It is easy to assume that anything spiritual or supernatural is from God. But the Bible calls us to something more discerning than that. First John 4 gives us a clear framework for testing what we believe, recognizing false teaching, and understanding what it truly means to walk in God's love.

First John 4:1 says it plainly: "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." (1 John 4:1, ESV)

Not every experience that feels spiritual is from God. Second Corinthians 11 reminds us that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. Sensational signs, dramatic prophecies, and emotional experiences are not automatic proof that something is from God.

This is not about being cynical. It is about being wise.

First John 4:2-3 gives us the standard: "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 4:2-3, ESV)

True teaching will always present the true biblical Jesus and glorify Him. In John's day, false teachers were denying that Jesus came in the flesh. Today, the error often flips the other direction. Some acknowledge Jesus as a man but deny that He is God. Both errors miss the mark.

Jesus had to be fully human and fully God to die for humanity. Any teaching that diminishes either truth is not from God.

There is a subtler problem worth naming. Some teaching does not outright deny Jesus but shifts the focus away from Him. It emphasizes what you can get rather than what God is building in you. It prioritizes your happiness over your holiness. It is heavy on the gifts of the Spirit but light on the fruit of the Spirit.

This kind of imbalance may not always be outright false doctrine, but it is out of alignment with what Scripture teaches. True teaching keeps Jesus at the center.

Several things can pull us off course, much like a magnet pulling a compass needle away from true north:

• Ignorance of the Word leaves us without a foundation to recognize error.
• Pride blinds us to truth even when it is right in front of us.
• Immaturity can lead us toward teachings that feel exciting but lack biblical grounding.
• Desperation can cause us to lean into things that promise relief but are not rooted in God.

The Holy Spirit is our compass. He leads us toward the biblical Jesus. But we have to be listening.

First John 4:4 offers a powerful reminder: "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than He who is in the world." (1 John 4:4, ESV)

The Holy Spirit living inside every believer is greater than any deceptive Spirit at work in the world. We are not helpless. We are equipped. But we have to stay close to the Word and stay sensitive to the Spirit.

Three times in First John, love is described as our true north.

First John 4:7-8 says: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7-8, ESV)

Love is not just something God does. It is who He is. And walking in love is what proves we are His children.

The Greek word used throughout this passage is agape. This is not a casual fondness or a preference. Agape is a giving, benevolent love that seeks the welfare of others even when nothing is expected in return. It is the kind of love that is unwilling to abandon.

This is how God loves us. First John 4:9-10 says: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10, ESV)

Propitiation means that the sacrifice of Jesus appeased God's righteous anger toward sin and brought us into His favor. He made a way where there was no way.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of a man who owed His king an impossible debt, the equivalent of 200,000 years of wages. The king forgave the entire debt out of compassion. But that same man walked out and found someone who owed him 100 days of wages and had him thrown in prison.

Jesus closes the parable with a sobering word: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:35, ESV)

The point is clear. Considering the debt we have been forgiven, there is no debt another person owes us that we should refuse to release. Agape love does not hold on to what has already been covered by grace

Love does not make us saved. It proves that we are. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is only one way to God, and Jesus said it Himself: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6, ESV)

But First John 4:20 is direct: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love His brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom He has not seen." (1 John 4:20, ESV)

Claiming to love God while holding hatred toward others is a contradiction. The love of God in us will always move toward others, even when it is hard.

First John 4:18 says: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." (1 John 4:18, ESV)

The word "perfect" here means mature. As we grow in our walk with God, His love matures in us. We become less driven by fear and more rooted in the security of who He is. As He is, so are we in this world. Righteous, holy, and walking in love.

This week, take an honest look at your heart. Is there someone you have not forgiven? Someone who hurt you deeply and has never acknowledged it, never apologized, and likely never will? That is your 100 denarii. And you have been forgiven of far more.

Forgiveness does not always happen all at once. Sometimes it comes in pieces. But the direction of your heart matters. Choose to release it, even if only a little at a time. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you toward agape, not because the other person deserves it, but because you have already received what you did not deserve.

Ask yourself these questions this week:

• Is there a teaching, experience, or voice in my life that I have accepted without testing it against Scripture?
• Am I walking in agape love toward the people around me, or am I holding on to a debt that God has already covered?
• Where in my life is fear still driving me instead of the mature, settled love of God?

The Holy Spirit is your compass. Let Him point you back to true north.