Verse 1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
In the first six verses of chapter 4, John warns against false teachers. Having just confirmed that we have been given the Holy Spirit (3:24), we now possess the promised Helper (John 14:16; 16:7) Who is capable of instructing us on how to recognize false teachers.
Test to Verify
John begins with two commands: that we not believe every spirit and that we test the spirits. His intention here is that we not become gullible, “falling victim to the latest fads”1 of spiritual deception. Therefore we must substantiate whether what we are hearing is truth or error.
With the fascination in our present culture of mysticism, wizardry and demonic forces, heightened by the movie industry, it becomes necessary that we understand what is meant by this word spirit. This word is not necessarily referring to a ghost or a nonphysical being, but here it denotes “an attitude or disposition reflecting the way in which a person thinks about or deals with some matter.”2 Put another way, a person’s spirit—their attitude or disposition—is a reflection of what influences their frame of mind, their conviction of what they believe. The Apostle Paul uses spirit in this manner when he asked the Corinthians: “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness” (1 Corinthians 4:21). Seeing that gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 6:23), it can be determined that this attitude of Paul’s is influenced by Godly wisdom.3
However, not everyone is influenced by God. John is referring here to the spirit of deception, the essence of false prophets, false teachers, antichrists (2:18, 22) being inspired by the evil one (2:13-14). Therefore, the command for believers to test the spirits is so that they can detect and distinguish4 what exactly influences those who claim to teach the Word of God—compelling believers to consistently test their legitimacy. The Apostle Paul explained that in reality the nature of our conflict is spiritual:
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)Also,
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Many False Prophets
Next, John provides the reason for testing the spirits: because of the many false prophets. For the sake of accuracy, in the Bible a prophet is not simply one who foretells the future by direct inspiration from God, like the Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.; but generally prophets refers to those who speak openly in proclaiming a divine message.5 Dr. Zodhiates explains further that “Prophets were a class [classification] of instructors or preachers who were next in rank to the Apostles and before the teachers (1 Corinthians 12:28)”6 (cf. Ephesians 3:5; 4:11-12).
Ideally, God’s initial plan for His Church was for teachers to instruct believers, to equip them for the “work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). The distressing reality is that there are now many false prophets within our culture today. The Greek word many infers not just a few or several, but instead, multitudes or many, or a great number.7 This is exhibited by the vast number of present day Christian sects and cults that reject the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith.
The objective of these false prophets is to develop and disseminate an alternative belief system based upon a human viewpoint inspired by the doctrines of demons. The reason for this assertion can be corroborated by other writers of Scripture. James characterized the errant attitudes of believers as ungodly wisdom that is “earthly, natural, demonic” (James 3:15). The Apostle Paul wrote of the Judaizers of his day, that “there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers...teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain” (Titus 1:10-11). Paul elsewhere branded them as “men who have gone astray from the truth” (2 Timothy 2:18a); and also warning Timothy:
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
Jude concludes by reminding us of their intentions, that “These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.” (Jude 19).
Gone Out
Briefly looking ahead to verse 3, it will be observed that John states that the spirit of the antichrist is the attitude of these false prophets. So when John states that they have gone out into the world it elicits the question: Where did they come from? We should recall that he has already told us that these many antichrists “went out from us” (2:19). This calls to mind Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders:
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:29–30)
An important principle to observe is that these false prophets/antichrists may indeed have their origin from within the Church, but they were not sent to us from God, not today nor in the Jewish dispensation, as He certified to Jeremiah:
Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.” (Jeremiah 14:14)
Our Attitude
What should be our present day attitude? We should observe the same advice Paul gave to the Ephesian elders: “Therefore be on the alert” (Acts 20:31a), and just as the Apostle Peter warned us of our demonic adversary:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
To be on the alert means to be on guard and an effective guard is one who is vigilant. Therefore, we cannot be asleep on our watch and we need to be armed and ready with the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Then will be ready, able to discern spiritual error in order to defend the Truth.
[1] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1 John 4:1.
[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1.349.
[3] Note further Paul’s use of spirit in this manner in Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:23.
[4] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1381.
[5] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.493.
[6] Zodhiates, G4396.
[7] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A., 1.594.
© 2025 David M. Rossi
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