I do not understand some verses in the epistle of I John chapter 4.

[Still_Small_Voice]

I was reading through the epistle of I John recently.  I read these scriptures:

I John Chapter 4

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

² Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God.

³ And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God; and such is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world.  -- 21st Century King James Version

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What do these scriptures mean?  I understand that we are to try the spirits that we are influenced by.  But devils and unclean spirits can confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  I do not understand how this is a way to try the spirits.

[Vort]

"Spirit" etymologically embodies the idea of breath; Adam's spirit was "the breath of life" that God breathed into him. God's breath is life. God is Spirit, and his breath fills us with his spirit. We ourselves are literally his spirit insofar as we are the spirit children of the Father.

It is my opinion that in this epistle, John is talking about various influences on us, including (maybe especially) ideas that we have, and is calling them "spirits" in the sense of inspiration (meaning literally "to breathe in" or "to inhale"). How do we tell which thoughts or inspirations come from God—in the vernacular of certain of our Christian cousins, which are "God-breathed"? John then clarifies that those "spirits" that teach the fundamental truths of the gospel are the spirits/inspirations/breathings of God.

[zil2]

47 minutes ago, Still_Small_Voice said:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The wording of this suggests either:

1. The false prophets have seen spirits who gave them false teachings (the prophets were deceived by lying spirits).

2. The false prophets are knowingly preaching lies and they themselves are either the "spirits" to be tested or are causing people to believe in spirits who are teaching lies.

(Apparently this was written during a time when gnosticism was on the rise, so there may have been folks experimenting with things they ought not and thereby being deceived by Satan and his followers.)

51 minutes ago, Still_Small_Voice said:

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 such is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world.

If you receive a witness (whether from the Holy Ghost, a person, or a spirit), unless this witness testifies that Christ came in the flesh, it is not of God.  But any witness from God will "confess" (or testify) that Christ came in the flesh.

At least, this is how I read it.  I think in these verses, "spirit" can really be interpreted as any "witness" in any form - a person, an idea, a spirit, a prophet, a prompting, etc.

[Still_Small_Voice]

Thanks for the input thus far.  I think John's counsel in those verses mostly applied to that era.  Gnostics were preaching false doctrines on Christ in that time.

Gnostics were divided on their beliefs about Jesus Christ. One view held that he only appeared to have human form but that he was actually spirit only. The other view contended that his divine spirit came upon his human body at baptism and departed before the crucifixion.

Both of these are obviously false doctrines.