Putnam Church Message – 10/12/2025

Last week, we continued through the letter of 1 John and explored how to have “A Discerning Life: Not Like Cain, But Like Christ!"

This week, we continue through the letter of 1 John, and we will explore how to have “Distinguishing Truth from Error” from 1 John 4:1-6 from the NIV, which is found on page 1902 of your Pew Bibles.

Some statements of Scripture haunt us. If we were to dwell on them too long, meditate on them too deeply, or obsess over them too frequently, they would keep us awake at night. It is much like most news sources and social media posts. We must determine truth from error. They warn of impending trouble for believers and alarming developments for the church. The following passages together paint a pretty bleak picture of the deteriorating world around us:

In his meandering discussion of the Christian life, the apostle John returns to a theme he already introduced in the very beginning of this section: the contrast between truth and error, between deceiving “antichrists” and trustworthy teachers. In this particular passage, John focuses on the responsibility not of the teachers but of the hearers—our responsibility to distinguish truth from error.  John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The more we know about truth, the more we will appreciate verses like: That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

John begins expressing his concern for the doctrinal purity of his readers by issuing two serious commands. He commands these things because he cares for his readers deeply—they are his “beloved” children in Christ. John has already written to these believers about the importance of loving one another and not loving the world (1 Jn. 2:15; 3:23). Our love must be discriminating, discerning, distinguishing love. Similarly, as John discusses the doctrines we embrace as Christians, it becomes clear that our faith must be discriminating, discerning, and distinguishing faith. To that end, John issues these two commands—the first is negative, the second positive—“do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit” and “test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God” (4:1).

The term translated “spirit” here is pneuma, which most basically means “breath” or “wind.” It’s also used to describe an immaterial, nonphysical nature, either divine, angelic, or human. In 1 John 4:1, as Smalley notes, “The term … signifies a human person who is inspired by the spirit of truth or the spirit of error.”

The fact is, every human teacher—whether their teaching is true or false—is motivated and empowered by something that is often hidden behind the scenes. This may be a spirit of wickedness, falsehood, self-interest, and carnality … or a spirit of righteousness, truth, love, and holiness. Ultimately, we know that teachers blown about by the winds of error are under the influence of satanic deception, whether they know it or not. And teachers driven by the winds of truth are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

John uses his characteristic this-or-that method of setting forth the truth in his no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase manner. Everyone who teaches is either the mouthpiece of the spirit of truth, speaking for God … or the mouthpiece of the spirit of error, speaking for Satan. His first command is, essentially, “Don’t be gullible.” Don’t believe everything you hear. Look before you leap! You need to look beyond the outward and discern the spiritual reality.

This leads to the second command: “Test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God” (4:1). I picture a well-trained guard dog, like a Doberman pinscher. The moment a Doberman hears a sound or catches a movement in its domain, its pointy ears pop up and its eyes fix on the source. And if there’s a threat, that watchdog leaps into action to defend its territory. Christians need to be equally alert and equipped to discern between truth and error, particularly regarding the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.

Test the spirits. Don’t judge a teacher by the size of the crowd they can attract. Don’t be impressed by titles, degrees, and letters after names. Don’t be enamored by the beauty of the robe, the sheen of the suit, or the eloquence of the voice. Our standard is the Word of God, /the gospel of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, /and the essential truths of the historic Christian faith. Some today may call this narrow-minded. But the Bible calls the reception of these truths “noble-minded.” Luke describes those who heard the gospel in Berea in this way: And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. (Acts 17:11).

John uses the term dokimazō , “to test,” in a way similar to Paul’s use in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil. The word means “to make a critical examination of something to determine genuineness.” A gemologist can use their knowledge of diamonds to make a critical examination of a ring and determine whether it’s genuine. A banker can usually discriminate between a genuine bill and a counterfeit by applying his thorough knowledge of the look, feel, and qualities of authentic currency. Similarly, believers must possess a thorough understanding of the genuine Christian faith to effectively test competing truth claims.

John’s warning isn’t just theoretical. He doesn’t follow up his statement with, “Don’t worry, I’m only telling you about these things in case of the possibility that maybe, someday, some false teacher just so happens to accidentally say something that might be a little questionable.” No, John is addressing an immediate crisis in his own day—and one that has only grown broader and deeper through the centuries.

He follows his commands with a purpose statement: “For there are many false prophets in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:1). Notice, John doesn’t say it’s just one false prophet (e.g., Simon the Magician) … or just a few false prophets who all say the same thing. There are many false prophets. And note that he isn’t saying that these false prophets might go out into the world … or will wait until the end times to start wreaking havoc on the church. They have gone out into the world! Already in John’s day, the prophecies of Christ had begun to be fulfilled—“And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.” (Matt. 24:11).

How do we exercise discernment between the true and the false? John addresses this question in 1 John 4:2-3. He says, “This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God.” Listen up! By getting to know this one thing thoroughly, intimately, frontward, backward, and inside out, you’ll be able to discern truth from error. Like the gemologist spotting the fake diamond through their magnifier or the banker identifying the fake $100 bill with a few simple tests, believers will be able to hear the voice of the spirit of truth in the authentic preachers and discern the spirit of error in the fakes.

