What does "the flesh" mean in 1 John 4:2?

1 John 4:2- “Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world.

2 By this you know and recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ has [actually] come in the flesh [as a man] is from God [God is its source];

3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus [acknowledging that He has come in the flesh, but would deny any of the Son’s true nature] is not of God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world.”

Acknowledging that Christ has come in the flesh entails believing that He came as man in a real body. See the New Living Translation:

“This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.”

Even more important is how the truth in these verses helps us discern carriers of the spirit of the antichrist from followers of the Truth- Christ Himself.

Imagine a couple with a new baby called Mimi. We can't say “Mimi has come in the flesh” unless Mimi pre-existed in another form before she came in the flesh (in bodily form.)

To “acknowledge that Christ has come in the flesh” encompasses the following:

believing that He pre-existed in Spirit form
believing that as a man (in the flesh,) He was crucified for our sins
believing that God raised Him from the dead

In essence, acknowledging that Christ has come in the flesh encompasses confessingthat Christ is Lord (He pre-existed as the Son of God who is Spirit,) acknowledging hat He died for our sins as a man and believing that He was raised from the dead. Any spirit that does not acknowledge these things (which Romans 10:9-10 also highlights as the conditions for salvation through Christ) is not from God.

But it seems as if almost everyone who says he is a Christian believes these truths. So how do we know who is speaking the truth? The key is in Romans 10:9-10 where Paul, like John, highlights the same conditions for salvation through Jesus Christ-

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

A person can attend church and profess Jesus as Lord all he wants but he is not of Christ unless he believes that "God has raised Him from the dead" - this encompasses believing what Christ accomplished for us through His being raised from the dead. But why was Christ raised from the dead? What did He accomplish for us through His resurrection? This is the key to right believing:

God raising the Lord Jesus from the dead was not just because He could. His resurrection is the divine receipt showing that we who believe have been forgiven of all of our sins and made righteous by His "single sacrifice for sins, good for all time" (Hebrews 10:12.) This according to Romans 4:25-

“Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

See the TPT: “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”

Christ would not have risen from the dead if our entire lifetime of sins had not been forgiven and we had not been declared righteous by God. His resurrection is akin to seeing someone who went to serve a death sentence in an impregnable prison for the past, present and future crimes of another walking free.

The wages of sin is death. One death. Christ died that death once for all. He died the death that the Law demanded of us, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. Once. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour. Carriers of the spirit of the antichrist can never preach this truth. Their false teaching says that believers' sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere unless we (by our own human effort) do something about them. This lie has led many to think that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ will cause believers to go on sinning sprees. But the word of God whose ways and thoughts are higher than man's says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

On the flip side, 1 Corinthians 15:56 says: “It is sin that gives death its sting and the law that gives sin its power.”

Sin strengthens its grip over those who try to keep the law in order to be holy:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.

But thanks to antichrist pastors who, like Satan when he deceived Eve, prey on man's dependence on human logic concerning how to be godly, many have this verse backwards. The message of the cross is illogical to human reasoning. Our salvation and life in Christ is a mystery to the world and not subject to human logic or common sense. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:18:

18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God."

As believers, we know that the wages of our lifetime of sins (death and all of its symptoms aka earthly ills) have been fully paid and we have everlasting righteousness because Christ is risen. This righteousness is not dependent on how well we obey the law/try to be godly (be like God) by our puny human strength. It is a gift. This helps us see Romans 10:10 in its context:

"9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Salvation here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills. It is being saved from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin. The word used in the original Greek text of the New Testament is Swthria (pronounced soteria) and it encompasses all these meanings.

