Was Jesus Raised in the Flesh - 1 John 4:2-3

Question

Some, like the Gnostics, taught that Jesus did not rise from the dead in the flesh. Is this true according to 1 John 4:2-3?

Answer

1 John 4:2-3 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
In this verse, John is writing after the resurrection. Moreover, he uses the perfect tense in Greek, meaning "a past action with continuing results in the present." And in 2 John 7 he uses the present tense saying, "Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist."

Jesus was born as a real human being with real flesh and blood (God incarnate - Matt. 1:23; John 1:13-14). He lived his life on this earth as a real human being with real flesh and blood: he wept (John 11:35); he slept (Mark 4:35-41); he was hungry and thirsty (Matt. 11:19; John 19:29); he died (Matt. 27:50-53; 1 Cor. 15:1-4); he rose from death as a real human being with real flesh and blood (Luke 24:39; Acts 2:30-31). Jesus is 100 percent fully man and 100 percent fully God (Hypostatic Union and Equality in the Godhead).

Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.

Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).