1 John 4
June 23
Reading: 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. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4 begins with some instruction from the apostle. “Do not believe every spirit.” Those who follow Jesus Christ, who love Him, who obey Him, are expected to exercise discernment. Verses 1-6 here describe a Spirit-filled, Scripture based, prayerful discernment when confronted with different people who claim to be speaking for or from God. Do not believe all of them. There are people who call themselves prophets and teachers who are actually liars.
How can you tell truth from falsehood? Consider what they say about Jesus Christ? The truth begins with an understanding that Jesus the Messiah has come from God in the flesh. If you listen to Him, to His teachings as recorded in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, if you study and follow those teachings, you will be able to discern truth from error.
In verses 7-21 John gets back to a test/proof of a true Christian that he has focused on at length twice before in this letter. This is the third time he has presented this teaching. It is important. One might say that John sees this as the most important indication that you are truly a follower of Jesus, a Christian.
The person who knows and follows Jesus obeys Jesus by loving his or her brothers and sisters in Christ. This love for other believers shows that you know God. (vs. 8) This love for other believers shows that you understand the love that God has shown you. (vss. 9-11) This love for other believers shows that you are abiding in Christ. (vs. 12) This love for other believers shows that the Holy Spirit is in you. (vs. 13)
When you love other believers, you show that you believe in God and are living God’s way. (vss. 15-16) When you love other believers, you show that you are ready for the judgment. (vss. 17-19) A person who is loved by God and loves God loves those who God loves. It’s a family.
Francis Schaeffer called Christian love “the mark of a Christian.” He did not mean a mushy, gooey, romantic love, but a practical, substantial, compassionate love that knows how to say “I’m sorry,” and “openly forgive even before the other person expresses regret for his wrong.” Jesus said, “by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
And, if you say that you love someone but treat them like you hate them, you are lying to yourself, to others, and to God. If you are lying to God, you don’t love Him and are not keeping His commandments. (vss. 20-21) If you wonder if you are showing someone love in the proper way, ask them. If you refuse to love your brother in Christ, you cannot be a Christian.