How can you tell if what someone is teaching is right or wrong? Verse 2 has the answer to that....Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Anyone who doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God is part of the spirit of the antichrist. If a teacher approaches you who doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, have nothing whatsoever to do with him or his teachings. They are false. They are very sly and deceiving and could draw you away from what is right.
Our very salvation is based on the belief that Jesus, the Son of God came and died on a cross so that we might be saved. We can overcome all false teachers and their teachings because verse 4 states...Ye are of God little children and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
The greater one is within us. We have the power of God’s Holy Spirit within us if we are born again. We can’t afford to let any falseness come into our lives. So, if someone comes your way with teachings that you are not sure about, get out your Bible and check it out. If it doesn’t line up with scripture, stay away from it.