Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
John has just told his readers that God gave them His Spirit. Now he warns them: not every spiritual-sounding voice comes from God. Many false prophets are already at work, and ordinary believers — not officials — are the ones told to test them.
Why the Warning Comes Here
The order matters. The warning comes right after John mentions the Spirit given to believers.
At the end of 1 John 3 John mentions the Holy Spirit given to believers, and by this we know that God dwells in us. Right afterwards we find the work of the enemy: he sends many false prophets into the world, and we must test the spirits. Ever since the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the enemy's tactics have been those of spiritual imposture.
Where God gives something real, a counterfeit follows.
If God, in virtue of redemption, was pleased to give the Holy Spirit to the Christian in a measure and way which was not and could not be before Christ's death, resurrection and ascension, Satan set himself to counterfeit the heavenly gift, and thwart the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What the Test Is About
The verse does not ask you to decide whether a man is saved. It asks something narrower.
The task is not to work out who is a Christian. It is to discern the real character of those who claimed to speak in the Spirit. The enemy imitated that, and his power of subtle persuasion has been great ever since man's first temptation in the garden of Eden.
John writes of "spirits" rather than speakers, and that wording carries weight.
Here we learn that there are many false prophets who speak in the power of the spirit of error (literally, deceit). In all affection we are therefore urged to test the spirits. Of course we must believe that there are spirits. And men who preach by them are, in God's sight, identified with them — a fact of appalling solemnity.
Addressed to Every Believer
John does not hand this task to a few experts.
He appeals to every saint on his faith in Christ and in the word of God. He clears away all the polished reasoning and sentiment the enemy used to hide what was really at stake… They knew the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent, and they had the Spirit to help them. So, as simple children of God, they were responsible to prove what kind of spirit was at work in these new teachers — and by grace they were able to.
The duty reaches beyond those who teach.
The whole family of God are urged not to believe every spirit, but to test the spirits… Those who hear, as well as those who teach, need to take heed. Responsibility rests on all sides, and no one can escape it.
The Mark That Settles It
The next verse gives the test: confessing Jesus Christ come in flesh. That means owning the Person, not just agreeing with a fact of history.
Demons freely admitted that He had come in the flesh. But they never owned Him, and that makes an enormous difference. The government of a country would admit that a pretender had landed, but they would not own him. A rebel might admit that the king had come, when he could not help it. But owning him was another thing. That made a loyal subject.
Not Tested by the Speaker's Character
A common instinct is to trust a teacher because he seems good. Commentators warn that this replaces Scripture's authority with a man's reputation.
Do not let yourselves be misled by the common thought that men of God could not teach what is false. That sets a man's goodness up against the truth of the word of God… If you take men's goodness as security for their doctrine, you cannot do it.
Nor by the speaker's ability:
Suppose someone speaks by an evil spirit. He may be learned, his words may be eloquent, his tone may seem moral — yet in some form or other he will degrade Christ. Suppose someone speaks by the Holy Spirit. His words may be simple and he may be unlearned — yet he will exalt Christ.
Why the False Ones Spread So Easily
John says the false prophets went out "into the world" — and the world receives them gladly.
"Test the spirits!" is now the call. Since God gave the Holy Spirit, the enemy has tried in many ways to imitate His power and action, so we must put everything to the proof. One must not believe every spirit. As we have often noticed, the false prophets are always more popular than the true ones. There were many prophets of Baal in Elijah's time, and many are now gone out into the world.
Summary
- Gift — God gave His Spirit to believers. The warning about false prophets comes right after, because the enemy's method since Pentecost has been imitation.
- Counterfeit — Behind a preacher stands a spirit. God identifies the man with the spirit he speaks by. The question is not whether he is a Christian, but what speaks through him.
- Command — "Beloved" — the testing is laid on every believer. Those who hear are as responsible as those who teach, and grace makes even the simplest child of God able to do it.
- Criterion — The Person of Christ decides it. Demons admitted that He had come. Owning Him is another thing, and that is what marks the loyal subject.
- Caution — Never test by a man's goodness, learning or eloquence. Test by the Word, and watch whether Christ is exalted or degraded.