That You May Know

Test The Spirits
Fifty nine times scripture refers to a group called one another. They have a shared status of salvation, requiring the reader to discern who one another really is. Every profession of faith must be inspected to know who to evangelize, fellowship with, date, marry, be of one mind with, bear the burdens of, exhort, admonish, confront about sin, worship with, pray with, who they are united with, who is a brother or sister, and who is an enemy. For the Church to exist as God intended, we must know who is really born again.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5

Beloved, 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.
1 John 4:1

The Johannine Diagnostic
We must test the spirits — that is, test the souls, the persons— to see who is really from God, and who is not. How? This booklet surveys the books of John, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, citing sixty seven tests of genuine salvation from the writings of the Apostle John.

TEST Doctrine

Belief

1. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
John 3:36

2. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5:24

3. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?
John 5:46–47

4. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
John 6:47

5. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25–26

Christology

Beloved, 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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
John 4:1–3

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
John 4:15

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the One who gives new birth loves also the one who has been born of Him.
John 5:1

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John 1:7

Receives Christ’s Words

He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.John 3:33
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.John 17:6–8
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.2 John 1:9

TEST DEEDS

Keeps Commands

16. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”
John 3:21

17. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death—ever.”
John 8:51

18. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.
John 14:21

19. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
John 14:23–24

20. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:10

21. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:3–6

22. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.
1 John 3:23–24

23. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith.
Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:2–5

Deeds

...so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.John 5:23
They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would do the deeds of Abraham.John 8:39
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father.John 14:12
And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.1 John 2:17
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness has been born of Him.1 John 2:29
No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother.1 John 3:6–10
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him1 John 3:18–19
We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.1 John 5:18
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.3 John 1:11

Love

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
John 3:17

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come of Myself, but He sent Me.
John 8:42

He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
John 12:25

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.
John 2:9–11

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
John 2:15

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death.
John 3:14

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
John 3:15

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 4:7–8

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
John 4:20

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
John 1:1

Fruit

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit.John 15:2
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.John 15:4
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.John 15:5
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.John 15:7–8
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would abide, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.John 15:16

Walk

49. Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
John 8:12

50. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26

51. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
John 12:46

52. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:6–7

Hearing

He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.
John 8:47

When he brings all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they will never follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
John 10:4–5

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You yourself said I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
John 18:37

They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them.
John 4:5

We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
John 4:6

Misc.

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
John 6:53–58

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
John 15:18–20

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
John 16:13–15

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.
John 2:18–19

And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
John 3:3

Is it possible to know with certainty that you’ve been born again? Can we rightly and humbly assess the authenticity of someone else’s profession of faith?

Quick Jump

TEST Doctrine

Belief

Confession of Sin

Christology

Receives Christ’s Words

TEST DEEDS

Keeps Commands

Deeds

Love

Fruit

Walk

TEST REALITIES

Receives the Trinity

Hearing

Freedom

Misc.

QuestionS?

About

Contact