In our local assembly, we have been discussing how we need to identify with Jesus Christ and not with our fleshly nature. We need to see who we are in Christ. We are members of Christ the body. We see the glory of God in Christ the body–in our brothers and sisters we see Christ. We focused on 1 John 4:1-4. Tonight, I wanted to put some music on my computer. I didn’t know where I had my music files, so I was browsing through old folders. I opened one folder with many mp3 files. I opened a random file and found something I recorded decades ago while riding in my car: D. James Kennedy. He was talking about the same thing. He was talking about the deists who deny that God is alive and active in His people now. The talked about those who don’t believe in divine revelation today. I felt compelled to look up 1 John 4:1-4.
“Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist …”
The Holy Spirit seemed to emphasize the importance of the term “is come.” It seemed He was emphasizing the necessity of recognizing that Jesus Christ not only came in the flesh long ago and far away but that he also is come in the flesh today in His saint. He is Christ in us, the hope of glory. There is a part of the church that denies this. They recognize Jesus as a historical figure and Lord, but they don’t think anyone can know Him in any real sense. When they say, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus,” they don’t mean Jesus leads, teaches, and corrects them moment by moment in every situation. They mean they have made a statement in which they claim to have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. It’s more of a theoretical idea.
Yet, in the King James Bible, Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh. It’s in the present tense. It seems almost awkward and over obviously stated as present tense. No one talks that way. “IS COME!” It’s like super present tense.
I looked up this Scripture is several translations and found that many translations use the past tense. I wanted a confirmation of what I thought I was receiving from the Spirit.
I looked up the verse in the Greek, and “in the flesh” is definitely there.
I looked up the term “is come” in the Greek. It’s a Greek word “erchomai.” I looked up how it’s used in Scripture and found it can be past, present, or future tense. So, I wondered why the translators of the King James Bible made it present tense as Christ in us while other translators made it past tense.
I felt compelled to look at it in context in 1 John 4:1-4. Then I understood.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 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 King James translators looked at the context. They saw, “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” They saw “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” Christ is in us. Christ IS COME IN THE FLESH.
Whoever confesses that Jesus Christ is appearing in those who follow Him is of God. Whoever will not confess that Jesus Christ is appearing in those who follow Him is not of God but is of the spirit of antichrist. This all ties in with discerning Christ the body. When we see Him as He is, a many-membered body, we become like Him. As we all, with the fleshly veil removed from our faces, beholding as if in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
Every member of Christ the body has and is a ministry. The ministry in each member is Christ. This is Christ in us the hope of glory. We need to discern the body of Christ, Christ the body. We need to see Christ in each other. When we pray in Jesus’ name, Jesus is praying through us. He leads us as to what to pray and then prays through us. When Christ tells us what to command and we yield our mouths to Him so He can speak His words through us, He can say, “In the name of Jesus Christ if Nazareth, rise up and walk.” God created the universe with the Word of God. Christ is the Word of God. Nothing can be withheld from Him when He speaks through us.
