Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 4:1 - 4:3

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 4:1 - 4:3


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Attitude of Christians toward False Teachers and toward One Another.

The false prophets:

v. 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

v. 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God;

v. 3. and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of Anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.

Having emphasized the righteousness of life and the need of brotherly love, the apostle now takes up the matter of anti-Christian seduction once more: Beloved, not every spirit believe, but examine the spirits whether they are of God, for many false prophets are gone out into the world. The words "prophets" and "spirits" are here used as synonyms, both of them signifying preachers. Prophets are preachers. Good prophets are preachers through whom the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, teaches and preaches, whether it be by direct inspiration, as in the Old Testament, or whether it be by the teaching of the pure Gospel, as in the case of all true ministers today. In that sense they are spirits. But the Christians are here warned to use all care, to be on the lookout in ceaseless vigilance; for unfortunately not every man that claims to be a true prophet is able to present such credentials as the Word of God demands in such a case. These men, who presume upon the rights and duties of true Christian ministers, go out into the world, they display a remarkable missionary activity, they make the most strenuous attempts to gain adherents for their false tenets. Therefore Christians, as they value their soul's salvation, must examine, test, such spirits and their doctrines, whether they are of God. The mere pretense, the name, the glamour must not hold their attention. It surely does not pay even to listen to the spirits of darkness. Note: The very fact that false prophets come to the houses without invitation and try to insinuate themselves into the good graces of some member of the household, brands these men as outlaws in the Christian Church. They should be turned away without a hearing.

The apostle shows wherein the test of the spirits, of the preachers, consists: In this you recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that of Anti-Christ, of whom you have heard that he is coming, and he is even now in the world. The Christians must look for evidences of the Spirit of God, for a proof that He is present in the work of the men that profess to be guided by His wisdom. One of the fundamental facts of Christianity is the doctrine that Jesus Christ came into the world, became flesh. That is the touchstone which enables the believers to distinguish between true and false teachers. For in this doctrine is included the confession that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who, according to the promise given by God, became man, and by His vicarious suffering and death, and by His victorious resurrection and ascension merited our righteousness and salvation. He that accepts and confesses these truths unequivocally, with all that they imply, may be considered a preacher from God. But every professed teacher in the Church or outside of the Church that denies the incarnation of the eternal Son of God; that denies that Jesus Christ is our only righteousness and salvation; every one that teaches that we, in order to be saved, should not trust in Christ and in His merits alone, but also in our own works: such a man is not of God. Such a one can be put down at once as having the spirit of Anti-Christ in him, for even in those early days of the Church this spirit, which has now reached its culmination in popery and all the related sects, was rearing its head. Truly, the anti-Christian spirit whose working was noticeable even at the end of the first century has made rapid strides forward, and all true Christians cannot be cautioned too strongly against his insidious power.