” a popular term today but used only by John in the Bible, only five times, and only in two Epistles. Previously, John said, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)
Those who teach in the spirit of antichrist are acting as antichrists – “an-tee-kris-toess – in opposition to the Messiah.” Today, John further explains that “every spirit that does not confess Jesus is NOT from God.” Antichrist teachings are not usually blatant attacks against the Gospel, but rather are subtle, appealing and deceptive messages offering a way, a truth, a future, a hope, or fulfillment in something other than grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from any human effort or merit. John warns that even the Christian must be very careful to avoid false teachers and teachings that can creep in. We should reject instruction from those who aren’t grounded in Christ and obedience to the word no matter how popular they are or how appealing their message; we should observe whether teachers’ lives reveal the fruit of the Spirit as evidence of their faith; and we should always confirm what we are taught by others through our own study of the Bible – “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
So, what popular teachers, scholars or best-selling authors who don’t confess Jesus influence your thinking, decisions and behavior? How have ungodly teachings (which offer truth, salvation, future and hope apart from Jesus) permeated the fabric of our society? Do you recognize today’s antichrists? “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.”
- Matthew 24:11 — And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
- Matthew 12:30 — Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
- Colossians 2:8 — See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
- 2 Timothy 4:3-4 — For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
- Galatians 1:6-9 — I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
- 1 Timothy 6:3-5 — If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
- Jude 1:4 — For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- 1 Timothy 6:20-21 — O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
1 John 4:4-6 — 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.
Jesus said, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The way we overcome the world is by abiding in Him. The way we keep ourselves from the deceptions of the world, the flesh, and the devil is to keep our focus on Jesus and to surround ourselves with those who share in our ambition to become one with Him. Paul encourages us to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of [our minds], that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2). We do this primarily by controlling the information which we allow into our minds by filling our minds with His word and shutting down the deceptive messages of this world which “speaks from the world” to the world. Paul goes on to say, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) The more we behold the glory of the Lord, the less we will be enticed by the emptiness of self-glorification, which the world promotes and the more we will become Christlike. Jesus also said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21) The more we transition from being mere hearers of the word to doers of the word, avoiding the deception of prideful intellectualism, the more we Christ becomes “real,” or visible in our lives. (See Romans 2:13 and James 1:22-25) Christ’s Kingdom is where He reigns supreme and where His will be done. Jesus, said we enter His Kingdom when we seek first the Kingdom with the prayer that His will would be done in our lives as it is in Heaven. When we are apart of His Kingdom, the kingdom of man as no power over us. It is only when we step out of the realm of His Kingdom that we lose our dominion under His dominion and become victims to the deceptions and destructions of this world.
1 John 7-15 — Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
The eternal, saving love of Christ changes everything. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) We are saved, not because we loved God but “that He love us and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins.” The more we come to appreciate His unmerited love for us, manifested on the Cross, the more we will love others, manifesting His love further in our lives and the lives of others, the more our knowledge of Him will grow and transform us, and the more His love will become perfected in us. The more we know Him and grow in Him, the more our spirit will bear the fruit of His Spirit, and the more we will naturally proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior to everyone we desire to know His love. The Great Commandment of God will increasingly be fulfilled by us when we come to truly love the Lord with our hearts, our minds, our souls and our strength (not just superficially), and His commandments to us will no longer be burdensome to us but rather the natural expressions of who we truly are. (See 1 John 5:3)
1 John 4:16 – 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.
From Henry T. Blackaby – “The greatest truth in all of Scripture is this: God is love. Understanding this in its full dimensions will set you free to enjoy all that is yours as a Christian. But you must accept that God loves you. If you grew up experiencing unconditional love in your family, this may not be difficult for you. However, if your early years were void of love, this truth may be hard to accept. God loves you, not because you deserve His love, but because His nature is love. The only way He will ever relate to you is in love. His love for you gives you an inherent worth that nothing can diminish.
If you cannot accept the truth that God loves you, you will be limited in how you can relate to Him. When He disciplines you, you will not take it as an expression of His love. Rather, you may resent Him. When God says no to a request that is less than His best for you, you will conclude that He doesn’t care about you. Without a clear understanding and acceptance of God’s love for you, you will be disoriented to Him and to what He wants to do in your life. If you will accept God’s love, however, you will be able to return love to God as well as to others (1 John 4:19).
Are you experiencing the profound sense of joy and security that comes from knowing you are dearly loved by God? Being assured of God’s love for you sets you free to enjoy the numerous expressions of love He showers upon you each day.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 30 September 2024: Accept all your circumstances as an expression of God’s love for you as He works all things out together for good (not that all things are good) for you, who He loves perfectly and sovereignly, in order to grow you into Christlikeness and perfect unity with Him. Rest in God’s love so that you will freely share God’s love with others without fear of loss.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 