Christ came in the flesh to accomplish all of these things for us. Believer in Christ, see the thoughts in the heart of our Heavenly Father towards us expressed in Romans 5:9, all based on the sacrifice of Christ:

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

In Christ, God sees us as righteous, “...even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16-

And in Him, we never remain the same. We get to live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ. See Romans 5:16-17-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Christ came in the flesh to save all who are utterly dependent on Him for salvation from sin and death, even salvation from sins. See Matthew 1:21-

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

But the spirit of the antichrist cannot abide any of these truths. Believers, the spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. In fact, its carriers preach strongly against sin, always act like they just finished having lunch with God and are always shouting about the need for man to be godly (be like God) from the rooftops. BUT just like the super-religious Pharisees who hated and sought to kill Christ and Satan when he deceived already-godly Eve into believing that she could be godly (be like God) by human striving at doing something, the antichrist spirit's way for man to attain godliness (be like God) is through human striving at keeping the Law which kills and gives the knowledge of good and evil, just like the tree of the same name.

The spirit of the antichrist is all about “God, God, God" and might profess Christ, but it rejects the finished work of Christ in making the sinner who believes godly/righteous. Isaiah prophesied of Christ's suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the result of His decease which He accomplished at Jerusalem in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

Romans 5:9 too tells us how God sees all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Christ could not have sacrificed Himself for us unless He came in the flesh. But the spirit of the antichrist denies the result of Christ's sacrifice. Rather, it works at promoting dependence on human effort (the arm of flesh) at attaining godliness/righteousness that Christ died that we might freely have. It strives to remove the believer's eyes, heart and mind from Christ in the equation of his salvation (including salvation from sinful habits, oppression, disease, hell, all ills.) It preaches that God's wrath (e.g. generational and other curses) which God's word says believers will never experience can still fall on believers because of their sins- the same sins that Christ came to save His people from! Matthew 1:21 says of Him:

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

A common refrain of carriers of this antichrist spirit (antichrist pastors and some churchgoers) to the truth of Grace is:

“So you are saying once we are under Grace, because the righteousness of Christ covers us we should continue in sin?”

Beloved of God, by God’s Grace, beware of preachers of the above doctrine of demons that equates righteousness in Christ/being under Grace with lawlessness and committing sins. There is a reason for this foolish and antichrist talk as we see in 1 Corinthians 1:18-

"For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God."

The message of the cross is all about salvation by God's Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour,) including salvation from sins and every curse. Beloved of God, God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Matthew 1:21 tells us what Christ came to do: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

How then can one continue to live in sin when he has Christ (God's Grace) who came to free us from every kind of sin, no matter how vile, as his Saviour? Only carriers of the antichrist spirit preach that being utterly under Grace (Christ Himself!) will cause people to sin.

To all who propose that antichrist argument - "“So you are saying once we are under Grace, because the righteousness of Christ covers us we should continue in sin?” - how can these two things:

1. being saved from sins by Christ and

2. continuing to live in sin

- how can they co-exist? How can you who have Christ who saves from sins (Matt. 1:21) as your Saviour continue to live in sin? Christ Himself tells us in (John 6:43-46) what He is doing in the life of every believer:

“Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End."”

How can the blind receive sight from Christ and continue to be blind? Believers, flee from any "pastor" that posits this kind of horrid antichrist argument that says that righteousness in Christ who is Grace-personified is licence to commit sin. What a horrid antichrist doctrine it is. Let's take our blessed brains to church.

Those who push this antichrist argument which implies that we who are under Grace (Christ Himself) can continue to wallow in blatant or covert sin after being joined to Christ who saves from sins imply that Christ cannot accomplish His work as Saviour from sins in the life of the sinner who utterly depends on Him for salvation, even salvation from sins. This false argument that is so lacking in God's Wisdom (Christ Himself) belies the fact that its promoters trust in their human effort (arm of flesh) to make them godly (be like God) as Eve was deceived into doing.

Christ tells us that Satan came to steal, to kill and to destroy. Before Satan can kill and destroy, he first has to steal the word which tells believers that we have been made godly/righteous in God's sight through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9, 19.) Satan through his antichrist pastors then tries to get churchgoers striving to keep the law in order to be godly or righteous like God the Righteous. But the letter kills. Following this false path to getting right with God is the way to get cut off from Jesus Christ the Tree of Life-

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace.” Galatians 5:4.

