John urges his hearers not be taken In by false teaching (v1). John calls for a bit of steel from believers as there are many false prophets (see 1 John 2 v19).

True prophets will believe and teach the truth about Jesus (v2-3). They will teach that He is the eternal Son of God, ‘the same in substance, equal in power and glory’ with the Father and the Holy Spirit. True prophets will teach that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah who has come to save His people from their sin. True prophets teach that Jesus has come in the flesh, which means truly taking on human nature, a human body, mind and soul.

It is not surprising as the focus of the Holy Spirit’s work is to draw people to glorify Christ. It is also the desire of evil spirits to draw people away from Christ by obscuring and twisting the truth about who He is and what He has done.

False teaching is overcome by He who lives within the believer (v4); the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit with unlimited power, goodness, knowledge and wisdom is the one who gives us the victory. Jesus in John 16 v33 says, “I have overcome the world”. The Holy Spirit applies to our souls the victory which Jesus has secured for His people.

True and false teaching divides between those who belong to the world and those who belong to the world (v5-6). Do you love the truth about Christ?