Devotional: 1 John 4:1-6

Today’s passage: 1 John 4:1-6

Helpful thoughts:

• When a preacher, teacher, or a radio or television station call themselves Christian, we cannot automatically and passively accept that everything they say is good, biblical, and glorifying to God.
  • If a person has built a following, that does not automatically mean they are teaching the truth.
    • There are godly teachers with large and small “followings”.
    • There are false teachers with large and small “followings”.
• John did not write, “There might be a few false prophets.”  He wrote, “There are many false prophets.”
• The tests given for our discretion:
  • The Christology Test
    • Does the person believe that Jesus, the Son of God, came in the flesh? (Verses 2-3 – Do they believe what the Bible says about Jesus?)
  • The Gospel Test
    • Are their followers believers in the Gospel or are they lost people practicing religion? (Verse 5 – What do they believe/teach about the Gospel?)
  • The Bible Test
    • Are they and their followers learning and obeying the Scriptures or something else? (Verse 6 – How do they respond to the truth in the Word of God?)

Questions to consider:

1. What must we continue to learn in order to grow in wisdom and discernment concerning various teachers and preachers (Or even Television or Radio personalities)?
2. Why does it make sense that false teachers could be “successful” in this world?  How do we often measure success in ministry that could be deceiving?
3. Why can the Christian be confident even while we know there are many false prophets out there?  Where does our security lie?