How Do We Test The Spirits?

A confident voice, a dramatic prophecy, a powerful feeling, none of that proves the source is God. We sit with the hard question Scripture itself raises: how do we test the spirit behind what someone says without shutting down the Holy Spirit or sliding into constant suspicion?

We work through three connected but distinct “tests” the Bible gives us. From 1 Thessalonians 5, we put “test everything” back in context: Paul is not giving permission to sample every religion for hidden truth, he is telling the church not to despise prophecy but to weigh it and hold fast to what is good. From 2 Corinthians 13, we take seriously Paul’s pushback: if we’re demanding proof that Christ is speaking through someone, we also need the humility to examine ourselves and our motives.

Then we slow down in 1 John 4, where the first and clearest test is a confession, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We connect that to John’s “water and blood,” Leviticus’ claim that life is in the blood, and Luke 24’s anchor that the risen Messiah is flesh and bone. Along the way we clarify why angelic appearances are not the same as incarnation, and why Matthew 12’s “dry places” language reinforces the Bible’s focus on embodiment.

If you want biblical discernment that avoids both gullibility and blanket rejection, press play, then share this with a friend and leave a review so more listeners can find it. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve seen people make when they “test” spiritual claims?

Transcript

Welcome And The Core Question

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C QA, welcome, brought to you by Uncommon Christian Network. How do we test the spirit? This is coming from 1 John chapter 4. And we're going to look at three different tests in the Bible, but we're going to examine one a little more closely. We're going to be looking

Testing Prophecy In 1 Thessalonians

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at 1 John 4, test the spirits to see whether they be from God. But before we do that, we also want to look at another test in 1 Thessalonians 5. I'm going to start in verse 12 for context. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See to it that no one repays anyone evil for evil. But always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Yeshua for you. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil. You heard the test right there. Ironically, this test can be misconstrued when not read in context. So I'm just going to give you that verse one more time. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, test everything. Hold fast that which is good. So in this case, the testing everything has been misconstrued to mean test everything, which means, and I've heard this from people who I would think would know better, run out into the world and test everything, and see if there's anything good, and then hold on to the good. Which means you can test other religions, you can test anything that you wish, find that which is God in there, and then bring it back to the church and then use it because there's something good in everything. This is not talking about that. This is talking about those prophecies. Do not despise prophecies, do not quench those prophecies, but test them. Because what was happening, people see in a glass darkly, so they're prophesying in this time, and those prophecies were not always 100% accurate. And unlike living under the law where you would die for being a false prophet, now you're excommunicated for being a false teacher, but the prophecies were being tested and we're being held on to the good. But

How “Test Everything” Gets Twisted

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what would get you excommunicated? I'm so glad you asked. But before we get to that, let's also look at another test. This one's going to be found in 2 Corinthians 15. Paul says, This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. I warn those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again, I will not spare them. Since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me, he is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives in the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you, we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves, there's your third test, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail the test. I hope you will find that we have not failed the test. So here Paul is talking about a self-examination. He's throwing the examination that they're giving him right back. He is not offended by being tested. They were asking for proof that it was Christ speaking in him, which brings us to where we are today. These tests are all related, but they're not the same test. The confession of Messiah is not a vague spirituality, it is very specific. And in 1 John, this is the test we are talking about, says test the spirits to see whether they be from God. It's very unique because we would say something modern

Examine Yourself Before You Judge

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day, like test the teacher, test the teaching. All of that is related. But what he is saying here is test the spirit. There's an assumption here that this person speaking is speaking by another. Much like Paul was here tested to say, we want proof that Christ is speaking through you. And they're okay in asking for that. They were asking out of a different motive because they were testing him from jealousy and false teachers that were coming in their midst. But here, it is okay to ask for that proof. And then Paul flips it on him and says, Examine yourselves, because he was testing their motive for asking him. So there's a double examination. Well, here we have an examination in 1 John chapter 4. John connects the spirits with the prophets. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets we have are parallel, have gone out into the world. John does not begin with abstract ideas. And he also says, believe not every spirit. Then he explains why. Because of his false prophets. And the false prophets have gone out into the world. This creates that clear parallel that we always look for: the spirit, the prophet, the confession. The prophet is the mouth, the spirit is the source, the confession reveals the source. Again, this doesn't always make sense where we are today. So many people speak from their mind or from their academics or from their memory.