Beloved of God, flee from antichrist pastors who tell you that you can be godly by your own power. They are preaching the same lie that Satan used to deceive Eve in Eden. Recall that Satan did not tempt Eve to steal or fornicate. He made her think that she was not like God when in reality, she and Adam were made in God’s likeness. And then he got them striving to do the seemingly good thing of trying to become godly by human effort. See the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as a picture of the law that many churchgoers are trying to keep in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG.)

Such who teach this antichrist doctrine are trying to get the flock to see themselves as their own saviour from sins and ungodliness. This is the very definition of unbelief in Jesus Christ the Tree of Life who suffered and died to make us godly like God (Isaiah 53:11)

Antichrist pastors and churchgoing hypocrites who think they can obey the law to an extent by their human effort are the ones that always bring up this kind of oxymoronic and horrid "So you are saying that once we are under Grace, because the righteousness of Christ covers us we should continue in sin?" argument. Such act like they are the only ones that loathe sin/desire godliness and that everybody except them is just itching to commit sins.

To think that all sinners enjoy their sins and don't want to give them up is akin to thinking that Peter enjoyed denying Jesus and could not wait for another opportunity to deny Jesus. Or that Judas was somewhere busy enjoying the 30 pieces of silver and gleefully looking forward to another opportunity to betray Christ when in reality, he was suicidal and depressed. Unlike Peter who committed a similar sin of betrayal, Judas tried to restore himself into God's good graces by human effort aka the arm of flesh. Many churchgoers are digging their graves deeper by following this example of dependence on human effort at right living:

What do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide, even among non-believers? It is guilt for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not measuring up to particular standards and seeing themselves as their own saviour- no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse and blamed himself for his sin. The word "sin" is translated from the Greek word Hamartia- literally "miss the mark." Sin is missing the mark/coming short/not being perfect like God in any facet of life be it morality, financials, relationships,

All of mankind have sinned. Many are like Peter- beginning with good intentions, self-confident in their sin-loathing, never thinking that they could do what they did, falling flat on their faces and afterwards, feeling great remorse.

Others are like Judas whom "Satan entered." See Luke 22- “3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. 4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.”

So you see, you beloved of God who are always positing this untrue argument of "So you are saying once we are saved, because the righteousness of Christ covers us we should continue in sin?" and think that everybody but you wants to go on sinning sprees, you are not the only one that hates sin. The reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear. There is no good in man of himself and his will-power to withstand temptation is utterly useless.

As He did with Peter, God's Word - Christ Himself - is still telling us the same thing that He told Peter before he fell flat on his face three times after trusting in his human strength to obey the law of not bearing false witness. See what Christ (God's word) says about man's human effort/will-power to live right and the non-existent good in man of himself as was Paul's experience in Romans 7:18-

“For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. But as it did with pre-denial Peter, the antichrist spirit of the antichrist promotes dependence on the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) that will fail and leads man to say:

"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can keep the law and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power. Faith without works is dead so I must and I can do works to prove that I have faith. Since I can do it, others must too. They are just lazy and love to sin. As for me, I can never do that.”

Peter ended up seeing the folly of trusting in his own will-power to live right. Believer, the earlier we see that we are nothing of ourselves but have and can do all things in Christ our Righteousness and Strength, the best for us. May the Lord continue to reveal to us Himself and His steadfast love and unending mercy towards us in Jesus'name. Amen.

We all need God's saving Grace who saves from sins. Like Peter, we will fall flat on our faces if it was up to us and our useless human strength (arm of flesh) to remain standing if Satan came to sift like wheat. But like Peter before he denied Christ, many boast in their human strength to overcome sin or do the right because God's restraining hand has not allowed them to get tempted beyond what they can bear (1 Corinthians 10:11-13.) O

Yet others outrigtly say that their human effort at obeying the law is proof that they are using the Grace that God gave them and so it is not in vain in their lives. Beloved of God, See how God's grace (unmerited favour) is wasted/in vain in the life of any man in Galatians 2:21-

"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

See the New Living Translation: "I do not get rid of the grace of God. What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!"

