Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1 NKJV)
Indeed, this is the age of ‘cunning voices’, as people from all walks of life are claiming to have ‘The Truth’; yet, much of what is said by them does not agree with the Truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Of course, this doesn’t exclude people who refer to themselves as ministers or teachers of the gospel. For there are many leaders within the Church who, while under the influence of devilish spirits, are rending the faith of many asunder, and are therefore drawing people away from “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”—Jesus Christ.
Jesus warned us of such people when He said,
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15 NKJV)
In other words, Jesus’ point here is that just because someone appears to look pious on the surface, that doesn’t mean they aren’t filled with lies and deceit. Therefore, it is not wise to trust in mere appearances. That is, it isn’t safe to just look at what a minister or teacher of the gospel is doing and conclude that they’re walking with God simply because they appear to be friendly or intelligent. In fact, even if they perform what appears to be a miracle that still wouldn’t be enough to prove that they are who they are claiming to be. After all, even demons can perform signs and wonders.
Jesus said,
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV)
It is evident from Jesus words that not all things are as they appear to be.
Now then, since these ravenous wolves so cunningly make it appear to look like they are for Christ when they really aren’t, what can we do to safeguard ourselves from being spiritually seduced by them? How do we identify who they are?
The Bible says,
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:6-10 NKJV)
Notice how John speaks of ‘practicing the truth’ and ‘confession of sin’ here. The idea that he is bringing to our attention here is that when we become acquainted with the Truth as it is in Jesus Christ, we will likewise recognize our need for it and will therefore live in such a way as to conform to it, and thus allow Him to be the “author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved (Jn. 14:6). Therefore, if we are going to receive Life Eternal, we must first pledge our allegiance to God and acknowledge our need for Him through confession of sin, so that we might allow Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. For it doesn’t matter how altruistic or philanthropic a person is, without Jesus Christ all of our works are as filthy rags when it comes to salvation (Isa. 64:6). To put it simply, you will not find salvation in your good deeds, but only in Jesus Christ.
And if we truly want to abide in Him, we will allow His righteousness to so envelope our lives that we will no longer walk in darkness; instead, we will walk in the light as He is in the light. Meaning, we will strive to be like Him in character. Thus, we won’t just talk about His righteousness; we will disclose it in our works and encourage others to embrace everything that He stands for.
With that being said, if those who claim to be spokespeople for God deny that we have to live by and uphold the teachings of Jesus Christ in this way, then they are not speaking according to the Spirit of God and can’t be trusted to teach us what God would have us to know about Him and His will for us. For if a man has been appointed by God to lead His people, his message will be one of repentance and love, not moral compromise.
There is no excuse for ignorance either, because God has not left us in the dark on these things. For it is written,
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)
I like Paul’s usage of the words ‘all’ and ‘complete’ here, as they connote the idea that half-truths are not acceptable to God. In other words, if we are going to serve Him then we need to receive Him as He is, not adding to or taking anything away from His expressed will. But Paul doesn’t stop at that point; he also suggests that if anyone wants to know God’s will they will search the Holy Scriptures and apply their teachings to their lives, and thus discover and experience the truth as it is in Jesus. That is, they will uphold and live by the ‘truths’ that are written in the Bible because it is inspired by God. Fir He not only uses it as a means to disclose what we ought to believe, but also reveals in it how we should behave in order to be complete in Him and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are to be used as a measuring rod to test the spirits—to identify if those who claim to be speaking for God are actually speaking according to and living by the Truth as it is in Jesus Christ. If anyone who calls himself a man of God tells you that he has been appointed by the Holy Spirit to teach you ‘the Way’, but does not speak according to the ‘Word’, then you should not accept their teaching as coming from God. Rather, you should use the Bible as a means to correct them, and if they refuse to be admonished in this way, then have nothing to do with them, because the Bible says,
Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11 NKJV)
Of course, what this means then is that we need to be diligent to study the Bible on a regular basis so that we will receive the eye salve that is needed to discern these wolves who are dressed in sheep’s clothing. Therefore, be very careful with what you do with your time; guard it well! Don’t waste hours away doing things that won’t help you to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead, give Him the center of your attention all of the time.
In the Day of Judgment no excuse will suffice to justify the omission of carrying out this most important work. If we are deceived by these ravenous wolves we won’t have anyone else to blame but ourselves for being too lazy to not do what we knew we should have done to prevent ourselves from being deceived by them.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV)
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