Replies

“Your quotation sounds a little bit off from translations which I am familiar with, which use the world “confess” in 1John 4:2, and not merely “believe.” Compare James 2:18-19, and also note the slave girl in Acts 16: 16-18.”

I use NIV

1 John 4:
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

Which word you use, “confess” or “acknowledge” does not matter to me as both are translations of the original word which still conveys the metaphoric meaning of the same thought. This work is done at a higher level of consciousness than me as I am merely the servant. I observe and try my best to understand, being thankful that the words are in English. Yes, I have had other languages come out of my mouth that I do not speak. They are meaningless to me except that the results are the same.

James 2:18-19

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

We are tested in life to strengthen our “faith.” When faith is tested by applying it to our actual experiences it is strengthened. It’s why we are handed difficult learning experiences in life. I’ve had some tough experiences in this work and asked within through prayer “Why?” The response was always the same, “You needed the experience to learn and grow.”

“Faith by deeds” generates a strength that surpasses “Faith” or “Believing.” It moves it to a category I would call “Knowing” where there is no room for doubt. Just as Peter when he sunk into the water, we can allow doubt to enter us and create “little faith.”

Acts 16:

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

I’m not sure what you meant by citing this scripture, but it is an excellent one and is exactly how it works. If you cite it to raise the question of whether an evil spirit is working through me, I can only answer as Jesus did... Would satan cast out satan?

Thank you for your questions.

PS... When Paul became annoyed with her.... he cast out the spirit. We must always respond with Love as it is Love that casts out the spirit. Not just Love for the person carrying the spirit, but Love for the spirit itself. It too is a creation of God and it usually has at its essence that same spark of God as everyone still in a physical body. To merely drive it out of a person is like pulling a nail from a tire and throwing it back in the middle of the street. There is much more to do than just remove the spirit as to do so may create an opening for seven more even worse to return and take its place. And the spirit removed can also re-enter.

I’ve been stung many times and it is only by the Grace of God that I survive.