1 John 4 And The Spirit Test

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But historically, when somebody was speaking from God, they were speaking via the Holy Spirit or some spirit. There was an assumption that they're going to be speaking by the Spirit. You see the difference. That's why that statement doesn't always make sense nowadays, because we'll say, well, test the academic, test the verse they quoted. But historically it was test the spirit because you're going to be speaking by the spirit, much less, much like the Corinthians were testing Paul, we want evidence that it is Christ speaking in you. But notice then what the first confession must be. Hereby that you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Yeshua Christ, Jesus Christ, is come in the flesh is of God. This was the first test. Most of you might know the history of what was going on in John's time. We're not going to get into the Serinthians, not Corinthians, but the Serinthian or the Docetic doctrine. But some of that was happening at the time, and if you ask me, we we can dig a little bit deeper. But there's a challenge upon Christ at this point that he had not come in the flesh, so divine that his body might not be an actual human body. But every spirit that does not confess that Yeshua has come in the flesh is not of God. We have a parallel, he's doubling down on this very point. So the test is not first personality, it is not charisma, it is not signs, it is not emotion, it is not religious language. The first test was the confession of the Messiah. Has Yeshua, Messiah, come in the flesh? A true prophet will make the proper confession, a false spirit will corrupt the confession of Christ, even if they can audibly repeat it a few times. This matters because early false teachers attacked the real body of the Messiah. Some denied that he truly came in the flesh. Others separated Yeshua from the Christ as if Christ did not truly suffer and bleed. John answers this directly. The Messiah did not merely seem embodied. The Messiah

Water And Blood Flesh And Bone

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did not come as a spirit pretending to be flesh. He came in the flesh. Let's watch John double down again in the next chapter. He does not come by water only, but water in the blood. You're familiar with the passage in 1 John 5, 6. This is he that came by water and blood, even Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and blood. John does not say by water only, he says by water and blood. The water points to manifestation, to baptism, to cleansing, to birth, and to the embodied life. The blood points to suffering, sacrifice, death, and the real flesh. John emphasizes the physical and the embodied, not water only, which means not the appearance only, not baptism only, not spiritual manifestation only, not a Messiah who appeared and did not bleed, but water and blood. This is attacking the false doctrine that would accept a spiritual Christ while denying the suffering, bleeding, and embodied Messiah. The true confession is not partial. Yeshua has come all the way into the human condition. He was born, he thirsted, he suffered, he bled, he died, he rose. Blood proves a real fleshly life. Leviticus 17 and 11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. So now we have a visual parallel with life. But we never want to remove the life just by assuming the blood. The blood is a liquid, the blood is tangible, the blood is seen, but the life was attached to the blood. So now we have a living metaphor, parallel of what life is. And blood belongs to the embodied life. So when John says the Messiah came by water and blood, he is not giving an empty imagery. He is emphasizing the reality of Christ's fleshly life and sacrificial death. The life of the flesh is in the blood. So a messiah without blood is not a messiah, John confesses. A Christ who only appears is not a Christ of the apostles. A spiritual message that removes the blood removes the embodied sacrifice. In the old creation body, blood is still the life carrier. The mortal body runs on blood life. That is why the blood of the Messiah matters. His blood was not only symbolic, it belonged to the real fleshly life. And that life was truly offered. But there's a little bit more that we want to look at. See, after the resurrection, Yeshua says to his disciples, and I want you to pay attention to this, most of you already know. They were afraid and supposed they had seen a spirit, so he corrects them. Behold my hands and behold my feet. That it is I myself, handle me and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as you see me have. Notice the emphasis. This is a major anchor. After the resurrection, he does not present himself as a ghost or an idea or as a symbol or as a spirit only being, even though he is a life-giving spirit, Corinthians 15, 45. But notice he also says flesh and bone and not flesh and blood. Some people read over that too fast. This proves that the resurrection did not erase embodiment, it glorified it. And the same Messiah who came by water and blood is now risen in flesh and bone, before the cross, real flesh, at the cross, real blood, after the resurrection, flesh and bone. So the confession of Messiah is not only that he came bodily, but that he rose bodily. John gives us the water and the blood. Luke gives us the flesh and the bone. Together they refute both heirs. Water and blood refute a fake incarnation, and flesh and bone refute a ghost resurrection only. Yeshua did not merely appear in the flesh before death. He rose in flesh and bone. A true prophet or teacher will not deny the real body of Messiah at any stage, not at his coming, not at his suffering, not at his blood, not at his death, and not at his resurrection. From blood life to spirit life. The post-resurrection, the life of the old body was in the blood. Again, Leviticus 17 and 11. But he is, according to 1 Corinthians 15, 44 and 45, a living spirit. We don't want to miss that. It has sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. This does not mean he was raised bodiless. Luke 24 already rules that out. He is still embodied, he is still flesh and bone. But the principle of his life has now changed. The old body is animated by blood life, the resurrection body is animated by spirit life. So here is a very strong metaphor. If the mortal body is cut, it will bleed blood. If the resurrection body would be cut, it would bleed Holy Spirit. Not because the Holy Spirit is liquid or anything silly like that, but because the spirit is the life in the new body. What the blood was, the Holy Spirit is for the new body. The blood was the life of the old creation, the spirit is the life of the resurrection body. So the order is water and blood before death, flesh and bone after resurrection, and the spirit as a life of the new body. Messiah's blood was poured out in death. The Messiah rose again with flesh and bone, and his risen body lives by the incorruptible Holy Spirit. But you might ask me, and rightly so, but what about angels? Don't they appear bodily? Because the Messiahs also come bodily and they come bodily. What is the difference? Hebrews 1 and 4, are they not all ministering spirits? And angels are spirits by nature, yet scripture shows angels appearing in bodily form. Many passages, such

