Test the Spirits

Over the past several months an outcry has risen concerning the beliefs and teachings of one of America’s favorite TV personalities. Internet sites and e-mails have been a blaze with excerpts from her programs that contradict basic Christian beliefs and teachings. I fact, she has begun offering classes on her understanding of spiritual things. That popular personality is Oprah Winfree. She is not the first, nor will she be the last to bring question to the teachings of the Bible.

The Bible teaches Christians to beware of false teachers and to test their teachings by the Word of God. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Pastors, teachers, and even popular TV stars must be judged under the scrutiny of the Bible and what it teaches.

Let’s look at five key scriptures that will help believers in Jesus Christ to “test the spirits”:

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
As God created the universe and all that is in it, He created man in His image to have a special relationship with Himself. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God and He knew them personally and called them by name. God created man in His image and not vice versa.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The close relationship between God and man was broken by sin and disobedience. Since that first sin, mankind has inherited a sinful nature that continues the separation from God. The basic problem of every human being is sin. There is none that do good in the sight of God. No matter how hard a person tries to keep spiritual and moral laws they can not change their sinful nature or erase the sin that has been committed. The result of sin is eternal, spiritual death and separation from God.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The good news of the Bible is that God loves human beings and did for them what they could not do for themselves. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world. Through Jesus’ death on the old rugged cross the penalty for sin has been paid and the way is opened to a new relationship with God. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the one and only way to forgiveness and new life with God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”
A person receives forgiveness of sin and a new relationship with God through believing by faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not an achievement that any person can attain. It is a gift made possible through the grace and mercy of Almighty God. It is not up to the person’s good works but is total dependent on the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Faith is believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection was sufficient before God to save me from the punishment of my sins. The question for every person is, “Do you believe that?” If not, you may use Christian terms but you have missed the Christian gospel.

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”
Every person will die and stand before God in judgment. The determination of that judgment is what the person does with Jesus Christ before death. For those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He paid for their sins on the cross and rose again from the dead, the Bible says they will be saved and live with God for all eternity. However, for those who refuse to believe in Jesus, the Bible says they are already condemned by their sin and will be eternally separated from God in punishment called Hell. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

As the reader can see, what one believes about Jesus Christ is paramount. Popular teachers and personalities may sound good and be persuasive but do they believe the Bible message? The Bible is the full revelation of God without error. In it a person has the divine plan of redemption through the shed blood and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the next time you hear a teaching that seems contrary to the Bible, “test the spirits”.