1 John 4:1-10

1 John 4:1-10

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

We need to be aware that false teachers are not just false teachers, but are following a spirit. One is of God, the other of the antichrist. You can easily find out by asking the questions: Was Jesus a real person? Do you acknowledge Jesus? In verse 9, we will see what "acknowledge Jesus" means.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

We can be assured that when we teach, the Spirit can overcome the "worldly teachers". People of the world will not recognize this Spirit. People from God will listen.

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

We must love one another, like the example that God gave us. No one loved God enough to deserve eternal life. God loved us, the unlovable, by sending his Son to die for our sins. It was through Jesus' sacrifice that we live, not through any action of our own. This is the final test of acknowledging Jesus to test the spirits: Do you believe that Jesus died for our sins?

What it Takes to be an Atheist

On my favorite Sci-Fi show, Startgate: SG-1, the team finds an alien machine that allows them to travel between different universes. One of the characters on the show says that according to scientific theory, at every instant, all possible futures happen in alternate parallel universes.

Dawkins, in the God Delusion, acknowledges that our current universe is so unlikely to exist, that one must adopt theories like this to explain the universe.

Here are the two competing theories:

The universe is finely tuned:

1) because God created it that way
or
2) because we just happen to inhabit one of the infinite number of universes

To objectively and rationally look at the theories, let's look at the evidence:

1) God revealed himself in history through his son Jesus Christ. The historical evidence we have today is more abundent that any other historical figure of that time.
or
2) Mathematical equations that 'prove' multiple universes.

So, the question is, which is more likely, given the evidence?

How Do We Know?

I was given a daily devotional guide. When I looked at the book on the surface, it seemed normal, but researching it led me to a shock: the book was written by channelers who claimed to be channeling Jesus.

There were many thing in the book that sound like they could have come from Jesus, so how do we know? A person could be claiminging a new revelation from God, which is possible. How do we know what is from God and what is not?

One can use the same criteria that any reasoned and intellectual scholar would use if someone said they were channeling any historical figure. You would go back and compare what the person was saying and check if it contradicted the historical evidence. The Bible is the historical evidence of Jesus, and, with the great masses of evidence, is a reliable source. Contradictions seriously undermine those with new sayings or revelations from God or Jesus.

For channelers, the Bible itself says that this is not good to consult the spirits. So they contradict the Bible from the beginning. Their words are not to be trusted.

Worshipping the "Unknown God"

When Paul was visiting Athens, he "found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD" [Acts 17:23] People in Athens were very "religious" but worshipped idols, even ones to a God that they did not know.

But God made himself known to us through his son Jesus. "30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." [Acts 7:30-31]

When Paul told this to the Athenian schalors, "some of them sneered" but a few people believed and followed Paul.

Today, people worship other things besides God. When we tell them about it, we will get sneers -- espcet them. But a few will become followers.