First John 3:24

In First John chapter one, we were told some important truths about abiding in Christ. You cannot abide in Christ unless you confess your sins. You can abide in Christ because He is merciful and forgives sins. But keeping His commandments is also an important part of abiding in Christ. The Bible says in First John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” Nowhere in the New Testament does God look away from the sins of Christians. Christians are constantly warned about the negative consequences of sins. Judgment begins at the house of God. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” In chapter five of First John we will be told that even death happens as a consequence to sin. The best way to stay in fellowship with Christ is to keep His commandments.

How do you know that you are saved? How do you know that Christ is your Savior? How do you know that God is in you? The Apostle John says in this verse that we know “by the Spirit which he has given us.” One of the big differences between a believer and an unbeliever is the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you truly have been converted to Christ, then the Holy Spirit came upon you on the day of your salvation. The Holy Spirit will always be with you. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. The Holy Spirit is your teacher. That is what the Bible says in First John 2:20, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” If you are of God, then the Spirit will reveal that to you. Learn to listen to the Spirit. He will tell you wonderful things with words which cannot be uttered. He will tell you about Jesus, and He will tell you about your relationship with Jesus.

Every Christian as they learn to follow the Lord, should also learn how to listen to the Spirit and listen for the Spirit. Surely a mature Christian can tell when the Spirit is speaking to them, and when He is not. You must be led by the Spirit, or you will be led by your selfish will. One very important thing that you must learn in regards to listening to the Spirit has to do with religious teachers. A few teachers will have the Spirit of God, but many will not. You had better be able to recognize the difference or you will be an easy prey for those teachers who are not of God. The Bible says in First John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

Notice that it says that there are “many false prophets,” and notice that the false prophets are “gone out into the world.” In other words they have spread out. Their influence is far and wide. Most people think that the false prophets are in every denomination, but their own. Because of this verse and others like it, and because of what can be heard and seen, we can conclude that there are false prophets in every denomination. It is not just the liberals who have the false prophets. The conservatives and fundamentalists have their share. “It is the last time...even now are there many antichrists.” You might say, “How do you know they are false prophets? How did you tell the difference between the false and the true?” The way that that you can know is by doing what John said to do here in First John 4:1. Try the spirits to see if they are of God. The Spirit of God will let you know if you learn to listen to Him. It will help if you know the scriptures.

There are a couple of important things to consider to determine what spirit someone is of. The first thing has to do with one of the themes of First John: love (love for God and love for man, especially love for believers.) Those are the two greatest commandments, Jesus said. Surely someone who is of the Spirit of God will emphasize those two great commandments, and they will do it in such a way that the Spirit will let you know that they did it in the right way. The second thing to use to determine if someone is of the Spirit of God is how they refer to the Lord Jesus. The Spirit of God reveals Jesus. The Spirit of God glorifies Jesus. The Spirit of God speaks of Jesus. That is what Jesus said the Spirit would do when the Spirit came. Jesus said in John 16:14 concerning the Spirit, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Those religious speakers who glorify themselves or some other man are not of the Spirit of God. Try the spirits to see if they are of God.

Another way of knowing if a teacher is of God is by what they teach concerning who is Jesus Christ. The Bible says in First John 4:2-3, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. ” Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. That phrase speaks of both the deity and the humanity of Christ. In the first century the humanity of Christ was attacked. In our day it seems that the deity of Christ is attacked by the opponents of the Gospel. “Jesus Christ is come:” that speaks of His pre-existence. Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end. Jesus Christ is the alpha and the omega. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” The great God took upon Himself the likeness of man. In every way He was a man as well as God. He is the god-man. There is none other like Him. He is the only begotten of the Father. Only those born of Him know Him. His sheep know Him, and they hear His voice.

