Evidence
for Abiding; 1 John 4:1-6
In
Galatians chapter five we get a list of the fruit of the Spirit. As we look at
that list we recognise that an evidence is produced in
the life of the believer that is related to the character of Christ. As the
believer advances in spiritual growth he does so on the basis of two things: a)
the teaching and filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18) fills us, and we are commanded to be filled by means of the
Holy Spirit. The emphasis there is not that the Holy Spirit is the content of
the filling but that He is the agent, the instrument, of the filling. We are
filled by means of the Holy Spirit. The Greek uses a dative clause there
indicating instrumental means. So the Holy Spirit fills us with something and
what He fills us with is what Paul refers to are the parallel passage in
Colossians 3:16, the Word of Christ. So it is the Spirit of God plus the Word
of God that produces maturity in rhe child of God. We can’t get there any other
way than through those facets.
What
John is saying in 1 John chapter four is similar and yet different.
It is fascinating to make a comparison between John and Paul because they use
completely different vocabulary and they come with a slightly different
perspective. This is because these are two completely different personalities
involved. As we have seen, the main body of this epistle began in 2:28. There
John is introducing his main theme, and that is how believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ can have confidence at His appearing. Then we have the section which
goes from 2:29-3:10a we have the repetition of the Greek word phaneroo which indicates that sooner or
laster our life is going to be manifested before the appearance of Jesus Christ
and we have to be ready. From 3:10b-23 emphasises the priority of Jesus’
command to love one another. Then in verse 24 John uses the word “abide”,
again. It takes us right back to 2:28 where the main command is to abide in Him
so we won’t be
ashamed at His coming. To 1 John 3:24 is going to restate the key idea here
so that we are reminded of what he is talking about. The question is: How do we
do that? The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, so abiding is
related to obedience. When we are disobedient we are not abiding. 1 John 1:9 resumes the abiding.
Then
John says: “We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has
given us.” If we look at that phrase “we know by this,” if what follows can
hang by itself then we know “by this” applies to what he said before. But this
is a dependent clause, an explanatory clause. So what John is asking is: How do
we know that we are abiding? Because of the Spirit whom He
has given us. What John is referring to here is not the indwelling of
God the Holy Spirit but the filling of God the Holy Spirit because, as we have
seen, there is a correlation between abiding in Christ and the filling of the
Spirit. What we see here in verse 24 is that we know if we are abiding. How? Because of the Spirit whom He has given us. What is the
Spirit doing? If we are walking by the Spirit the Spirit is producing the fruit
of the Spirit. That is one way we know. But John is going to go on and say that
there are other evidences of that abiding relationship.
1
John 4:1 NASB “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone
out into the world.” The point that John is making is that not only is abiding
related to the fruit production of God the Holy Spirit but abiding or
fellowship is also related to sound doctrine. So fellowship isn’t just
something that is relational, it isn’t just something that is broken because of
sin; it is something that must be based on sound doctrine. If you don’t believe
the right things you can’t have fellowship with God. The question arises: How
correct does one’s doctrine have to be to have fellowship? Do you have to have
every detail in line or not? No, because the issue that John is focusing on is the foundational issues such as the Trinity. If you don’t
believe in the Trinity you don’t have a saviour who is fully God, undiminished
deity united with true humanity. If you have a Jesus who is somehow God but He
really didn’t appear as a man (Gnosticism) then Jesus couldn’t die physically,
because the Gnostic idea was that God couldn’t be united in a physical body.
The word “spirit” in this verse has to do with thinking: test every mode of
thought, every expression of thought. The end of verse 6 says: “By this we know
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” We know grammatically that this
“by this we know” refers to what he said previously. It speaks of the
evaluation covered in verses 5, 6. It is talking about thinking. How do we know
that the thought is true or false? That is in context how John is using the
term “spirit.” The word “test” is dokimazo,
which means to evaluate for the purpose of determining what is correct.
This is not a harsh judgment.
“Whether they are of God” – ek plus theos,
whether it has its source in God. This is not a statement of believer
versus unbeliever but whether or not what somebody is teaching has its origin
in God and is the truth or has its origin in man and is not the truth.
1
John 4:2 NASB “By this you know the Spirit of God:…”
That is a break and should have a period after it, not a colon or
semi-colon. What follows the word
“God” in v. 2? “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God; [3] and every spirit [teaching] that does not confess
[acknowledges] Jesus is not from God.” Does that sentence stand alone? Yes, it
does. It is an independent clause and that means that “by this you know”
doesn’t refer to the phrase “every spirit” and following, but it refers to
verse 1. How do we know the Spirit of God? By testing the spirits, by
evaluating what is taught. So evaluation presupposes a frame of reference. To
get a frame of reference you have to have spent time studying the Word of God.
