First John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The first century church had the responsibility of guarding the truth. The Church of the twenty-first century has that obligation as well.
John begins his exhortation with the term “beloved.” It appears eight times in his epistles, three of which are in 1 John 4. It is a term of affection and endearment that expresses his deep love for those to whom he wrote. This is not an insignificant point. Many consider it to be hateful and old fashioned to deal with the subject of false teaching, but not John. He wrote about false teachers because he loved his brethren too much to see them swallowed up by the mouths of untruth. See 1 John 2:18-24; 3:23-24; 5:2-3; and James 5:19-20
The meat of John’s admonition is found in two present tense imperatives. First, John says, “believe not every spirit.” Second, “try the spirits.” In the first century the Holy Spirit miraculously inspired men to preach and teach the word of God (c.f. 1 Cor. 12-14). Unfortunately, some took advantage by falsely claiming inspiration in order to deceive God’s people (Eph. 4:14). Therefore, Christians were commanded to test them. To “try” is to prove, examine, or verify legitimacy and authenticity. The imagery of the word is illustrated beautifully in 1 Peter 1:7 where Peter spoke of faith being “tried with fire.” In that passage the term refers to placing precious metals into the fire in order to burn off impurities. So, to “try the spirits” is to examine them closely in order to see through any impurities that may be contained within them.
Every generation contains those who claim to speak on behalf of God, but do not. Their message is one of error and destruction. Our job is to compare what is spoken to scripture to test its validity, like the “noble Bereans” in Acts 17:11. False teachers are sneaky. They privately bring in “damnable heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1) as wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15) seeking to lead people away from the truth. God does not want us to be lulled to sleep with a false sense of security, nor does He want us to take them only on their word. He wants us to be awake and aware, and “try the spirits whether they are of God.” He wants us to open our bible’s daily to ensure we are learning and walking in truth (2 John 4).