John warns us to test the spirits to know whether they are of God. That is, preachers of the cults and all the false teachers distort the teaching of Christ (another spirit, another gospel, another Jesus). John says that if you do not abide in the doctrine of Christ you do not have the Father. He also says we should preach Christ and Christ crucified. The Lord Christ should be the center of our preaching need to focus on him or else an aside or leading towards Christ and leading up to him of course we're talking about Christ.
If I know as we preach the gospel of Christ, which is Christ-centered, our doctrine is Christ-centered, not man-centered at all. Man's not the measure of all things, God is. John Stott said that Christianity is Christ; all else is circumference. In other words, it doesn't matter if you get Christ right it doesn't matter, what else you get wrong, and if you gett christ wrong, it also doesn't matter what else you get right. What else if you get my drift, you must get that doctrine correct. You will go to hell if you distort the teaching of Christ, this is heresy and will prevent you from being saved. They teach "another Jesus."
Now there are ways to distort the teaching of Christ many teachers teach a false Christ or another Christ as Paul said. We're not to welcome any other Christ and the one which we have received. He is the God-man, fully God and fully man. Not a mixture of the two but completely separate natures in one person. He was not a humanized God. He was not a deified man. He didn't pretend to be God. He didn't just act like God when he felt like it. He didn't get godly powers once in a while to do miracles and disguise himself. Christ fully made it clear that he is God in the flesh. He proved it through many miracles that a deity would do. Some tell you maybe Jesus is a son of God. What patronizing nonsense!
But they use the same words but different dictionaries Just beware of what they say. And test things according to the scripture like the the Bereans who went to the scriptures to see whether these things were so. In other words, the real God Jesus Christ invites us to scrutiny and to be noble and to search things out for ourselves not just take anybody's word for it. That's what happens in a cult people become slaves to a teacher and neglect the word and the teacher has power over them of persuasion. That is ungodly and the people don't notice it because they aren't reading their Bibles or they're not literate in the Bible and familiar with sound doctrine.
Jesus said that he who was of the truth heard him. And he was not the truth is not heard him. We must test the spirits where they are of God and if you say not Jesus's Christ is not in the flesh you are not of God whether you're a preacher or whoever you think you are that is the litmus test of who Jesus is we must know Jesus.
Most preachers preach what people want to hear according to their itching ears. Just to get success or to grow the church but we have to preach Christ. And what he commands is to preach to commit and to complete the great commission to disciples. So they can know Christ and have a relationship with him, not a matter of knowing a creed but knowing a person is our goal.
Jesus did not just claim to speak for God did not say not quote any authority when he spoke or say I know the truth I've learned the truth I found out the truth he said he is the truth you needed out to see what he said he said well. They say unto you but I say unto you in other words he spoke as no man ever spoke and claimed the authority of God himself when he was speaking on behalf of God. Jesus did not footnote his sermons in other words and illustrated them oftentimes with miracles or signs and wonders.
Yes, he spoke as one with authority and this is what shook up the Pharisees and the Sadducees because he dared to disagree with them they did not like his doctrine. We must know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error and we can only know this by a thorough study of basic sound doctrine and knowledge of the word of God
It is a sign of the times that people are doubting the deity of Christ. The early Christians were already believers who sometimes questioned the humanity of Christ now people claim he was just a man people thought was God and later deified him. Or had he been some type of a legend that he was God is.
His disciples realized that upon the resurrection they did not hesitate in this teaching. Anybody that has the Spirit of God is illuminated by God he has the anointing that he can tell the truth from error because he can understand the scriptures. God opens his heart to believe.
I must add here in passing that it is a sign of the times that people are starting to wonder who Jesus Christ is. The search for the historical Jesus as it were! That it is a sign the times that people are starting to wonder who Jesus Christ is. This is a pivot of the whole point of Christianity. We must discover for ourselves who he is. We must find from experience, revelation, and illumination to know Jesus Christ.
That is the whole point of Christianity: God became a man for us and saved us from our sins. But we just realized that it's possible even for the elect to be deceived and then in his last days, it's obvious those who are not grounded in the word of God are easily deceived. So we must beware of the doctrines of the devil and anything strange being taught. Doctrine may not be something that we've heard before but test all things and hold fast to that which is good. The word of God is the litmus test. "If they speak not according to this word it is because they have no light in them." Isaiah 8:20 Soli Deo Gloria!