1 John 4:2 Commentary

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1 John 4:2

Comments

This is how we recognise the Spirit of God: not by having altered states of mind, nor by the working of miracles or gifts of prophecy, but by doctrine and life, by what the spirit teaches. We have no direct way of seeing into the hearts of prophets or teachers, but we can test them by what they teach: do they confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Word made flesh? The incarnation has been the particular focus of the devil’s attacks. However Scripture is not encouraging us to be naïve when it says this, as if we must accept every claim at face value or reduce orthodoxy to the utterance of bare words. Some read this verse as if this was the only test in the whole epistle, but John has already warned us that charlatans make many claims which are not justified, so that other tests must also be applied; we must look at what they fail to teach also. The one who truly confesses that Jesus is the Christ, submits to his divine authority, receives all his doctrine, comes to him as Lord, and sees his atoning death on Calvary as the only sacrifice for sin.

Application

When the Son of God was made flesh and became both God and man in two natures and one person, he committed himself to his people forever, for having taken our nature he has redeemed it from destruction and raised it to the highest glory; he will never put it off again. Mankind has not been created in vain, but Christ has preserved the race through his elect people.

Some who claim to be evangelicals make this verse the basis of association with liberals and other nominal believers, but Scripture nowhere gives encouragement to false ecumenical unity. The only unity approved by Scripture is unity in the truth, practised by those who obey and love Christ and accept all that he taught as binding on them. Those who are determined to justify their disobedience to Scripture on the basis of this verse, and to associate with any who can manage to utter some emaciated confession of faith, are fooling only themselves.

Questions

Why does John propose to tell us about the Spirit of God, and then immediately speak of created spirits? Because he is teaching us to discern human teachers and the question is, does this person have the Spirit of God in them? If so, he will not let truth and falsehood about Christ come out of his mouth at the same time.

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1 John 4:2 Commentary and Bible Study