Stand Firm: Standing Firm In Your Faith Against DeceptionSample

Day 5: The Spirit of Truth and The Spirit of Error

I remember wondering in the early days of my walk with the Lord how would we know if we’re being deceived? It was clear to me that no one would be walking around holding a sign saying, “I’m seeking to deceive you”. This deeply concerned me until I began unpacking what Jesus promised us in John 16:13. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” Friend, this is good news.

We in Christ have been gifted the Holy Spirit, which means the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts! Thank You, Lord! Because of this, we can trust that we will always be led in truth by the Spirit and pointed away from the errors of our flesh, as well as the deceptions of the world.

1 John 4:6 reminds us of this too. “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”  We will know the difference between the bearers of truth and the schemers of error.

Galatians 5:25 tells us, "if we live by the Spirit, let us stay in step with the Spirit". From this we know that those who live by God's unwavering truth will be in alignment with His truth.

These three pieces of Scripture alone give us clarity around this issue of desiring to understand how we will know if we're being deceived.

• We will know by following the prompting of the Holy Spirit and remembering the Holy Spirit only leads in truth.
• We will know true followers of Christ by their acceptance of the true Gospel.
• We will know those who are in Christ by the reflection of their lives and seeing the Spirit lead them.

Trusting that the Spirit will lead us in truth is also a call for us to trust God more deeply and to intimately know His Word. When we seek the heart of God, we see the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life. When we see the Holy Spirit leading in our life, we see the gift of discernment taking place and our always deepening dependence on the Lord.

So today, as you go out in the world, remember what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, write John 16:13 on your heart, and trust His lead. Know fully that He will always lead you to the truth and away from error. The Spirit will never contradict the Word of God.

Scripture Reading

1 John 4:1-6 esv

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 

Prayer Prompt

Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I pray that I will seek to obey where the Spirit leads and not turn from the protection it gives me. Father, I pray for a faith that is bold for you, that knows your Word, and desires to grow in discernment. As I go about my day, I ask that I would be stirred up to be on fire for truth. I pray against the deception of the enemy and ask that error would be far from me. In Jesus’s name, amen.