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NOVEMBER: Tests of Truth and Love

November 6

THE TEACHING OF THE ANTICHRIST

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth 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.
1 John 4:2-3

What is the teaching of the antichrist? It is not a denial of Christ—it is a misrepresentation of Christ; it is a teaching that either does something to Him or detracts something from Him. You remember how John put it; he said these people “went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19). They were in the church. The antichrists had arisen within the Christian church; they said they believed in Christ. And yet, says John, their teaching is such that we can prove that they do not truly believe in Him.

Now this is a very important principle to grasp. Merely for people to say, “Yes, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; I always have believed in Him” is not enough, until we have tested them further. The apostle Paul says that these people preached “another Jesus.” Ah, yes, they were preaching Jesus, but it was another Jesus; it was not the Jesus that Paul preached (2 Corinthians 11:4). They preached Christ, yes, but what sort of Christ, what kind of Jesus? That is the question.

Therefore we ask this question: How can we decide whether the teaching concerning Jesus Christ is true or false? And here the one answer is given perfectly clearly. Our ultimate authority, our only authority, is the apostolic teaching. That is the whole point of the first epistle of John.

A Thought to Ponder
The teaching of the antichrist is not a denial of Christ—it is a misrepresentation of Christ.

From The Love of God, pp. 29-30.




Today’s devo is taken from Walking with God Day by Day © 2003 by Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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