We are to develop that frame of reference in our souls so that we can evaluate
what is being taught and use Scripture as the standard. We must remember that
in verse 2 John uses the phrase “of God” not to refer to salvation but to
relate to his spiritual status, whether he is walking by the Spirit, abiding in
Christ, or not. “… this is the
{spirit} of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now
it is already in the world.” This is the same kind of teaching that is going to
characterise that of the Antichrist, i.e. the future world ruler who is going
to come as the substitute messiah.
The
spirit of the antichrist is the denial of who Jesus Christ is. This is the same
teaching as the antichrist, the one who dies that Jesus is the Messiah.
Then
in 2 John 7 he adds something to this: NASB “For many deceivers have
gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ {as} coming
in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” What is interesting is
that he uses this phraseology “gone out into the world.” They were somewhere
else before they were in the world. If you are already in the world you don’t
go out into the world. That raises the question: if they went out into the
world, where were they before they were in the world? That means that he is
talking about believers who have succumbed to false teaching. These were not
unbelievers. The principle he is articulating here is that these false teachers
were they who had come from within the context of the apostolic body. Cf. 1 John 2:19.
1
John 4:4 NASB “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 is
another test, another contrast, and he is addressing these believers. The congregation
he is addressing has not succumbed to the false teaching. “You are of God,”
still abiding and still walking by means of the Spirit; “overcome them,” i.e.
have not allowed them to deceive you. They have overcome the deception of this
false doctrine that Jesus did not come in the flesh; “because greater is He who
is in you than he who is in the world.” This is a fascinating verse because so
often we want to take it out of context. He is not talking about salvation or
positional reality at this point, although it is implied here; he is talking
about the fact that they are able to overcome false doctrine because their
relationship with God the Holy Spirit and they are using this in such a way
that they are able to overcome the false teaching that is coming out of the
cosmic system, i.e. that Jesus is not the Messiah. When he states this and
says, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because,”
this is a truism, a gnomic principle, i.e. a principle that is a general truth
that is true at all times. So he is taking this principle “greater is He who is
in you than he who is in the world” and is applying it to the situation.
It
is full of meaning. Who is “in you”? The Holy Spirit, and that is a reference
to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the principle that the Holy Spirit’s
power is greater than the one that empowers the world. You can apply this
particular passage to the issue of demon possession of the Christian, that
because the one who is in you is greater than Satan, greater than the demons,
you don’t need to worry about that. But that is an application of the
principle. In context that is not how John is using it. John is using this to
tell then that the reason they have overcome the false teaching, the spirit of
error, is because they have been walking by the Holy Spirit, they have been
abiding in Christ, they have been assimilating doctrine, and they have been
testing these false teachings. So on the basis of that they have because of the
application of the Spirit in their own life they have been able to overcome the
teaching that was coming out of the world system.
Then
we come to the last test, a contrast between the believer who is operating on
divine viewpoint, the revelation of God incorporated in His Word, and the
believer who is operating on cosmic thinking, i.e. the thinking of the world. 1
John 4:5 NASB “They are from the world; therefore they speak {as}
from the world, and the world listens to them.” They are from the world, ek tou kosmou, from the source of the
world and therefore they speak as from the world. 1 John 2:16 NASB
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
[17] The world is passing away, and {also} its lusts; but the one who does the
will of God lives forever.” These false teachers are from the world. Their
thinking originates from the world and is consistent with the human viewpoint
thinking of the world and therefore the world listens to them. This is because
they haven’t exchanged doctrine for their false human viewpoint. Remember the
principle in Romans 12 is that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our
mind. We have to exchange that human viewpoint that we have in our soul for the
divine viewpoint of Scripture. That is how we progress in spiritual growth.
Those who fail to are still going to be attracted to the world.
1
John 4:6 NASB “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he
who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth
and the spirit of error.” The mark of the abiding believer is positive
volition. He is responsive to those who are teaching the truth. If you are not
abiding in Christ then you are not going to be responsive to those who are
teaching the truth, but if you are abiding in Christ then you are going to be
responsive to those who are actively teaching the truth of the Word of God.
In
this section John gives us several examples of how we can see the manifestation
of the Holy Spirit in our own lives and as we perceive the manifestations of
the Spirit in our own lives through the fruit of the Spirit and through correct
doctrine we can know whether or not we are prepared to stand before Jesus
Christ at the judgment seat of Christ when he appears at the Rapture.