I personally did not believe it until I read the full account which can be hard to get to read. Many times it is put in a consise manner to get to the main message. I went to a Vatican informed site.
No pure spirit can confess that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior and Lord together in the personal pronoun. I mean that he became human. The Divinity became man. That is why the Apostles creed and Nicene creed were created to confirm the test written by John the Apostle.
There is more to it . But that is the main reason besides others. If we do not believe 1 JOHN 4 as a requirement we might as well throw out the bible.
I have personally encounter an occultist who told me she was Christian. The spirit of God within me told me to challenge her. To say the least since she had some form of possession she could not declare in the personal pronoun that she believed in Jesus Christ came in the Flesh. She could not when it gets to " born of a virgin Mary " . She stopped and contorted like an unseen force prevented her. Shaking unnaturally then declaring there are "many gods".
Here it is in scripture:
1 John 4
On Denying the Incarnation
1 "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.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood."
If I see an apparition talk to me. I would cover the Blood of Christ over it. Then if it still talked I would tell it to declare in the personal pronoun "I" that Christ came in the Flesh/human .
It is funny that the children in the apparition where doing that without really knowing it. Why because it is built into the prayers they repeated with The Virgin Mary. This how the researchers from the Church beside other measures decided it was genuine.
I could not agree with you more. Meanwhile, I meet many people these days who will tell me they are “spiritual,” as if that is something positive to be glad about. My response to that is “Which spirit?”
All I know is that my best friend, who traveled to Mejdugorge (sp?) a year ago pays very close attention to these visions, but nothing that she has ever communicated to me is anything more than what Scripture has already told us about what has come or what is to come.
Also, while I acknowledge that Catholic teaching says that Mary intercedes on the behalf of the saints and that we have communion with the saints (per the Apostles Creed), then why do so many people I know tell me, verbatim, “I will pray TO “so and so” (pick your saint).
Thanks for the input!