Testing the Spirits: A Call to Discernement

October 26, 2025|Testing the Spirits|1 John 4:1-6

Will Davis

(sermon audio is unavailable for this sermon)

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Every generation of believers, from the early church in Acts to today, faces the same sobering reality: truth is always under attack. 

While the attack may come in different forms or sound different the goal is the same; to sow seeds of deception among the believers.  From the earliest days of the church until now, spiritual deception has spread through false teachers, counterfeit gospels, and distorted portrayals of Christ. John, writing to believers in the first century, understood this danger well.

In the passage this morning we will see that he draws a sharp line between two opposing forces at work in the world—the Spirit of truth and the spirit of antichrist. Behind every religious teaching, every spiritual claim, and every so-called revelation stands a spirit that is either of God or demonic in origin. There is no neutral ground.

John’s exhortation to “test the spirits” is therefore not an abstract warning but a command of spiritual survival.

The stakes are eternal because error is never harmless—it is cancerous, destructive, and ultimately opposed to Christ.

God’s truth gives life; satan’s lies lead to death. The task before us here at EBC, then, is to discern carefully, to guard faithfully, and to proclaim boldly the truth that has been entrusted to us.

As Paul charged Timothy, “Guard what has been entrusted to you,” so too must every generation of Christians hold fast to the treasure of divine revelation against relentless assault.  We must hold fast to the only true source of divine revelation, scripture and scripture alone.

To do this, believers must know the truth and recognize false doctrines. Sound doctrine and spiritual discernment are not optional virtues; they are essential disciplines for the health of Christ’s church.

In this passage, John provides a simple yet profound framework for discernment: examine what a teacher says about Christ, observe the evidence of genuine spiritual life, and test their response to God’s Word.

Those who confess Jesus Christ as God incarnate, who demonstrate the fruit of regeneration, and who submit to Scripture bear the marks of the Spirit of truth. Those who deny these realities reveal the spirit of antichrist.

As we examine the text this morning, we will see that John’s concern is not merely academic—it is pastoral. He calls the church to vigilance, not cynicism; to discernment, not distrust.

For the follower of Christ, testing the spirits is an act of love—love for the truth, love for the church, and love for the Lord Himself, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  So, the question then becomes how do we know what is good sound doctrine and what is false doctrine? 

To answer this John would have the church start with who they Jesus is.  He would have us...

I. Start with the Savior

1 Jn 4:1-2 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

Now I think it is important that we understand that John was warning against false teachers that were rising up from within the church.  At this time obviously the church did not have the completed new testament though many letters especially the Pauline letters would have been written by this time. 

John goes back to that very pastoral tone by once again calling the readers beloved.  He wants them to really lean in and listen to what is about to be said.  During this time when doctrine is still being written there was an opportunity for those to stand up in the church and lead people astray.  As Pastor JD has said during this time the gnostics and their teachings were really starting to infiltrate the church.  One of their main tenants being that anything that is material is evil.  Under this teaching Jesus didn’t come to Earth in the form of a man He only appeared as a man.  While this teaching wouldn’t find much traction with Jews, it would with the Greeks.  This idea of anything being material being evil is a common view in Greek culture.  And now you have false teachers coming in and connecting the truth not to Christ, but to culture. 

This is not too uncommon from what we see even today.  We have seen this pull from within the evangelical church to fit with the culture instead of the truth of scripture. So, what does John want us to know and do about these false teachings? 

First, John wants the church to understand that there is more than one spirit. 

In 3:24 John tells us that we know that we abide in Christ by the Spirit whom He has given us. 

John wants the church to know that there are false counterfeit, demonic spirits in this world.

Because of this John wants Christians to not be gullible, believing anything they hear. 

Instead he commands us to test the spirits, to have spiritual discernment.

What I want us to see is that true spiritual discernment starts with a right confession of who Jesus Christ is.  John lays down a foundational test in verse 2: “by this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” 

In other words, the first test of any spirit—any teaching or influence in your life—is what it says about Jesus. 

