Hearing His Voice #122

This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.

1 John 4:2

In the apostle John’s day, the most dangerous falsehoods about Jesus centered on whether He was actually human or not. Some teachers claimed He was a spirit who only seemed to have a body; that He had not actually come in the flesh. Therefore, He did not live a human life or die a human death. Whoever suggests such a thing, said John, is speaking from an anti-Christ spirit.

This was not the only heresy to infect the church throughout its history. Many other anti-Christ claims have been taught and practiced. The most serious ones erode our faith’s essential foundations: the nature of Jesus (both God and man); the nature of salvation (by grace through faith); or the nature of Scripture (fully reliable and inspired by God). Any voice that undermines one of these important tenets is not from God because it contradicts eternal truth that God has already revealed, and God cannot contradict Himself. He can give different people different instructions, of course—He adapts His methods for specific situations—but He does not change His mind about the nature of His person or His plan. His character and purposes are constant.

That’s a key for discerning God’s voice. His words will always honor His own character, the divinity of Jesus, the nature of salvation, and the integrity of His written Word. He will not speak blatant contradictions to us, nor will He aim at confusing us. We may encounter mysteries and have to sort them out over time, but we won’t hear glaring inconsistencies. God’s words are always true to who He is.

Lord, I trust in Your words as an extension of Your character and Your purposes. My spirit joins with Yours to hear and to honor Your truth. Let everything I hear, do, say, and think be a reflection of Your Son and His Kingdom.