Those who do not know cannot speak of Him. They do not know the god-man. They speak, but they do not speak of the Christ, because they are not of Him. They are of another spirit. As the Bible says here, they are of “that spirit of antichrist.” The reality of the world in which we live is that the spirit of antichrist has already come: “even now already is it in the world.” But the children of God have nothing to fear. They are safe in the arms of Jesus. The Bible says in First John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” There is a great spiritual war raging for the souls of men. It is wonderful to be on the winning side. The final outcome is known beforehand. That is the significance of the words “have overcome.” The victory has already been secured by Jesus. You did not win the victory, but you enter into it because of your Savior. There is a great truth to remember here to cast away all fear of the powers of darkness: “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Why do the false teachers have such an influence over people? One reason is given in First John 4:5. It says, “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” The false teachers have a message that resonates with those who are not spiritually minded. They will have a message of materialism, or a message of emotionalism, or a message of prejudices, or a message of paranoia: something that will resonate with the people to whom they are speaking. They are very good speakers. The devil usually does not allow poor or ungifted speakers to be his teachers. It seems that only congregations of modern Christian churches allow that. Since the greater number of people are not spiritually minded, and since the greater number of people are of the world, usually more people will follow false teachers than will follow true teachers. Be careful of being impressed by large crowds. You might find out that you are being impressed by those who are going to listen to an antichrist.

Remember that Jesus said, “My sheep know me, and hear my voice, and a stranger’s voice they will not know.” If you are of the truth, you will be attracted to the truth. If you are attracted to something that is not the truth, then that tells you what spirit you are of. The Holy Spirit had John put it this way in First John 4:6, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us: he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” You do not have to argue the truth, just declare it. If you are of God, your words will be received by those who are of God; and your words will be rejected by those who are not of God. It worked that way with Jesus Himself when He walked the earth. The servant is not greater than his Lord.

In the next verse John begins writing once again about Christians having love for one another. Perhaps John is purposefully tying Christian love to what he just had said. And John had just spoken of “the spirit of truth,” and “the spirit of error.” Those who are of the truth love their brothers and sisters in Christ (all of them). Those who are not of the truth do not love all of the sons of God. John wrote by the Holy Spirit in First John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

Of course, the last phrase of verse eight is a very well-known description of God. “God is love.” We can infer from this that all true love comes from God. If someone loves you, it is because God gave them love for you. Wherever you have love, there is God. Whenever you show love, God is showing love through you. The way to find your one, true love in the world is to follow God. Through the paths of your life, God will lead you to your love, because God is love. God has many ways of showing His love for you. Perhaps it will be partly through the person that you marry, and perhaps not. But if you continue to walk with the Lord, you will eventually experience more of His great love: the love that motivated Jesus to go to the cross of Calvary for you. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said about the love of God in Ephesians 3:17-19, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The Apostle John wrote that what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary is the great proof of His eternal love for us. John wrote in First John 4:9-10, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” It is an amazing thing that the Father sent the Son to die. Most parents, maybe every parent, would die to keep their own children from such a fate. Even those who watch their sons go off to war hope that they will return safely. But God sent His Son to die because of His love for you. God does not have to do anything else to prove that He loves you. He already did the greatest thing possible: He died for you.

Notice the phrase in First John 4:9, “that we might live through Him.” Life is found in Christ. Life is not found in the activities of life. Life is not found in the entertainments of life. Life is found in Christ. Paul wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Life is found “through” Christ. For such a statement to be true, it means that Christ is the giver of life. Whoever does not know Christ, does not have life. This statement also means that in order to experience life moment by moment the way it was meant to be, you must learn to live through Christ moment by moment. Learn to abide in Christ moment by moment. Only then are you living life. In John 15:4 Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”

The Apostle John wrote in First John 4:11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” This verse states the theme of chapters three and four very well. John calls the other believers “beloved.” We are all beloved of God with a great, eternal love. The conclusion is obvious: “we ought to love one another.” We have an obligation to love one another because we have received God’s love. It would be wrong to have received God’s love through Christ and then to not show that love to God’s other children. One of the signs of a cult is that they only love the ones in their own group. Christians should love every Christian no matter what group they are in. If Christ is in you, then the love that God has for all of His children must be in you also.

___________________________________________________