QUESTION: In the Bible, it says to try the different faiths or spirits to see if they be of God, and if they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, they are of God. Would you please explain this passage (I John 4:1-3).
ANSWER: The spirit of anti-Christ was manifested specifically at the time of this writing by a group known as the “Gnostics.” These claimed that Jesus did not really come in the flesh; that He only “appeared” to be human. John is simply telling Christians how to distinguish them from true Christians, i.e., if they confess that Christ came in the flesh, they are of God. If they do not confess that Jesus came in the flesh, they are not of God, but rather anti-Christ. As these Gnostics, there are those today who teach this and other false doctrines. We are to “try” all of them by the word of God whether they are of Him!