War against false prophets

 War against false prophets

 

1 John 4:1『Beloved(Ἀγαπητοί), believe not every spirit, but try(dokimazete) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.』

Agapetoi (Ἀγαπητοί) means “you who are loved by God,” and dokimazete (δοκιμάζετε), to discern, means to thoroughly examine and judge well. The fact that many false prophets have emerged means that those who preach false gospels based on humanism, legalism, and gnosticism have entered the church community. The target of the believer’s spiritual warfare is not Satan, but the false prophets under Satan, and also the thoughts of their flesh. First, when looking at the false prophets, we must judge their spirits.

Chapter 4, Verses 2-3『Hereby know(Ginoskedeh) 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.』

Ginoskete (γινώσκετε) means to know (Hebrew: yada), and to become one through the Holy Spirit. It means that the heart works under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sarkis (σαρκὶ) is not flesh but flesh, and means incarnation. Incarnation means Emmanuel. We should not think of the incarnation as God, but as the human Christ. It means that God is present in the flesh. The born-again saints are also incarnated in Christ, and Christ has entered into the saints. (Jesus Christ came in the flesh) There are manuscripts that are missing this part. Of course, even if it is missing, we can see that it is an extension of the previous part in the context.

Those who do not believe in the Immanuel faith are the same as those who do not believe in the Immanuel of the saints. This means that they do not believe that the temple is built in the hearts of the saints in Christ and that Christ will return and enter that temple. Those who do not believe this are false prophets.

False prophets are not fluent in Hebrew or Greek, the original languages ​​of the Bible, or they think that the doctrines they learned in theological seminaries are the truth, or they interpret the Bible according to their own ideas based on humanism, legalism, and gnosticism and teach it to believers. As a result, the Word of God is distorted, resulting in strange results.

In Matthew 23:15, it says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." This is an expression that through distorted scriptures, it is like leading one into a pit rather than salvation.

Chapter 1 Verses 5-6 『They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.』

Words belonging to the world refer to the blessings of the world. All things that make us prosper and obtain material blessings in the world. Akuei hemon (ἀκούει ἡμῶν) means, "Hearing what we have." Hemon (ἡμῶν) is a possessive case, and its object is missing. It means, "Hearing about our ( )." ( ) is the Holy Spirit who conveys the truth. If you are not careful, you may think that they do not listen to John's words.

Those who are loved by God become those who give life to the spirit of their brothers. Love is what gives life to the spirit, and brothers encourage each other to live in spirit. Those who love do this with the power of the Holy Spirit. Knowing God (Ginoskeiγινώσκει) means that God and the saints become one in the Holy Spirit. The love of Agape, that is, God came to the world in the flesh and died on the cross, is to give life to the dead spirit. So it becomes the fruit of resurrection.

If I were to name one false doctrine in today’s church community, it would be “the death and resurrection of the cross.” Most believers today believe that “if you believe in Jesus, God forgives the sins of the believer through the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross.” However, there are three errors here. First, the believer does not believe in Jesus, but enters into the faith of Jesus. Therefore, it means “in Jesus Christ.” Second, “through the atoning death of Jesus Christ,” which means that the believer and Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, are united and die, resulting in atoning death. If they do not die together, the atoning death does not take place.

In the Old Testament, sinners killed sacrificial animals, sprinkled their blood on the altar, and burned their flesh. Sinners believed that the sacrificial animals and the sinners were united and died. Therefore, since the sacrificial animals died, sinners should realize that they are now born again. However, few realized this. Even today, we do not even understand the meaning of dying together. Romans 6:4『Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.』

Regarding “forgiveness of sins of believers,” this does not mean that only past sins are forgiven, but also present and future sins. Since sinners have died to the law through the sacrifice (Jesus Christ), there is no law that God can apply to sinners in the present and future. Romans 8:1-2『There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.』

Today, most churches begin their worship services by saying, “Confess all your sins of the past week and be forgiven by the blood of Jesus.” Then, when the pastor says, “Now, I gladly accept that all your sins are forgiven,” the congregation all responds with “Amen.” This is typical of legalism. Hebrews 10:1-5 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance of sins made again every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:”

Hebrews 10:6 says, “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.” And in 10:17-18, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” God has said this, but if believers do not believe this and continue to receive forgiveness of sins every day according to their own thoughts, they become those who kill Jesus on the cross every day. This is ultimately the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is against God. God knows well the weakness of the flesh because He personally experienced it. Believers must remember that they die every day, remember that they are born again with resurrection life, and diligently pursue the gospel.

Resurrection life is not the concept of the body being revived after death, but the concept of the spiritual being that died being revived spiritually. Therefore, resurrection is the death of the body and rebirth into a spiritual body. God breathes resurrection life into those who believe that they died on the cross with Jesus and gives them a spiritual body.