What is this thing by which a person can know the Spirit of God? It’s not a thing, but a person—the person of Jesus Christ. John says, “ If a person claiming to be a prophet[a] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God” (4:2–3). As we saw in our discussion of 2:20–21, the historic Christian faith urges you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. (Jude 1:3) centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Genuine teachers must hold to the right Jesus, not a different Jesus. They must accept Him as the incarnate God-man, sent by God the Father in the power of God the Holy Spirit. They must believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, and His glorious resurrection from the dead. This means accepting Him as the only Savior and Lord, and it means hoping for His future coming as King.

The correct teaching concerning Jesus Christ is the litmus test. Does the person delivering the teaching confess Jesus as the incarnation of God? Do they believe Christ to be the eternal Son of God? Do they profess personal faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord … and point others to do the same? And does this preacher or teacher place Christ at the center of the teaching and at the head of the ministry, consistent with His proper position as Savior and Lord? Or is the teacher putting himself or herself at the center of everything?

John couldn’t have been clearer. Authentic teachers, motivated by the spirit of truth, confess their faith in the faithful Jesus. The word translated “confess” (homologeō) implies a wholehearted, whole-life profession of personal faith in Jesus Christ. In its fullest sense, homologeō not only means “to concede that something is factual or true,” but also conveys “a profession of allegiance.” Thus, Paul can warn about false teachers: “Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.” (Titus 1:16). Both elements—words and deeds—mark a true confession.

Those who deny Christ—either in their twisted teaching or their lurid living—are motivated by “the spirit of the antichrist” (1 Jn. 4:3). The same anti-Christian disposition—empowered by the same spirits of wickedness—that will characterize the end-times Antichrists are already actively present in this world. What Satan will one day accomplish through one Antichrist and one false prophet (Rev. 13), he is now trying to accomplish through many antichrists and many false prophets. Similarly, when Paul referred to the future Antichrist as the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thes. 2:3), he also warned that “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work,” even as the ultimate lawless one is currently restrained by God until his unleashing in the end times (2 Thes. 2:6–7).

Because the spirit of antichrist and the mystery of lawlessness are already at work in the world—and have been since the early days of the church—we must be ever-diligent to distinguish truth from error.

John wraps up his urgent warning against false teachers and his timely exhortation on discernment by juxtaposing two contrasting groups. Note the opening words of these three verses: “You” (4:4) … “They” (4:5) … “We” (4:6). The first and the last refer to those who are from God; the middle refers to those who are from the world.

John first affirms his readers. He knows they are genuine believers and followers of Christ, who confess the true faith and live a life consistent with their confession. Because of this, they “have overcome them.” That is, they were able to escape the deception, corruption, and darkness of the world and attain a genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ. Later, John will state this clearly: And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 Jn. 5:5).

When John says his readers have “already won a victory over those people,” he’s referring to the vast number of those who aren’t from God, those who are “belong to the world” (4:5). John probably has in mind specifically those unbelievers who are antagonists, persecutors, and false teachers. How did true believers overcome them? Not by their own holiness, wisdom, or strength, but by the Spirit of God who lives within us.

They overcame “because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (4:4). God’s Spirit is the one who teaches us, /leads us into truth,/ and strengthens us when we come toe-to-toe with the deceiver. The Spirit of God who is within us is mightier than any enemy of the truth—human or demonic.

He further describes “Those people belong to this world” in 1 John 4:5: They are from the world, /deceiving others through their cunning. Whether they’re in worldly academics, worldly science, or worldly culture—false religion, politics, philosophy, or finance—these false teachers say things the rest of the world loves to hear, and their worldly hearers will eagerly swallow the lies without question. And when a Christian speaks out against the unsound doctrine and unholy living of these deceivers, the “world” rises up in unison to condemn the truth as foolish, ignorant, narrow-minded, bigoted, mean-spirited, or even hateful and dangerous. If this conflict were a us-against-them popularity contest, Christians would lose every time. But it’s not. It’s them-against-God spiritual conflict, and greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (4:4).

Finally, just as there is a connection between the word of the world and the worldly men and women who eagerly listen to its falsehood, there is an affinity between God’s word and God’s people. Jesus Himself said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27). True believers, enabled by the Spirit to understand and believe, embrace the true Jesus and therefore fellowship with His true followers. Furthermore, John says that “But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us.” (1 Jn. 4:6). The “us” here likely refers to the genuine apostles, John and his circle of truth tellers. Today, we “listen” to the apostles as we devote ourselves fully and unconditionally to their inspired words in God’s Word.

These two tests—faithfulness in word and deed to the person of Jesus Christ and faithfulness and obedience to God’s word—are sure, reliable guides for discerning between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

When you’re trying to discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, remember this two-pronged principle: (1) Listen carefully to the one who’s teaching and (2) look closely at those who are following.

Regarding the first prong,