Testing the Spirits
Study note
John warns believers not to believe every spirit but to test them. The Spirit of God is recognized by the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any spirit that does not make this confession is not from God but is the spirit of antichrist, already present in the world. Believers have overcome these false spirits because the One in them is greater than the one in the world. False teachers speak from the world's perspective and attract a worldly audience, but those who know God listen to the apostolic witness.
1 Dear friends, do not trust every spirit you encounter. Instead, test them to find out if they truly come from God. Many fake prophets are out in the world. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Here is how to know if a spirit is from God. Any spirit that says Jesus Christ truly came as a human being is from God. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 Any spirit that will not say this about Jesus is not from God. That is the spirit of the antichrist, which you were told would come. It is already here in the world. 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.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is 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.
5 These false teachers belong to the world. Therefore they talk like the world and the world listens to them. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We belong to God. Anyone who knows God listens to us. Anyone who does not belong to God will not listen to us. That is how we can tell the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of lies. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
God Is Love
Study note
John makes his supreme declaration: God is love. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God; whoever does not love does not know God. God demonstrated his love by sending his only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him. True love is not that we loved God first, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Since God loved us this much, we also ought to love one another. Though no one has seen God, when we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 Here is how God proved his love for us: he sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we could have real life through him. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 This is what real love is. We did not love God first. He loved us first and sent his Son to take the punishment for our sins. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we certainly should love each other too. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12 Nobody has ever seen God face to face. But when we love each other, God makes his home in us and his love reaches its full goal inside us. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Confidence in Love
Study note
John explains that God has given believers his Spirit as evidence that they live in him and he in them. The apostles testify that the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world, and whoever confesses Jesus as the Son of God experiences mutual indwelling with God. God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in God. Love reaches its goal among believers when they have confidence on the day of judgment. There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear entirely, because fear has to do with punishment. Those who still fear have not been made complete in love.
13 Here is how we know we are living in God and he is living in us: he has shared his Spirit with us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 We saw it for ourselves, and we are telling everyone: the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the whole world. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15 Whoever openly declares that Jesus is God's Son -- God lives in that person, and that person lives in God. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16 We have come to know and trust the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives a life of love is living in God, and God is living in them. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17 As love grows to its fullest in us, we become confident about the day of judgment. We can be confident because we are becoming like Jesus in this world. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. Whoever fears has not been made perfect in love. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Love for God Requires Love for Others
Study note
We love because God first loved us. John exposes the hypocrisy of claiming to love God while hating a fellow believer: such a person is a liar. If you cannot love a brother whom you have seen, you cannot love God whom you have not seen. The commandment from God is clear: whoever loves God must also love their brother.
19 We love because he loved us first. We love him, because he first loved us.
20 If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar. If you cannot love someone you can see, how can you love a God you cannot see? If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21 This is the command he gave us: anyone who loves God must also love their fellow believers. And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.