Compare 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Corinthians 14:32
The Spirits of the Prophets (1 John 4:1-6).
John here warns of the dangers of listening to prophets without testing their message, in the way that Paul commanded in 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Corinthians 14:32. Prophetic men arise and can seem inspired, but the test is whether they speak according to the Scriptures and the testimony of the Apostles, the guardians of the truth appointed by Jesus Himself, who themselves received the truth from Him, especially when they speak about Jesus. That is, whether they are speaking by the Holy Spirit (although John in his letters never speaks of the Holy Spirit. He speaks of ‘the Spirit'. To him there is only one Spirit that counts, just as there is only one Father and one Son), or whether they but speak from within themselves, or even as influenced by the Evil One.
The early church had a regular ministry of prophecy as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 14, and official prophets appear to have been appointed (Acts 11:27; Acts 13:1; Acts 15:32; Acts 21:10), probably on the basis of their continually accepted testimony and the witness of the Spirit in the churches. But such appointments could also spell danger if the prophet went astray, something which was quite possible in pneumatic people. It was therefore recognised that it was constantly necessary for the prophet to be checked out by fellow prophets (1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Corinthians 14:32), and by the Apostles themselves. No one is more likely to go astray than one with an unchecked ‘prophetic spirit', especially if they have powerful intellects too.
It is probable that prophets travelled from church to church. Their ministry supplemented the hearing or reading of the Old Testament Scriptures and the Testimony of Jesus, the traditions of the life and teaching of Jesus, and the letters of Paul (although smaller churches would have little of such helps and would thus the more eagerly welcome a prophet). So it was important that these prophets could be tested out to see whether they were truly of God.
At this time all the Apostles had probably died apart from John, and he therefore gives his verdict on the testing of the spirits of the prophets. He sadly acknowledges that many who give the appearance of being prophets have become false prophets. Thus he warns that prophets are not necessarily to be believed. Their words must be tested against the Apostolic teaching and the teaching of Jesus.
And one basic test must be their view of Jesus Christ. By this they can test whether their prophetic spirit is of God. Do they say that Jesus is the Christ and that the Christ has come in the flesh? If so they are of God. But if they do not acknowledge the human Jesus as also the Christ then they are not of God. They are antichrist.
The danger at this time was of ‘prophets' declaring that the Christ had not become a human being. Their belief in the pollution of the flesh was such that many could not countenance such an idea. But the test itself is all inclusive, for it declares that what is meant by ‘Jesus Christ' must be seen in the light of John's Gospel and letter. See 1 John 3:22-24; and above on 1 John 3:21-23. The words spoken in John's Gospel and the traditions of Jesus spoke of a human being come in the flesh, and His teaching had been proclaimed by a human being (John 1:14), and this same human being had in the body given Himself as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2), and had at the same time revealed His own Godhood. Then He had risen from the dead in the same body, although a body transformed by the resurrection. If the spirits did not admit to this then they spoke falsely. There could be no compromise on this.