Is it real or is it fake? When a bank wants to teach a teller how to discern if money is counterfeit, they do so by having them handle a lot of real money. The teller’s hand becomes so sensitive to real money that when a counterfeit touches their fingertips, they automatically know it is a fake. The same thing goes for a believer. We don’t become an expert in false teachers or evil spirits by being around them but by immersing ourselves in God’s word and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Knowing the real God teaches us to discern the fake ones.
1 John 4:2-4
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Which One Is It?
It is easy for a Christian to forget that there is a spiritual battle raging between to Spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist. John gives us some clues on how to discern which spirit we are dealing with. If the spirit confesses that Jesus came in the flesh, it’s from God, if it doesn’t then it is from the spirit of the antichrist. There are a lot of people who will tell you that Jesus was a good teacher and did a lot for the poor but they won’t acknowledge that he is God. At the same time, people will tell you that there is a God but that he didn’t come in the flesh.
Children of God
You are a child of God. Nothing can take that away from you; nothing can defeat you. When you are part of his family, you can understand and sense the things of the Spirit. While your opponent (the world) may seem more massive and more powerful than you, what’s inside of you is so much more significant. We serve the Almighty God! He has overcome the world thru the atoning death of his son, Jesus Christ. We overcome the world by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.
We Are Overcomers
Not only are we his children but we are overcomers. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We have overcome the spirit of antichrist by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. We have overcome the penalty of our sin by the human blood of Jesus Christ. Stand steadfast in his strength today.