Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Ezra 1-2, 1 John 4
Happy Monday Everyone!
I really enjoyed today's 1 John reading. It is a familiar passage but the message is just as relevant today as it was the day it was written. Beware of false teachings - and false teachers!
1 John 4:1-6
1 Dear friends, 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. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
I love what John MacArthur says about this passage here:
We are continually warned against error and the corruption that comes with it because that is precisely the strategy of the kingdom of darkness. God reveals the truth in the world and Satan counters with lies. If you want to know what spiritual warfare is, I can define it for you very simply. It is the battle between the truth and error. That is what's spiritual warfare. It's not chasing demons around, that is not a true understanding of spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is the battle for the mind. It is the battle between truth and error.
It is so important for us to constantly search out the truth. It is our only true defence and shield against the false teachings of this world. The people and false prophets around us will claim many things as truth. They will fill us with error-filled teachings, convincing us of so many "nice-sounding" teachings. What is our protection against this? How do we war against this corruption that so many fall innocently into?
We arm ourselves with the truth. The never changing, ever solid truth of God. It says so, right in verse 6 -
6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (emphasis mine).
See that - we must KNOW GOD to be able to discern the truth from error. And that my dear friends, is another good reason for why we are doing what we are doing with this blog. A group of faith-filled, truth-seeking Jesus girls with open hearts to know God's truth.
Tomorrow's passage: Ezra 3-4, 1 John 5
2 comments:
Amen to that!
Discernment was exactly one of the biggest reasons this blog was started. Great post!
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