John calls us to a clear and biblical understanding of who Jesus is. He is the eternal Son of God, fully divine, fully human, who came into the world to redeem us. Any spirit—whether a teacher, a philosophy, or a movement—that distorts or diminishes this truth is not from God.

We are not to base our discernment on feelings or personal experiences, but on the objective truth about Christ revealed in Scripture. So, how do we know and stand on the truth of who Christ is?

Many know that the Secret Services protects the President of the US, but their other main task is keeping counterfeit currency out of circulation in the US.  They learn how to spot fake currency not by learning about the counterfeit currency, but by studying and knowing the real thing.  In this way we should know any false teaching because we study and know what God has revealed to us in scripture. 

We know and have the truth about Jesus’ life, His death, and resurrection in our very hands and when we study that truth it becomes easy to spot false teachings.  So, what should we do when we encounter new teachings, whether in church, social media, or even among friends, ask yourself:

What does this say about Jesus?

Does it affirm that He is the Son of God, come in the flesh to save us from sin?

If it doesn’t, it is not from God. Discernment begins with the Savior.

Does what you are hearing, reading, watching, studying conform to the truth of scripture; if it does then it is from God and if it doesn’t then it is not of God.  Church, there are many teachings today that seek to pull you away from the truth, not with outright open heresy, but with a slight twisting of the truth.  By either adding or taking away from it or as is most common taking a single verse out of context and forming entire false doctrines around them.  We must know the real gospel, the real Jesus, the real truth of scripture like a Secret Service agent knows a real dollar bill, that we can easily spot anything that is not of God.  Before we can discern the spirits around us, we must know the Savior within us. A clear, biblical understanding of who Jesus is anchors us in truth and protects us from the deception of the enemy.  This brings us to our next point this morning:

II. Spotting Deceptive Doctrine

1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

As you all know and are well aware that there are many religions and teachings in the world today. 

So, with all these false demonic spirits or teachings in the world today, how are we to spot deceptive doctrine? 

John tells us those that don’t confess Jesus are not from God.  It is really that simple, but yet many in the world and in the church are seduced by false teachings. 

We have to ensure that we do not let our emotions determine what is truth. 

You have probably heard things like well all these other religions they just didn’t know about Jesus or they are trying their best to worship God, and because He is loving He understands. 

The last Pope even went as far to say that the 3 Abrahamic religions are all paths to heaven. 

But John clearly tells us here that if you do not confess Jesus it is not of God. 

Not only that without Jesus they have no advocate as John tells us in 2:1.  And if you don't have Jesus who is the propitiation, the payment, for our sins? 

The Muslims claim there is only one God, but deny the deity of Jesus reducing Him to a prophet. 

The Jews also deny the deity of Jesus and call Him an insurrectionist a mere political rebel. 

The RCC teaches that the blood of Christ is not enough, that your good works earn you merit with God.

The Mormon church claims that Jesus is a created son of God and a brother to satan.

I want us to see that deception can be easy to spot when we ask who do you say Jesus is.  This does not take a master in divinity to know, John is not asking us to test their eschatology, or for them to give an accurate illustration of the Trinity.  He simply says spot deceptive doctrine by who they say Jesus is.

So we know what some religions say about Jesus but what about those that have never heard the gospel or read a bible, but are trying their best to worship God?  The look up and know that there is a creator so God knows what they are trying to do right?

John makes it clear that wherever Jesus is not confessed, you can’t know God. 

McAurther says it like this “Every spirit that comes up with any religion, any spiritual teaching that leaves out Jesus is not from God. If it leaves out Jesus as the Jesus who is the only true one, any redefinition of Jesus or the absence of Jesus is not from God. In fact in verse 3 it says, “This is the spirit of antichrist of which you heard it is coming and now it is already in the world.”

So wherever Christ in His true person is denied, you have demonic data. Any system that denies the deity of Christ, anything from Christian Science to Islam, any of it that denies the true nature of Jesus Christ is from demons, the spirit of error.”  

