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. 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.
Years ago I was part of a ministry to homeless persons in the downtown area of San Antonio. One of the activities was to hold a bible study there on Saturday nights. A bit of a risky proposition for sure. We would make a big pot of soup and invite people to have a bowl and then stick around for some bible study if they liked. Many did and it was a blessing. But once in a while someone would join in – but then be terribly disruptive. Over and over. They would not stop interjecting or shouting or disturbing the group, nor would they leave when asked.
And so one time a fellow pastor suggested we stop the discussion and say aloud together, “Jesus is the Son of God, my Lord and Savior!”. Over and over. LOUDLY! Sometimes a disruptive person would join in, and usually calm down in the process. But other times they wouldn’t say it and would eventually leave.
“…every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God”
Lord Jesus thank you that your name has power in the heavenly realm. Amen.
Fuel for the journey 
Fascinating story!
Cool story. We are dealing with the ‘spirit of the age’ currently; and it is NOT the spirit that gave us Jesus. Our more secular environment is a result of corporate churches that are failing in their mission (Including the ELCA). They are bowing to the ‘spirit of the age’ instead of to our God in an effort to not offend anybody. When we won’t defend ‘the truth’, and accept that everyone can have their ‘own truth’, we end up with no guiding principles.
“Jesus is the Son of God, my Lord and Savior!”.