You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free- John 8:32 NASB

The book of 1st John was written by the Apostle John (Matthew 4:20-21, Matthew 17:1, Mark 5:37), from the city of Ephesus sometime around 90-95 A.D.  John was a very old man (late seventies or early eighties) when he wrote the book and the last living apostle. 

 The book of 1st John is a New Testament book I classify as “swan songs”. The term “swan song” is not a real theological term (I made it up). “Swan song” is actually a fancy-pants literary term for a farewell work or someone’s famous last words. John’s three letters as well as 2nd Peter and 2nd Timothy are swan songs because they were all written near the end of the apostle’s lives. Like all the swan songs John wrote 1st John with his impending death at the forefront of his mind. His overarching goal was to communicate critical truths that he hoped would empower followers of Jesus to survive and thrive in a world that would soon be devoid of apostolic wisdom. 

 John (and nearly every other New Testament writer) was deeply concerned about false teachers (sometimes called prophets) who had already begun to infiltrate the church and teach things that bore no resemblance to sound doctrine (Matthew 7:14, Matthew 24:11, Acts 20:28-30, 2nd Peter 2:1, 1st Timothy 1:1-3). John wanted his readers to understand the importance of practicing discernment where Christian teaching is concerned.   In John 4:1 the apostle says this:

 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 word for spirit in this verse means “breath” or “wind”. John is (in my opinion) echoing an idea the apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians. It says: 

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming- Ephesians 4:14

 John is warning his readers (us) that there will always be folks who appear to be legitimate spiritual leaders, but who are in reality false teachers. These folks blow a lot of weird doctrine around. It is critical Christians learn to discern genuine biblical teachings from spiritual hot air so that they would not be blown around and taken captive by false teachings. False teachings deceive God’s people into believing things that could lead to sin and/or a detachment from real faith (Colossians 2:18-19,1st Timothy 4:1). John’s concern begs a question: how do modern Christians discern between a good spiritual teacher or teaching and a bad spiritual teacher or teaching? This is important because nothing has really changed since John wrote his book. There are still a lot of false teachers blowing a lot of bad ideas around. Following are some questions to ask about all teachers, pastors and teachings we come across. Asking these questions help us discern between spirits. 

Is the teacher/prophet’s teaching or practice found in the Bible?

If not, proceed with extreme caution. God gave us the Bible for many reasons, one of those reasons is to give us some standards of practice in our churches. There is simply no substitute for actually knowing what the Bible says and understanding it’s precepts. The only way to get to know the Bible is to read it.  It is imperative believers get into the Bible and learn it for themselves. The most efficient way to get taken captive by bad teaching or mislead by a bad teachers is to have an incomplete or shallow understanding of the Bible. 

Is the practice the teacher is advocating for prescriptive or descriptive?  

There are two kinds of practices found in the Bible: prescriptive and descriptive. A prescriptive practice is something we are explicitly told to do in Scripture. There are many prescriptive practices found in Scripture. Communion (Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:19,1st Corinthians 11:24, baptism (Matthew 28:16-20), marriage between a man and a woman (Hebrews 13:4, Genesis 2:24) are a few such examples. Descriptive practices are things that happened but we are not explicitly told to do those things.  Jephthah sacrificing his daughter in Judges 11:34-35 and communal living (Acts 2:42-47 are examples of descriptive practices. If a teacher insists believers embrace a descriptive practice it is a flaming-red flag. Run. 

Is the leader honoring Jesus in their behavior? 

Our generation of believers has bought into the lie that any sort of moral judgment over any behavior is a grave sin, perhaps even the unpardonable sin. This view is based on Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:37). Jesus’ teaching is important but Scripture’s teaching on judgment is more nuanced than one verse. It is true that no one can judge whether or not a person is worthy of heaven. That’s God’s job alone. Nor should believers worry about the behavior of non-believers (1st Corinthians 5:12-13). Again, that’s all on God to judge.  However, Christians are TOLD TO make moral judgments about the behavior of those who profess Christ as Lord (1stCorinthians 5:1-11). Some things are simply not okay for Christians (1st Corinthians 6:9-11, 1st Tmothy 1:8-11, Galatians 5:19-21), especially Christian leaders (Titus 1:7-9, 1st Timothy 3:1-13. It’s not our job to condemn Christians living in blatant sin, nor are we to withhold forgiveness when they repent. However, we are told to avoid spending time with those living in stubborn sin until they repent (1st Corinthians 5:12, 1st Corinthian 15:33-34) because sin tends to be contagious (Jude 22-23). A Christian leader who is living in serious sin is not someone we should be following.

And finally:

Where might this teaching lead? 

The true test of a teaching is where it leads those who follow it. Good teaching leads to holiness, righteousness, love and biblical grace (1st Corinthians 13, Titus 2:11-12, 1st John 3:6-8, Hebrews 12:14). Bad teaching leads to low view of holiness and an extreme view of grace that really becomes an excuse for sin and loose living. We are living on the cusp of a great revival, whether or not we see genuine revival in our lifetime will depend largely on how which voices we listen to.  

 Let’s contend hard for the truth faith (Jude 3-4).