I would add that it is not just wrong; it is against Christ it is the spirit of antichrist.  Look at the middle of verse 3 “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” 

John does not have this picture of the final antichrist in mind that we think of when reading Revelation, some future person.  John is talking about what Paul in Eph 2:2 calls the spirit that is now in the work in the sons of disobedience. 

A real and ever present demonic spirit that communicates anything that is not a representation that is accurate concerning Christ is communicating an antichrist idea.  All teaching that distorts or denies the truth about Jesus Christ springs from the spirit of antichrist—a deception already active in the world, though it will one day reach its full and final form.

Now Pastor JD more fully addressed the antichrist a few weeks ago. Now, let’s return briefly to chapter 2. We’ve already studied this passage, but it ties directly into John’s warning in chapter 4. In 1 John 2:18, John writes, “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared.” 

In other words, anyone who attacks or denies the truth about Christ operates in the spirit of antichrist. The very presence of these deceptions shows that we are living in the last hour—the time between Christ’s first coming and His return.

Then in verse 22, John makes the issue unmistakably clear: “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son.” 

The question is simple: What do they say about Jesus?

To deny the deity of Jesus Christ is not simply an error in doctrine; it is a demonic deception. Such teaching does not merely miss the truth—it opposes the truth. It stands not only apart from Christ but actively against Him.

This is why John’s first test for discernment is what we might call the Christology test.

The question is simple: What do they say about Jesus?

Those who are truly from God confess Jesus as the divine Lord—fully God, fully man, the eternal Son who came in the flesh to redeem sinners. Any teaching that presents a lesser Christ, a different Christ, or a diminished Christ is the voice of deception, not the Spirit of truth.  We have seen that the first test for discerning truth is Christology—examining whether a teaching honors Jesus as fully God and fully man. But doctrine alone, while essential, is not the full measure of a teacher or a teaching. Truth must also be lived and demonstrated. This brings us to the second test and our final point this morning:

III. The Possession of a Christ Centered Life

1 Jn 4:5-6 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

The second test John gives us is closely connected to the first: possession of Christ’s nature.

While the first test examines a person’s doctrine of Christ, the second looks at their spiritual reality. In the incarnation, God became fully human; in regeneration, God makes humanity partakers of His own divine nature. In other words, just as Christ entered our world in flesh, believers by imputation are given Christ’s righteousness and in glorification we will be made like Him in body and Spirit.

John emphasizes this in 1 John 4:4: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” This verse reassures believers that they are secure against the deception of false teachers. It echoes what John wrote earlier in chapter 2, verse 20: “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know the truth. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.”  

John continues in verses 24 and 27, reminding us that the truth we have received from the beginning, together with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, enables us to abide in Christ and discern lies. “Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father… As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you. You have no need for anyone to teach you, but as His anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

In other words, the presence of the Spirit within believers both protects and empowers them. Those who have been regenerated and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are able to recognize truth, resist deception, and remain secure in Christ. Spiritual life, rooted in Christ, is the second essential test of authentic teaching and authentic faith.

John emphasizes again and again that because we belong to God, because we possess eternal life, and because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are protected from deception and lies. We have an anointing from God. As he writes in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us.”

Those who truly belong to God are not led astray by false teaching, because the Spirit guides and preserves them.

John declares in verse 4, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world”.  Believers are indwelt by the Spirit, partakers of God’s own life, and heirs of the incorruptible righteousness of Jesus Christ. This incorruptible righteousness shields us from fatal error. While we may stumble in minor matters, the truth of the gospel remains secure in our hearts.  

Regeneration, then, equips true followers of Christ with a devotion to truth and a discernment that the natural mind cannot grasp.

As 1 Corinthians 2 reminds us, God has given us the mind of Christ. The Spirit resides within, teaching, guiding, and enabling us to recognize error. This indwelling life allows us to evaluate teachings accurately. When something feels wrong spiritually, that is the Spirit alerting us to deception.

