Question:
Please give me your opinion on “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:” (1 John 4:2).
Answer:
The thought of that text is not that Christ once lived here upon this earth, walked here as a man, was invested in human flesh, and tabernacled among us. Some believe that many of who are not children of God. The actual thought is that Christ is come by faith in our flesh now. That is, if you are a true believer in Christ, you believe that Christ lives in you by faith. As expressed by the apostle Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). That faith in Christ takes hold upon Him as a complete Saviour. It does away with all the mediatorial work of a priest or saint and brings the soul into a living connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. Some claim that Christ is in them; has always been in them; that He dwells in everyone, and that faith is but the recognition of that thing; however, this is not the teaching of God’s Word. He who is not a Christian is said to be “without [separate from] Christ” and “without God.” See Ephesians 2:12. They are “alienated from the life of God.” See Ephesians 4:18. Faith makes the connecting link between the soul and its Saviour and brings the life and power of Christ into the heart and life of the believer. If our querist studies the subject in this light, she will see that only truly converted Christians believe that Christ is come in the flesh, through the Holy Spirit, responsive to faith. That also is shown in the context, “…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4).
