1 John 4:1-6 Christians are Discerning
on July 17th, 2011 at 11:51 AMHow can you spot a fake?
How you think is shown in how you evaluate truth from error. The more you love God the less likely you will be to theological error. A robust Christian is at odds with gullibility. Look at Proverbs!!
Look at 2 Peter 2.
Look at Acts 20.
Every believer is responsible to understand what Gods word teaches. Every believer is to guard the truth.
Vs. 1
The Need: Discern between truth and error. “beloved” = He first loved us.
What is meant by spirits? They have a spiritual influence on people. They are false prophets.
“test them”. Refers to testing coins. See I there message is derived from God.
Vs. 2-3
2. The Test: Discern their teaching about Christ.
Do they confess Christ? What one person believes about Christ explains what they believe about their religion. Tha is one good example of where other cults differ from Christianity (Mormons, Jehovas Witness, etc. ).
Vs. 4-6
3. The Result: Discern the outcome of their teaching.
Why can we overcome? Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Look at what the outcome of their doctrine is. Are they and their followers more like christ as time goes on?
Practical thoughts
Avoid sensationalism. Highlighting things that aren’t the “real” issues.
Be full of the word of God and fruit-bearing. This is the best remedy against false teaching.
Watch out for “new” things. Being more oriented on experience. Faithfulness is to what is fixed and proven (Word) is the priority.
Note: thanks for reading. This was done on my iPhone so there is likely spelling and other errors.