Soul Speak #24 (Aug 09/20) 1.John 4:1 "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God". Comments

Lately, I have been prompted to read scripture with an 'internal' focus since the "kingdom of God is within" and I have been pondering the passage of 1.John 4:1.
I hear it quoted all the time by Christians around me who are trying to determine whether some person speaking to them is "of the devil" or "from God", and it seems no one really knows how to apply this in it's proper meaning.
I would like to offer an alternative understanding on this, as I am trying to make sense of it for myself.
I find there are a lot of things in the Bible translated with phrases that mystify us, and I am always looking to de-mystify those phrases and arrive at a meaning that makes sense.
One of those verses is 1.John 4:1 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.
As I said, I always seek the meaning by taking an internal perspective and I considered whether the verse might be read as follows:
Beloved, do no believe every thought, but test the thoughts to see whether they are from God. For many false ideas have issued forth into the world.
As you will see, this rendering will immediately disarm any judgemental or suspicion of another person and will effectively turn the focus on our own self. Where I believe it actually should be.
Remember the passage in Isaiah that says "and the government shall be upon his shoulders"? The governing of the kingdom of God within ourselves, rests upon the Son's (each one of our own) shoulders. We, through Christ within rule or govern our own kingdom or affairs. Whenever we seek to rule anything outside of ourselves, we are actually stepping outside of our jurisdiction spiritually and seek to control another person's realm.
This to me is much more in line with the Spirit of scripture, and is more conducive to having the rule of God established within oneself, instead of going about looking for the problems in other people and declaring them "devilish". How does that establish any kind of life within yourself?
It is true, many people manage or govern their own internal kingdom very poorly, but we are not called to go around and say "this person is of God, and that person is not". I do not believe 1.John 4 is telling us to do that.
Now here is the actual verse that tells us if a spirit / breath / thought is from God.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is of God,
There is a metaphorical meaning given to the greek word for "come" (erchomai) and it provides the following definitions:
érchomai - metaph.
to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence, be established, become known, to come (fall) into or unto
If we were to apply one of those definitions and expand what we have been given in verse 2, can we read it as follows?
"By this you know the Spirit of God: Every thought that acknowledges or assents Jesus Christ having come into being, or finds place or influence in the flesh, is of God."
Now, is that referring to specifically Jesus' incarnation, or is this referring to Him finding place or influence in OUR flesh?
When we continue on to verse 4, we see the context that wraps itself around the opening verses is that of "greater is he who is IN you"... this is why I am wondering if this confession is linked to what is taking place inside of us (our flesh) rather than someone's ability to say "Jesus Christ came as a human being". The whole world acknowledges that by the sheer presence of our calendar, however we know that most of the world is not aware of His presence within.
#testthespirit #GodorDevil #confessingChrist

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