In 1 John 4:1-3 the apostle tells those whom he has led to Christ that they (we) must “test the spirits” of their (our) spiritual leaders, for not all who claim to be called by God were in fact called by Him.  Not every “call to the ministry” is placed by the Biblical God.  Judging by the messages preached throughout the world, 99% of “Christian ministers” took their “call to the ministry” from Satan.  Every minister is led by a spirit.  By testing his spirit we can determine whether it is God’s Holy Spirit or Satan’s Antichrist spirit that is leading him.  THE PRIMARY LEADERSHIP TEST to be used is found in verses 2,3 where John says that by THIS (test) we can know whose spirit is speaking the words we hear coming from the pulpit.  According to the disciple whom Jesus loved, “THIS” is the test: “Every spirit (minister) THAT CONFESSES THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH IS OF GOD,” meaning that the minister is led by the Spirit of God.  “And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ HAS COME in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist” which was in the world at that time working through Satan’s false prophets.  These Antichrist spirits are the “principalities and powers of the air” that “we (God’s saints) war against” to this day (Eph. 6:12).  These Antichrist powers (spirits) live in and speak through the false prophets who lead Satan’s global Catholic/Protestant church system today.  Note the word “confess” in the above passage.  Our words are our confessions of faith, belief, conviction, heart-set. What we say (confess) reveals what is in our heart (mind).  What is in our mind comes from either God or Satan.  THE CONFESSION TEST determines what is in a person’s mind, Biblically called the “heart.”

The key to understanding what John was referring to in verses 1-3 is found in two words: “HAS COME.” “Has come” is written in what is called the “present-perfect tense,” meaning that the act is continuously taking place–being manifested.  Christ’s manifesting Himself in the flesh (in human beings) has been on-going for some 2000 years. Note that John did not say that Jesus “CAME” in the flesh, which would have referred to the one-time act of His physical birth.  He is telling us that Jesus “HAS COME IN THE FLESH,” MEANING THAT HE LIVES IN HIS SAINTS TODAY in the form of His Holy Spirit.  He manifests Himself in and through them as they “walk as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6) while on earth.  This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the church at Colosse (1:27): “CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory (salvation–1 Thes. 5:8).  This is what Jesus said to Philip who had asked Him to “… show us the Father.”  He replied that, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” In the same way, when people see God’s true saints they are in fact  “seeing Jesus;” they are watching Him manifest (recreating) Himself in that person.  In this way Jesus “HAS COME” (remains and “walks”) IN THE SAINT’S FLESH.”  Both God and Christ live in the true saint in the form of Their Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:23).  Their Spirit will remain in that person as long as he obeys Them in word, thought and deed.  In this way the person proves that he is a son of God: “For as many as are led (from within) by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).  To be a true son of God one must have Father and Son living within him in the form of Their Spirit. The Spirit leads the saint to think, speak and act according to God’s “voice.”  Recall that Jesus said that even the words He spoke were given to Him by the Father (through the Holy Spirit): “… I have not spoken on My own, but the Father Who sent Me commands Me what I should speak … Therefore, whatever I hear, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (Jn. 12:47-50).  JESUS SPOKE WHAT THE FATHER TOLD HIM TO SPEAK THROUGH HIS SPIRIT.  The Spirit received God’s Words and relayed them to Jesus Who spoke them.  This was also true concerning His every thought and act.  Just as God was “in” the man called Jesus of Nazareth, He and Christ are “in” the obedient saint–FATHER AND SON “HAVE COME IN THE FLESH” AND REMAIN THERE IN THE FORM OF THEIR HOLY SPIRIT AS LONG AS THEIR HOST OBEYS THEIR LAW (THE BIBLE).  A repentant King David prayed that God would “not take your Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11) for having sinned. As I previously stated, WE pack our own parachute (live our lives). How we land (receive blessings or cursings) depends on how WE pack it.

Upon true conversion God places His Holy Spirit in the believer where It remains as long as It is obeyed.  At conversion the Lord “HAS COME IN THE FLESH” of the true believer.  As the next posting will reveal, this is where church sheep and goats are identified, where those in the “Thus saith the Lord” group are distinguished from the “thus saith the devil” group.  As the reader will see, the latter group outnumbers the former group millions to one.  L.J.