1 John | A Series About Abiding in Christ – Testing the spirits

1 John 4:1-6

The biblical warning against false teachers as a prevalent danger should lead believers in Christ to be humbly critical of ALL instruction with philosophical implications.

“Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” — Charles Spurgeon

Colossians 2:1-4

The test of sound teaching is: Does it have the gospel as it’s motivating and governing tenet?

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

While there are many anti-christian teachings we must identify and reject, the most pressing are those that claim relation to Christ but are ultimately man-centered or materialistic…

Matthew 7:15-18

Political ‘Christianity’ — overly preoccupied with earthly kings and kingdoms

Prosperity ‘Christianity’ — overly desirous of earthly health and wealth

Peculiar ‘Christianity’ — overly fixated on secondary doctrines or confused about primary ones

Pseudo-pious ‘Christianity’ — overly focused on religious appearances to the neglect of true faith

There is only one sure-fire way to grow in discernment and guard against false teaching: Listen committedly and consistently to the Word of God, over and above all else.

John 8:47, 10:27