Angels Demons And Embodiment

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as Genesis 18, 1 through 8, three visitors appear to Abraham, they are seen, hosted, and fed. Abraham offers water, he prepares food, and they eat. Passages in Genesis 19, 1 through 3, two angels come to Sodom. Lot receives them into his house, prepares a feast, and they eat. So angels can appear as men and interact physically, but this is not the same as an incarnation. Angels may appear bodily, but the Son came bodily. Angels may take a form, but Yeshua took on the flesh. Angels may visit a house, but Yeshua entered into Adam's line. Angelic manifestation is not the same as the Messiah coming in the flesh, and that distinction matters for 1 John 4. John is not merely asking whether the spirit can be embodied or look embodied, he is asking whether the prophet confesses that Yeshua Messiah has truly come in the line of Adam, in the body, in the flesh. Let's take it one step further. Let's look at Matthew 12, 43 through 45. Tell me what you notice about this passage. When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and finding none. Then he says, I will return to my house from whence I came out. Yeshua is describing an unclean spirit, leaving a man and walking through what they call the arid or dry places. The word picture matters a lot. See, when the spirit leaves a man, it wanders in what is dry, it finds no rest, so it wants to return to the house. The man is described as a house, but is also described as water. Because when he's cast out, he goes into the dry place. So the body is a house, a habitation, a living water-filled condition. Dry places are disembodied, wandering, no rest, waterless conditioned spirits. This supports a larger pattern. The spirit seeks embodiment, unclean spirits seek houses. Angels may appear as men, but the Messiah has come in a flesh. The body is not irrelevant. Embodiment matters. So John's warning makes sense. The true confession must not deny the real embodied Messiah. And notice again in another story, when demons were cast out, they said, cast us into the pigs. They didn't want to be in the dry places. But what happened? Where did the pigs run as soon as the spirits went into them? If you say they ran into the water, you'd be correct. You see the symbol and the parallels happening again and again. So the body, water, blood, flesh, bone, and spirit connection. The human body is a living, watery, blood-filled house. That does not mean every spiritual body is identical to academic flesh, but it does show why the language of water, blood, flesh, bone, and house, and spirit matter. Matthew 12 gives us the contrast of dry places outside the body. 1 John 5 gives us the emphasis of water and blood in the Messiah. Leviticus 17 gives us the flesh, the life of the flesh in the blood. Luke 24 gives a resurrected Messiah in flesh and bone, and 1 Corinthians 15 tells us we will have a spiritual body, the last Adam-like body, a life-giving spirit. Together the pattern is simple. Water speaks of disembodied life. Blood speaks to a flesh life, sacrifice and death. Flesh speaks to a real incarnation. Bone speaks to a bodily resurrection and continuity. A house speaks to a bodily habitation. Dry places speak to restlessness in a condition outside a bodily habitation, but the spirit speaks to the life of the resurrection body. Therefore, John's confession is not shallow. Yeshua did not merely come in message. He did not merely come in spirit. He did not merely appear. He came in the flesh. Not only water, but water and blood. And after resurrection, he is not a ghost. He is flesh and bone. And his new bodily life is not a mortal blood life, it is spirit life. So the spirit test comes first. The first test is does this prophet teacher or voice confess Yeshua, Messiah, rightly? That's why 1 John 4 and 2 is so important. Every spirit that confesses that Yeshua's come in the flesh is of God. This confession includes the truth that Messiah has truly come. Not an illusion, not an appearance, not a temporary spiritual mask, not as water only, but as the embodied son in that line of Adam. But this testing is not complete until after the confession. Because as we were speaking before, there are more tests that would come into the and into the Christian church. Once the Spirit properly acknowledges Yeshua the Messiah, discernment still continues. Why? Because every even true believers know one part. 1 Corinthians 13 and 12, for we see through a glass darkly. A person may confess the Messiah truly and still misunderstand some things. We know that for sure. A teacher may be of God and still be incomplete. A prophet may speak the truth and still need to be weighed. A believer may have the spirit and still need correction, maturity, and testing. So the confession tested is essential, but it is not the final step. In other words, confessing him correctly gets you in the house. Living correctly keeps you inside. The second test, then, is everything. We're testing everything. But as we already mentioned, we don't quench the spirit, we don't despise prophecy. So we know here we're talking about the spirit and the prophecies, and now we're going to prove all things because again, you can be spirit-filled and prophesying, but you still need to be tested. If you don't want to be tested, that is your arrogant speaking, you might be in the wrong house. We're going to

