04/22/2008
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 3But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.
If you spend much time on the internet, you know there is a lot of beneficial information out there. But there are also a lot of kooks. If you were to do a Google search on “Jesus”, for instance, you would come up with thousands of sites with stories ranging from Jesus the Christ, as we know Him, to Jesus as a witch. The religion known as Theosophy, which Hitler observed, recognizes Jesus, but places Him in a hierarchy of celestial “masters” in which Jesus is one of the least. Islam recognizes Jesus only as a prophet. And some religions say that Jesus *became* a Christ – not that He was divine from His birth.
As information becomes more and more readily available, you will no doubt encounter many more spurious accounts than ever before. But the same is true of people; there will be many people with false ideas about Jesus. Whatever story or religious account you hear, you should test it. The Apostle John provides us with a simple but effective test. When you hear a new religious philosophy, ask this question: “What do you believe about Jesus?”
If the answer is not something like: “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,” or if the person evades the question, you can be sure they are from the “spirit of the antichrist.” John pointed out that this spirit was alive and well even in his day. There was a Gnostic movement among the first century churches whereby they taught that salvation came through knowledge of the scriptures and mystical ceremonies – not through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
There will always be some kooky religious theory out there. And in fact there are dozens of kooky theories because some people choose to believe in aliens, some choose to believe in (and worship) angels, some choose to worship the earth, and so on.
There can only be one truth, but there can be a thousand lies. Jesus, Himself, declared that He was the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. Hold fast to this truth, and test every spirit you encounter.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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