Test Every Spirit
1 John 4:1 (NLT) “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.”
There is no doubt in my mind that we are living in the last days. Jesus spoke about what will happen when that time approaches. This scripture mentions there will be a flood of individuals claiming they have the spirit of God. Or they are the anointed prophet or prophetess. The most popular title currently floating around is “Apostle such and such”. Let me be clear: I’m not against the title “Apostle.” The issue is people “claiming” to be Apostles, using the title to lure you into doing something completely contrary to God’s word. There are certain qualifications in carrying the title “Apostle”. Some of you may remember a cult leader named David Koresh from Waco, Texas. In 1993, he claimed to be the Messiah and misled several people into following his teachings.
The Bible states that YOU must test them to see if the spirit they proclaim is from God. 1 John 4:2-4 explains exactly what to look for:
1 John 4:2,3 (NKJV) “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 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.”
This is worth repeating because it is very important:
- Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is 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.
- Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
- But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God.
Do you see that these two statements are referencing Jesus’ deity and divinity? Many people and religions do not believe that Jesus is God, and He is God in the flesh. The second part of verse three (3) is the eye-opener. The spirit of the Antichrist is rampant. The Bible talks about the Antichrist as a person who is coming in the book of Revelation. But there is also the spirit of the Antichrist, already here. Antichrist means against Christ. How many other religions acknowledge that Jesus was born, but deny who He really is? They deny He died on the cross and deny that He rose from the dead. But the number one issue they have with Jesus Christ is acknowledging that He was God in the flesh.
There are many false prophets, false apostles, and false teachers in the world. They will mix the truth with a lie, and it will still appear to “look” like the truth. That is called deception. Don’t be deceived. Test every spirit.
Be Blessed!
Ron
Ron Cobbs Ministries © Copyright July 13th, 2026, All Rights Reserved