Whenever we have been taught to believe an idea or concept that most people accept as truth, but without testing it, without looking at the concept on it’s merits, then we are no doubt what God told us to do.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have done out into the world. But this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses the Jesus Christ had come in the flesh is 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 you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world“ -1 John 4:1-6
John was fighting against those false teacher of the 1st century AD who were teaching that Jesus was only a man, or only had the appearance of a man, and was not actually from God. So John was speaking of men who taught error, the spirits and minds of men.
The souls of men, the breath and the word of men, the mind of men as opposed to the breath and word of God. The context of 1 John 4 contrasts the spirits of false prophets with the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit. False prophets are people who speak falsely, spreading untruths.
People and their words are the spirits to test. We are to test, prove and examine the words of God’s Spirit. But how many times do we do this, or just take their word to heart as truth.
“The Lord of Hosts says, Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity. They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” – Jeremiah 23:16.
Jesus said they come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15). Peter said they were already among them in the 1st century AD (2 Peter 2:1. And Paul called Elymas the sorcerer a child of the devil, full of deceit and trickery, perverting the right ways of the Bible in Acts 13:6-10.
We cannot rely on what men say. Especially false teachers and prophets that use God’s name to lend err to truth to their words, stealing God’s word (Jeremiah 23:30).
So, whatever we hear, we have to test and Prove what men say against what God says. There is only one way to do that, find out what God says about it. Examine everything to see if it’s the truth.
There are too many people who are content to let the other “spirits” tell them what to believe, and what to think. They are following the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Don’t become so indoctrinated in your own creeds that when shown what the Word of God actually says that you will deny it and deny Christ.
We can only do this by learning the Word God, and by going directly to the source to see what God Word says. And that means we have to be willing to clear our minds of every other thought we might have or we might believe and only focus on what God’s Word says.
From Pity to Praise 