By Kenny Bruce
Pastor Emeritus, Leawood East Baptist Church, Memphis
Focal Passage: I John 3:19-4:4
Our world is inundated with false teachers. We must walk in victory and remain vigilant in order to detect the difference between true and false teaching.
I. VICTORY OVER CONDEMNATION (vv. 19-22) Because of our old nature, our hearts continue to condemn us even though God set us free from condemnation when we were saved (Romans 8:1). Our conscience tells us sometimes that we are not competent and may cause us to feel defeated, guilty or worthless and unappreciated.
To believe those lies annuls our effectiveness as Christians and may even cause us to doubt our salvation. The remedy is knowing the truth (Ch. 3:19) which issues into acts of love (vv. 18, 23), especially to anyone who has injured us. Jesus commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Since God is greater than our condemning hearts, He gives us the power to forgive, to bless, to help, to return evil with good, and to affirm and encourage those who’ve hurt us. Deeds of love and answered prayer give us victory over our condemning hearts (Ch. 3:21-22).
Kenny Bruce
II. VICTORY OVER DOUBT (vv. 22-24) Prayer is the expression of our dependence on God to answer our prayers. Rather than doubting, we have the assurance that He will answer them (v. 22). God may answer our requests by meeting our needs, satisfying our hearts, accomplishing our desires, delivering us, vindicating us, revealing His will, directing our paths, giving us a way of escape, or doing for us what we could never do. God has no limit. He promises, “Whatever we ask, we receive” (v. 22). The conditions for answered prayers are that we obey His commandments, do what pleases Him (v. 22), love one another (v. 23), and ask according to His will (Ch. 5:14-15).
III. VICTORY OVER ERROR (Ch. 4:1-4) God commands Christians to “test the spirits” (v. 1). We must discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. The first test is to discern the speaker’s Christiology. Does he believe in the incarnation and deity of Jesus? If so, he is teaching divine truth because he believes that Jesus is God who came in the flesh (v. 2). Any spiritual teaching that leaves out the deity of Jesus is not from God (v. 2) and is reflective of the spirit of the antichrist (v. 3). The second test is discerning the genuineness of the speaker’s conversion from the fruit he exhibits. God is greater in him than Satan who is in the world (v. 4). Because he possesses God’s life, he is demonstrating characteristics of his regeneration.
When a false teacher says something that contradicts Scripture, the Holy Spirit says to us, “That is not right.” The Spirit is expressing His protective influence which gives us victory over the evil one. We need to examine all Christian teaching and preaching to see if it is based on the deity of Christ and if it is being taught by a Spirit-filled person. Praise God, His truth protects us from the lies of the enemy and enables us to walk in victory over condemnation, doubt and error. B&R — Bruce is pastor emeritus of Leawood East Baptist Church in Memphis.