Trying to obey the law in order to be godly/ not perish but have everlasting life is tantamount to throwing God's grace in the trash. The arm of flesh (human strength/effort at being godly aka be like God) will fail. If it were not for God's mercy, all of mankind would crumple into the sins-ridden mass of flesh that man is of himself when Satan comes a-sifting.

When the scales of Satan's grip falls from the eyes of many, they realise their sin and are remorseful. No matter how it got to go astray, whether like Peter who thought he would never do something like that or like Judas whom Satan entered, what the lost sheep who are living in sin/under the accusation and the guilt of sins need is not more rules and regulations about abstinence from sins and being godly by human strength aka keeping the letter (law) that kills. What the helpless sinner needs is super(hyper)-abounding Grace: Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd and Saviour who saves from sins.

God sent Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. But like Eve who tried to be godly (be like God) by using her human strength, some people deceive themselves that they can do the right thing (keep the law and be sinless in order to be good like God) by their human strength (arm of flesh.) Also like Peter who boasted and knew 100% that he would not deny Christ but fell flat on his face three times, some think that some sins are beneath them. Believer, let's not be found here. Many have no idea that the reason why we are not mass murderers is because God did not allow Satan to load us with a trial that we cannot handle. We all need God's saving Grace 100% in every facet of life.

Being in Christ without living in triumph over sin and death is much more impossible than being submerged under water naked without getting wet. Godliness, every fruit of the Spirit and right living is the "wet." In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace-

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14.

This verse is the message of the cross; Christ's message. But many preach it backwards and say that sin will have dominion over you if you follow Grace or that Grace children just want to wallow in sin. There is a reason for this foolish and antichrist talk as we see in 1 Corinthians 1:18-

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Howe can one continue to live in sin when he has Christ (God's Grace) who came to free us from every kind of sin, no matter how vile, as his Saviour? Only antichrists preach that Grace (Christ Himself!) will cause people to sin.

How can God who sent His own beloved Son to save us from our sins sanction living in sin? This is as ridiculous as going to a hospital treat cancer and then the Physician in charge of your well- being (who happens to be your Father that would give his life for you in a heartbeat) allows you to ingest and wallow in more carcinogens (sin) so that the penalty of your wallowing (death) can follow. Let's take our blessed brains to church. Not every gathering in God's name is the “assembly of the brethren.”

Christ is Saviour. He saves from the cancer of sin and the death that follows. For all who believe in Jesus Christ, God the Righteous Judge sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins"- Romans 5:16-

It is because of those sins that He came- to save us from them all and to make us into what He wants us to be. To save.

Saviour is Christ’s job description. If you have sins, He is Saviour.

So how on earth can a believer continue to wallow in sin? Those who foolishly think that they can manage to live right and prosper by human effort at obedience as Peter did before Satan sifted him like wheat and he fell flat on his face three times have no need of Him. Any churchgoer with this false reasoning of “sinning because of Grace” simply does not believe in Jesus Christ - that He saves from sins.

Beloved of God, beware of “spiritual wickedness in high places” pastors whose trade is describing the truth of Grace (God's word!) as “blasphemy”/“license to sin.” Such point out sin and ungodliness in man and then promote the attainment of righteousness/godliness (be like God) by human effort aka the arm of flesh. This is the same seemingly good but deathly false doctrine that Satan used to deceive Eve in Eden.

Antichrist pastors and churchgoers who follow them teach dependence on human strength at attaining godliness as Satan did to Eve. Notice they are not anti-God. They are anti-Christ. Such place the burden of salvation from sins on the helpless sinner, describe the truth of Grace as license to sin and preach that man can be godly by human effort at doing stuff, thus expressing their unbelief in Christ who came to free us from every kind of sin and cause us to live right. But the word of God whose ways and thoughts are higher than man’s says differently-

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What does "the flesh" mean in 1 John 4:2?

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