We cannot test Christians to separate the true believers
from the false believers as we are instructed to do in 1 John 4:1 without
understanding the difference between the two and what we are to look for.
1 John 4:2-3 “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit
that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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.”
Aside from confessing that Jesus Christ is lord we should
observe the actions of Christians to see if they are following God’s laws and
by this I do not mean judge them, rather, observe whether their conduct is God
fearing and loving towards their neighbors.
As was discussed in Question 33, Christians are to love
their neighbor as themselves, as this is the second greatest commandment, the
first being “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul,
with all you mind, and with all your strength;” if a self professed Christian
does not live this then how can he be part of God’s adopted family?
1 John 4:1 “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.”
1 John 4:5-6 “They are
from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to
them. 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.”
Mark 12:30 ”And you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’”
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