1 John 4

Test the spirits

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.a ²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,b ³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.c

⁴You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.d ⁵They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them.e ⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.f

God is love

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.g ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.h ⁹This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.i

¹⁰And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.j ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.k ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.l

¹³By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.m ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.n ¹⁵If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.o

¹⁶And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.p ¹⁷In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.q ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.r

¹⁹We love because He first loved us.s ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.t ²¹And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.u

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Commentary

1 João 4 is the theological heart of John's first letter, pivoting from the call to love one another (chapter 3) to the foundation that makes such love possible: God's own nature as love. The chapter opens with a sober warning to test the spirits, distinguishing the Spirit of tru

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Bible Dictionary· 1 John 4(6)

Brother Father Flesh Spirit The Way Why

Bible Characters· 1 John 4(1)

Jesus

References· 1 John 4

a: v.1 — 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 Timothy 4:1, 2 John 1:7, Proverbs 14:15, Matthew 24:4-5, Jeremiah 29:8-9, Matthew 7:15-16, 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 John 2:18
b: v.2 — John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 12:3, 1 Timothy 3:16, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 4:3, John 16:13-15, 1 John 2:23
c: v.3 — 1 John 2:22, 2 John 1:7, 1 John 2:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8
d: v.4 — Romans 8:31, 1 John 5:4, Romans 8:37, 1 John 4:16, 1 Corinthians 2:12, Romans 8:10-11, Ephesians 6:12-13, 1 John 5:19, 1 John 4:13, Ephesians 6:10
e: v.5 — John 8:23, 2 Peter 2:2-3, John 17:14, John 17:16, John 3:31, 2 Timothy 4:3, Revelation 12:9, Jeremiah 5:31, Psalms 17:4, Isaiah 30:10-11
f: v.6 — John 14:17, John 10:27, 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, John 15:26, John 8:45-50, 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:4, John 18:37, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11, 1 Corinthians 14:37
g: v.7 — 1 John 4:20, 1 John 4:8, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 2:10, Galatians 5:22, 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, 1 John 4:12, 1 John 3:10-23, 1 John 2:29
h: v.8 — 1 John 4:16, 1 John 4:7, Psalms 86:15, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Psalms 86:5, Exodus 34:6-7, Ephesians 2:4, 1 John 1:5, 1 John 3:6, 1 John 2:9
i: v.9 — John 3:16, 1 John 5:11, Romans 8:32, John 6:57, 1 John 4:10, John 10:10, John 10:28-30, John 11:25-26, John 6:51, 1 John 3:16
j: v.10 — Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 5:8-10, 1 John 4:19, 1 John 2:2, John 15:16, 1 John 4:8-9, John 3:16, Titus 3:3-5, 1 John 3:1, Deuteronomy 7:7-8
k: v.11 — John 15:12-13, Colossians 3:13, John 13:34, 1 John 3:23, Luke 10:37, 1 John 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 8:8-9, Ephesians 4:31, Matthew 18:32-33
l: v.12 — John 1:18, 1 John 2:5, 1 John 4:17-18, 1 Timothy 6:16, 1 John 4:20, Exodus 33:20, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 4:6, Numbers 12:8, Hebrews 11:27
m: v.13 — Ephesians 2:20-22, 1 John 3:24, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 2:12, Galatians 5:22-25, 1 John 4:15-16, Romans 8:9-17, John 14:20-26, 1 Corinthians 6:19
n: v.14 — 1 John 4:10, John 3:16-17, John 4:42, John 1:14, 1 John 2:1-2, John 15:26-27, John 1:29, 1 John 5:9, 1 Peter 5:12, John 3:34
o: v.15 — Romans 10:9, Matthew 10:32, 1 John 5:5, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 4:2, Philippians 2:11, 1 John 4:12, 1 John 5:1, Luke 12:8, 2 John 1:7
p: v.16 — 1 John 3:24, Psalms 36:7-9, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:8-10, Psalms 18:1-3, 1 John 4:12-13, 1 John 3:16, Psalms 31:19, 1 Corinthians 2:9, John 6:69
q: v.17 — 1 John 2:28, 1 John 4:12, Romans 8:29, 1 John 2:5, 1 John 3:3, John 15:20, 1 John 3:19-21, 1 John 3:1, 1 Peter 4:13-14, Matthew 12:36
r: v.18 — 2 Timothy 1:7, Romans 8:15, 1 John 4:12, Luke 1:74-75, Hebrews 12:28, James 2:19, Psalms 119:120, Psalms 73:19, Job 15:21, Psalms 88:15-16
s: v.19 — 1 John 4:10, John 3:16, John 15:16, Titus 3:3-5, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Luke 7:47, Ephesians 2:3-5, Galatians 5:22
t: v.20 — 1 John 3:17, 1 John 2:9, 1 John 4:12, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 2:11, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 John 1:6
u: v.21 — Matthew 22:37-39, Leviticus 19:18, 1 John 3:11, Galatians 5:14, 1 Peter 3:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, John 15:12, Romans 12:9-10, John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:14

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