1Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. 9By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
13By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. 20If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
The Struggle Between Works and Grace
Arm-Wrestling Between Grace and Works
Grace and works are incompatible when discussing salvation. Most of us understand that we are saved by grace alone. However, many Christians believe they must actively engage in good works to maintain their salvation. That is a trap. In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he is clear that salvation comes through grace alone. You and I were saved by grace, not just to get to heaven, but to do good works. Our works did not save us, but we were saved to do good works. That’s what we read in Ephesians 2:10. God has good works for each of us to do, prepared from the foundation of the world. That’s a fantastic thought.
It is our human tendency to do something to deserve or merit God's grace. But God excluded the need for us to do anything lest we take the credit. God set it up this way so that when properly understood, we could keep ourselves out of the picture. Self wants to do something to earn God’s gift. If we’re working for it, then it is no longer a gift. It is something we deserve. People get hung up on this, but it is really quite simple. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). It wasn’t the other way around. Then, if we receive that love, we are so grateful that we respond in love by being obedient and doing the tasks that He’s prepared beforehand for each of us to do. Spend time in prayer with God today. Ask Him to show you what He has for you to do today. Then be still and listen. Then go and do.
Thoughts will come to you, and your day will become organized. You will undoubtedly have a laundry list of things to do, but please keep in mind that if those tasks put you in contact with others, you are on the mission field. You can continue to pray this throughout the day, and you will soon find that the Holy Spirit will not only comfort you but also guide and direct you from one good work to another. I like to think of myself as the heart and hands of Jesus to those around me. You are too! You may end up at the supermarket or just writing something on Facebook. Be aware that every human contact you have is an opportunity for courtesy or conflict. Be Jesus to the world around you. Those are your marching orders for now, as a soldier in the Lord’s army.