“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this, you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” - 1 John 4:1-3

This passage refers to religious teachers and preachers. Not all of them speak for God. Not everybody with a following and a platform actually teaches the truths of the Bible. There are lots of wolves pretending to be sheep.

Now, some leaders might be God honoring, but just get things wrong from time to time, which is why you should always verify what they say with the Bible and call them out if they are in error. If they are legit, they will repent, ask your forgiveness, publicly reteach the topic correctly, and press on.

However, some deliberately teach incorrectly. They either tickle ears for personal gain or flat out lie for nefarious purposes. Those guys actually work for the devil, who wants people blinded to the truth of God’s Word. Those people are sneaky and good at what they do.

A good rule of thumb is to test EVERYTHING! In these days, take nothing for granted. Start with what John advises. See if they preach a divine and sinless Jesus, who died on the cross for sin, and that trusting in Him is the only way to gain eternal life. A demonic false teacher will have trouble saying those things.

Then, if they pass that test, compare their message to the FULL truth of the Bible. I say full truth because they love to sprinkle in just enough Biblical truth to lure you in and cause you to believe the part of their message that isn’t true.

Example: A false teacher will tell you to overlook sinful behavior because Jesus loves the world. But Jesus also died for sin and will condemn sinners in Hell. He is a loving AND a just God. If you fall for the former, sin will abound, and people will die without salvation.

So, test everything, even this letter. I will need your help if I have made a mistake. -Pastor Mike

BTW, I think the best Christmas sweaters are the ones made out of Fleece-Navidad.