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. 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, 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.

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. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 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. (1 John 4:1-6)

Christian teaching breeds careful, intelligent people. All non-Christians are stupid, and they believe all kinds of absurd ideas like atheism, evolution, the goodness and progress of humanity, and religions other than the Christian faith. Jesus Christ came to deliver us from our stupidity just as much as our sinfulness, and indeed the two are intertwined. A person believes in evolution, or the reliability of science (among numerous other errors, the scientific method commits the triple fallacy of empiricism, induction, and asserting the consequent), or any other non-Christian idea or religion, because he is stupid, and since he is also sinful, he holds on to his superstition no matter how ridiculous it is, and no matter how thoroughly we have refuted it. Likewise, wisdom and righteousness are inseparable. God is wise in his holiness, and it is wise to believe him and follow his commandments.

There is a perspective that encourages us to accept every, affirm every, respect every, and learn from every perspective. Those who advocate this way of thinking associate it not only with good sense, but also with a fair and humble character. This further emphasizes the stupidity and sinfulness of non-Christians, since they not only adopt a foolish and wicked perspective, but they distort intelligence and righteousness into their opposites in order to justify their position.

In his grace, God does not permit us to be so simpleminded. Faith in Jesus Christ is not founded on gullibility, but it is rather the deathblow to the gullibility and irrational thinking of the non-Christians. The Bible teaches us, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” Instead of telling us to embrace every, respect every, and learn from every, the apostle instructs us, “Do not believe every…but test.” The Christian faith is a perspective that distinguishes between truth and falsehood, and that exercises holy intelligence and suspicion. It teaches us to respect and accept the truth, but to despise and trample falsehood, even every thought that does not agree with Jesus Christ.

People disagree with the Christian faith not because they exercise freedom of thought or simply because they see things from a different perspective. All disagreements with the Christian faith are outright demonic and come from the spirit of the antichrist. This is the inspiration behind all scientific, philosophical, and religious ideas that do not acknowledge the divinity, humanity, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The demonic spirits operate through human persons, who are but the children and the pawns of the devil.

In the face of this demonic opposition, the apostle encourages us: “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.” Who is this that lives in us? Earlier he writes, “And this is how we know that he lives in us. We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” The Spirit of Jesus Christ who lives in us is greater than the spirit of the non-Christians, and the spirit of their various beliefs and religions. John does not say that we cower in the corner while the Spirit of Christ overcomes the spirit of the antichrist, but he says that God lives in us, so that we, the Christians, overcome them, the non-Christians. The Bible does not separate sinful ideas with sinful people – the sinful people are the one who believe and promote sinful ideas, and they do this precisely because they are so sinful. So God enables us to overcome not just non-Christian ideas, but the non-Christian people, not by physical violence, but by divine intelligence and spiritual power.

To distinguish between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist, John gives us a doctrinal test. Here it is not a test of experience or character, but of theology. Christians are familiar with those words of Jesus: “By their fruit you shall know them.” In other words, if a man claims to be a prophet but is a raging homosexual, he is not someone that you should follow. Of course, such a test does not eliminate matters of doctrine, but rather presupposes the primacy of doctrine, since it is a matter of doctrine that homosexuality is a transgression of God’s command, and one’s theology is an aspect of one’s fruit.

So even when the emphasis is on character, it does not reduce the importance of doctrine; rather, a character test is applied only after one has already passed the doctrinal test. This is an essential point because the test for “fruit” is often misapplied as if to say that if a person’s lifestyle appears to fit a Christian pattern, then his ministry must be legitimate even if we must overlook many doctrinal defects and outright heresies.

This kind of thinking cannot be more wrong. If a person does not pass the doctrinal test, there is no need to even apply the character test. Paul told the Galatians that if anyone preaches a different gospel, then it is no gospel at all and he would be eternally condemned. We make this determination even before we consider his behavior and lifestyle.

Likewise, John writes, “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). But this presupposes the doctrinal test he mentions earlier: “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist” (2:22). We are not to think that an antichrist could act righteously and be judged as having been born of God. The righteousness of verse 29 is defined by the righteous of Christ (“if you know that he is righteous“), and therefore it cannot accommodate the antichrist of verse 22.

All this is to say that it is a mistake to relax the doctrinal test in favor of the character test, as if the character test is the one that determines the issue. Again, the doctrinal test is so much more important that if a man cannot pass the doctrinal test, there is no need to apply the character test, since he must be rejected without further consideration. And the nature and scope of the character test – what counts as righteous character – are themselves determined by our theology.

Here the doctrinal test centers on what the teachers or prophets think about the nature and work of Jesus. This is not a complete doctrinal test, since in other contexts we would want to investigate their view on the nature of God, the inspiration of Scripture, justification by faith, and so on. The focus is on the nature and work of Jesus most likely because John is targeting specific individuals who are spreading a false christology: “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray” (2:26).

We can say that the test has to do with the nature of Christ because John refers to some who have denied that God has come in the flesh. He wants us to know that Jesus had indeed come in the flesh, and he wants us to know what it was that appeared in the flesh – he was the incarnation of deity, the Word, in actual humanity. The test also has to do with the work of Christ because the antichrists denied that Jesus was the Christ, where “Christ” is not an empty title but carries specific meanings for John, that is, one who was both divine and human, who died to make atonement for sins, and who was raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God to make intercession for his people. Any worldview or religion that denies any of this is inspired by the spirit of the antichrist.

The world is so vocal against the “we are right and everyone else is wrong” mentality that Christians have become timid about it and ashamed of it. Of course, the non-Christians are hypocritical about this, since they indeed think that they are right and all others are wrong, especially the Christians. In any case, John teaches that we must have this mentality of “we are right and everyone else is wrong,” only that we must ensure that the “we” is an identification, not with the world, but with Christ and the apostles. Once we are established in the right doctrines, such as those affirmed by John in this letter, then whether others agree with us becomes a valid test for truth and falsehood: “They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 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.”

I affirm that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come in the flesh. He died for the sins of his chosen ones, and then he was raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God to make intercession for his people. I have inherited this message from Christ, the prophets, and the apostles; therefore, those who know God will agree with me and stand with me, but those who disagree with me on this are of the spirit of the antichrist and the spirit of falsehood.

On the other hand, those who are of the world speak from the perspective of the world, and the world listens to them. When someone follows or sympathizes with those who deny the nature and work of Christ as taught by the apostles, I know that this person is of the world and does not know God, even when he pretends to be a Christian pastor or theologian. I am not afraid of his popularity or reputation, and I will not waver on my judgment. John has taught me what I should think of such a person, and I have overcome him because the Spirit of God who is in me is greater than the demonic spirit that is in him.

Is there a parent, or a pastor, or a professor who urges you to welcome every spirit, to welcome dialogue and mutual learning, and to even respect those who deny the nature and work of Jesus Christ? “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Be strong and confident, since you are of God and have overcome the antichrist, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.