¹ Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. ² This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophetacknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. ³ But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

Test Them

It should be pretty obvious to most of you that I am a strong proponent of grace. I believe that in everything, we should err on the side of showing grace to those we come in contact with. Our role as believers is to extend unconditional love to everyone who crosses our path.

However, many confuse showing grace with letting anything go. As soon as you challenge something, you are accused of judging a person and lacking in grace. But is that accusation fair? It depends on what you are challenging.

You see, the Bible is clear that we are not to judge the heart of a person. Only God sees the heart. In fact, Jesus suggested that we will be judged using the same measuring stick that we judge others.

However, we are called to test the actions of others. Not to judge them as being worthy of God’s love or not (for none of us are “worthy” of God’s love … that’s why it’s grace). We are to test the words and actions of another to determine if what they are saying or doing lines up with what the Word of God says.

I meet a lot of Christians who never question anything. As a result, they buy into whatever someone says. And I think that’s a foolish way to live. There are a lot of popular teachers who are telling people really nice, spiritual things and yet I believe they are not teaching Jesus Christ, Son of God, crucified and rose again. If you don’t teach the truth about Christ, then your words are really just … words.

My prayer: Lord, help me to not just be someone who speaks what is popular. Help me to be someone who speaks what is true. And help me know the difference when I hear another speak. May I never judge a person’s heart, but I may I be wise in discerning what they say. Amen.

Until tomorrow.

²¹ Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. ²² And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

²³ And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. ²⁴ Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us

This Is His Commandment

I know it seems like I’m beating a dead horse. Especially for those who have been following along with our latest video series (either in person or by video). We are called to believe (and love) God and love others. If we’d simply do those two things, everything else would fall into place. Rather than focus on all kinds of do’s and don’ts, just put your energy into loving God and loving others.

It’s incredible to think how often people miss this. I mean, it should be fairly obvious by now, and yet for many, the religious trap is too difficult to avoid. We begin by loving God and loving others and before we know it, we’re adding all kinds of other rules and regulations. It’s as if we want it to be difficult to be successful in our spiritual journey. We want to make it hard so that we can pat ourselves on the back because of our hard work.

And so, religious people continue to miss the point. They want to do a bunch of things in order to be accepted by God. In order to earn God’s approval. So that they may be able to boldly enter the presence of God. And yet, God continues to point us back to the primal commandment: love God and love others. Two things we cannot do without the strength and leading of the Spirit of God. As God opens our hearts to loving the way we were designed to, we suddenly find ourselves able to enter his presence with confidence. God no longer is someone we avoid because of the fear of our own failure. Rather, we enter his presence confidence in the love that he has for us and the love we have for him.

My prayer: Lord, help me to avoid the trap of striving to do things in order to be good enough to enter your presence. May I never lose sight of the value of grace in my life. Because of grace, I can love you and others simply because of a desire to do so, and not a duty to perform. I’m accepted because of what you’ve done on my behalf. Thank you.

Until tomorrow.

¹⁴ If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

¹⁸ Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ¹⁹ Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. ²⁰ Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Actions

Let me start out by addressing the first part of today’s passage. The fact is that not only do murderers not have eternal life within them, but neither does anyone who has not turned their life over to God. I say that because I know some who like to relegate certain sins to a higher level than other sins. John isn’t doing that here. In fact, he’s doing the opposite. He’s trying to show that hatred is no different than murder. Both are sin because both pull you away from loving God and loving others.

But John is trying to drive home a point here. If you walk by that homeless person and show zero concern or compassion, then are you truly loving God and loving others? When you hear of an earthquake in another part of the world and simply shrug your shoulders and go about your happy existence, are you really loving God and loving others? If you curse that cop under your breath or think something nasty about the person of a different culture, are you really loving God and loving others? If you are only loving God and others on your terms … then are you really loving God and others?

Perhaps those questions help us understand even more what John was talking about the other day when he said that others would hate us in the same way that Cain hated Abel. You see, loving God and loving others requires an action on our part that takes us out of our comfort zone. It requires a willingness to step out and do things that are not always easy or fun to do.

But you can’t love God and love others without a willingness to get uncomfortable.

My prayer: Lord, I want to go wherever you call me to go and to love whomever you bring across my path. And yet, if I’m honest, there are times I fail miserably at doing just that. So, give me strength and a deeper desire to put action to my love for you. Amen.

Until tomorrow.