“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.” 1 John 4:2 NIV
A false teacher may be gentle and loving. They may speak prophecies that come true. They may even perform miracles or cast out demons or speak in tongues. The question is: do they lead people to follow a false god? John lays down the rule, “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” To confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh means to agree with that statement, but it also means something more. The demons all agree that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who has come in the flesh (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7). To confess this truth about Jesus implies submitting our lives to Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). Furthermore, John’s test requires believing in the true deity and humanity of Jesus. “Has come” implies His pre-existence as the eternal Son of God. Jesus stated His own pre-existence when He told the Jews, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8:58) Or, as John begins his gospel (John 1:1), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Declaring that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is Lord means that all His teachings, and all that He accomplished through His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost, has a life-transforming effect on our daily living and should point to the fact that He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour, and Lord, forever.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, let my acceptance of You as Saviour and Lord change lives.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord Jesus, by declaring that You are the eternal Son of God means that all Your teachings, and all that You accomplished through Your life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost, has transformed my daily living in such a way that others see that You are Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour, and Lord, forever. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
Jeremiah 31:1-13
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