As we walk in the Spirit and obey the truth, the Spirit actively protects us, confirming the reality of our salvation. The evidence of regeneration will appear in our lives, producing discernible fruit. Therefore, observe the life of those who teach. Trust your instincts informed by the Spirit. While false teachers may twist minor points, their primary attack is always on Christ and the reality of regeneration. They seek to undermine the gospel at its core, but the one who is truly from God will stand firm, guided by the Spirit and secure in the truth.

Now you may be wondering, how do false teachers twist the reality of regeneration? The answer is simple: they shift the focus from Christ to works. These spirits will always try to get you to look to your deeds, ceremonies, or religious observances as the source of your spiritual life. They deny that regeneration is by faith alone in Jesus Christ and instead promote a system of Christ plus something else—your efforts, your performance, your ability to measure up.

John gives us clear guidance on how to evaluate such teachers. Test them by their view of Christ and by the life they live.

Do they exhibit a Christ-centered life, marked by the fruits of the Spirit, or do they follow the patterns of the flesh?

Those who truly belong to God are secure because Christ dwells in them. They have overcome the world, not by their works, their religious practices, or human effort, but because Christ is in them and He has triumphed over the world.

John writes to the church so that believers may know and be assured of their victory in Christ. He also wants them to examine those who claim a Christ-centered life but depart from truth. As he says in 1 John 4:5, “They are from the world; therefore, they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.” 

What does it look like when someone speaks and the world listens? It looks like aligning with worldly values, denying moral truth, or promoting relativism. Walk onto a college campus and proclaim that Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life—and you will see that the world does not listen. Why? Because the world is not of God.

Those who belong to Christ, however, will listen to sound doctrine and follow the truth, even when it comes at great cost—status, friendships, and yes, even family. Jesus warned of this division in Luke 12:53: “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother…” Why? Because those from the world respond only to deception, while those who belong to Christ submit themselves to God’s truth.

The measure of a teacher is simple: do they confess Christ, do they live a life transformed by Him, and do they submit to the Word of God? Test them by Scripture, and let the truth of Christ be your guide.

Church, the message from John is clear and urgent: truth matters, deception is real, and our eternal well-being depends on discernment.

Every generation faces the same reality—the Spirit of truth and the spirit of antichrist are both at work in the world.

We are not called to sit passively or assume that all teachings are harmless. We are called to test the spirits, to examine the claims, and to discern carefully between what comes from God and what comes from the enemy.

We begin with the Savior. Every teaching must be measured against the truth of who Jesus Christ is—fully God, fully man, who came in the flesh to redeem us. Any distortion, any denial of His deity, or any false portrayal is not merely an error—it is the spirit of antichrist at work. Knowing Christ biblically equips us to recognize deception and protects us from being led astray.

But doctrine alone is not enough. True faith manifests in life. Believers are called to possess a Christ-centered life, marked by the fruits of the Spirit, empowered by the indwelling Spirit, and secure in regeneration. It is this life, grounded in Christ, that safeguards us against false teachings and worldly influence. The Spirit within confirms truth, convicts of error, and ensures that we abide in Christ even when the world resists or rejects the gospel.

Finally, John reminds us that discernment is not cynicism—it is love. Love for Christ, love for the truth, and love for the church. By testing what we hear, examining what is taught, and observing the lives of those who lead, we participate in God’s work of protecting His people and advancing His kingdom.

So today, let us commit ourselves anew to knowing the truth, to walking in the Spirit, and to standing firm in Christ. Let us examine all teachings by their confession of Jesus, their alignment with Scripture, and the evidence of a transformed life. In doing so, we will not only guard ourselves from deception but also become beacons of truth in a world increasingly seduced by lies. Church, remember this: the victory is ours—not because of who we are, not because of our works, but because Christ is in us, and He has overcome the world. Let that truth guide you, protect you, and empower you as you live faithfully for Him.