On Trial

Every day someone is on trial.  Whether it is for murder, assault, DUI, or other crimes, a trial is held to determine the validity of the charges.  Evidence is put forth, witnesses are interviewed, and a cross examination is held.  A judge and jury are employed to examine the accused and the charges.  All this is to discover the truth.

We who are followers of Christ must be valiantly pursuing the truth.  In order to ascertain that truth we must be willing to do what John tells us in his first epistle; “test the spirits”.  In John’s day and in ours there are many false teachers.  John warns us that you can’t believe everything you hear.  He says in 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”.  John also tells us how we can put any teaching we hear on trial. 

We must first examine if the teacher or teaching is correct in the understanding of who Jesus is.  John focuses on the importance of believing in the humanity of Jesus.  However, any teaching must support all that the Bible says about Jesus.  His deity, His virgin birth, His substitutionary atonement, His sinless life, His bodily resurrection, and His second coming must be sincerely held.  Another test is the biblical test.  He tells us in 1 John 4:6: “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us…  John told his readers that “we” meaning we apostles have been chosen by God to reveal His truth.  Anyone who does not agree with the whole counsel of God found in the scriptures is to be avoided.  John asks us to be discerning and make sure a teacher or teaching passes the Jesus test and also passes the Bible test.  And finally, we need to ensure that a teacher passes the lifestyle test.  If the evidence of a teacher’s life doesn’t match the clear teaching of God’s Word, we should not give him a hearing. 

Don’t believe everything you hear.  Test the spirits.