Discernment Without Gullibility Or Cynicism

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prove all things and we're going to hold fast to that which is good. That is the second test. Paul does not say reject all prophecy because somebody was wrong. And that's what was going on. People were saying the wrong things under the spirit of inspiration. Now people are confused. You say you have the Holy Spirit, but that was the wrong verse. You quoted it wrong. You said Jeremiah, but it was Isaiah. It was supposed to be Ezekiel, and people get angry and they say, Well, we don't want any of this prophecy stuff. But the Bible says the opposite: prove all things and hold fast to that which is good. That means after the spirit is tested by the confession of Christ, the content still must be tested. Is this the Spirit of God? And the content will ask, what here is good, sound, and true, and where they've holding on to. Do not confuse the two tests. These two tests must not be confused because 1 John 4, 1 and 3 test the spirit behind the prophet. The issue is the confession of Christ. The 1 Thessalonians is talking about what is spoken. Now that you've been approved as speaking of Christ, that doesn't mean everything you say is going to be 100% accurate. We all have to test one another because we all see in the glass darkly. Thank God for the scriptures. Discernment without gullibility or cynicism, cynicism. This keeps us from two errors. The first air is gullibility. If it sounded spiritual, if you got goosebumps, then we must say it must be God, but we're going to be more careful than that. We're not going to believe every spirit. The second air is cynicism, rejecting all prophecy and all teaching and all spiritual speech because that person lied to you. They told you you're going to be rich and famous and you're not. So they're a pastor and they're rich and they're famous, but you're not, and they told you you were, so they must be false because they lied to you. Maybe they missed it. And if you reject somebody who is from God because of what they said wrong, then you missed it again. And if you're rejecting the Holy Spirit in them and they are accurate but just missed that, then who are you really rejecting? So let's summarize everything. 1 John 4 begins with prophets speaking by spirits. Because again, this is a summary. People were speaking by the spirit historically. It wasn't just academia. It wasn't just memory. It wasn't just how smart you are. This is not a game of trivia. It was the person reaching up into their hearts and saying, God, speak through me and speaking, which is why it had to be tested. This was the norm for them. This was not the exception. The prophet

Final Summary And Holding Fast

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is the mouth, the spirit is the source, the confession reveals the source. The first test is whether the spirit confesses Yeshua Messiah is coming in the flesh. John's concern is not vague spirituality, it's a true confession of the embodied Messiah. Not water only, but by water and blood. He came in a flesh, he came in a water and a blood. He truly suffered, he truly died, and Luke shows us that this risen Messiah has flesh and bone. That was the test of John. And this confession allowed us to get together into the same house. This is the confession that tests the Spirit. But even after the Spirit is tested, we will still test the content. Everything I say must be tested. That's why we labor to give the evidence. That's why we use uncommon Christian and we go through the hermeneutics of passages so you can see the parallels. You can see the timelines and hierarchy, so we can bring the evidence forth. Because my opinion is meaningless. I don't want you to have my opinion. And I don't receive any opinions when we can look for the absolute truth. This is the mature discernment. Not blind belief, not blanket rejection, but testing the spirits and then testing everything and holding fast to that which is good. Thank you for the question.