1 Jn 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.: Christians are told to not just believe anyone who says, "I'm a Christian too!" We see false teachers all over YouTube. There's a large number of people who profess to be Christian but deny the deity of Jesus. For example, one well known person is Officer Tatum. He has said multiple times that he's a Christian, but then has made many videos denying that Jesus was God.
1 Jn 4:2
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God: Here's the test. If the person says that Jesus was God in the flesh, they're from God. This is probably John remembering what Jesus told Peter in Mat 16:13-19, "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”" I actually use this in my daily life when speaking with someone I don't know that calls themself a Christian. For example, Mormons don't believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. They believe He was a created being, and separate from God the Father. They don't believe in the Trinity. In their religion, Jesus wasn't God in the flesh, but that God the Father impregnated Mary and Jesus was born.
1 Jn 4:3
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.: If you meet someone calling themselves a Christian, and they don't believe Jesus was God in the flesh, run. Just as Christians have the Holy Spirit, who gives us the knowledge of Jesus so we can state that He was God in the flesh, died on the cross for our sins, and that there is salvation only through faith in Him, there is a spirit of antichrist, which denies Jesus. There will be a real Antichrist, in the flesh, who will sign a peace treaty for seven years, usher in a one-world government, and rule for seven years during the tribulation. Those who deny Christ are of his spirit.
1 Jn 4:4
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.: If you believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, He died for your sins, was resurrected, and that there is salvation in no other, you are from God. If you are from God, you have overcome those with the spirit of the antichrist. This is because the Holy Spirit is greater than he who is in the world. Who is this who is in the world? The Devil. Satan is the prince and god of this world. (Eph 2:2, Joh 12:31, 1Jn 5:19) Therefore, the Devil is the spirit of the antichrist.
1 Jn 4:5
They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.: Those who are of the spirit of the Devil, are of the world. They focus on worldly things like making money, being successful in their job, being famous, etc. They are antichrist. When they hear Jesus's words, they can't comprehend (1Co 2:14). Yet, when they hear people promote the things of this world (for example, self-help books), they respond well and understand perfectly. But they will never be satisfied, no matter how successful they are with the things of this world. There's a longing for God build into us, and the physical world can't fill that. Those of us who are Christians will feel like aliens, and that we don't belong here (Heb 11:13-16).
1 Jn 4:6
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.: John is speaking of the Apostles of Christ. They were chosen by God, and were taught directly by The Word in the flesh (Jesus). They were carrying on with preaching the good news, therefore they were from God. Those of us who hear and respond to the gospel are of God, and those who hear and do not repond are of the spirit of error (antichrist).
1 Jn 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.: This is said over and over. Love is the proof of our salvation. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, even while we were sinners, we should then have that same type of love toward others, and especially toward our brothers and sisters in Jesus. Our walk with Jesus should be evident in our lives to anyone, simply by our love. Not by quoting scripture and being holier-than-thou. It's the love of Christ that's appealing.
1 Jn 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.: It can't get clearer than this. We all know someone that fits this bill. A fictional character that most people know is Mr Scrooge. He was extremely unloving. It didn't have to do with hoarding money (although that could be a symptom), but with how he treated people. Love isn't a feeling, it's action (1Co 13:4-7). When men are told to love their wives, it doesn't mean to have a good feeling toward her, but to treat her lovingly. The feeling will come naturally, but is separate from love. The world conflates the feeling with action. God clearly separates the two.
1 Jn 4:9
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.: This love of God isn't another person of God, but means that just as proof of our salvation is the manifestation of love in our lives, the love of God was manifested in this world by Him sending His only begotten Son Jesus into the world. Through Jesus's sacrifice, we can live a life pleasing to God. To be pleasing to God, we have to live by faith in the understanding that Jesus was God in the flesh, died for our sins, was resurrected, and has offered salvation to anyone who believes. This faith will produce love in our lives through the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.
1 Jn 4:10
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.: True love is expressed by the fact that even when we were sinners, God sent His Son to die for our sins. Propitiation means covering. Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, covering our sins. We have an intercessor through the Holy Spirit that lives within us, helping us with our weaknesses, conveying for us the things of God in our stead (Rom 8:26-27), and Jesus who sits at the right hand also intercedes on our behalf, covering for our sins (Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25). It's this strange communication between the Holy Spirit and Jesus that - through faith - allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Father.
1 Jn 4:11
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.: Again, John tells us to love one another. Why? Because God loved us so much that even while we were sinners, He sent Jesus to die for us as the propitiation for our sins.
1 Jn 4:12
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.: We need to understand that God is eternal. There's no possible way for an eternal being to show Himself to a temporal being. We have seen Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, but we haven't seen God in the spiritual sense. It's impossible. In fact, Exo 33:20 has God saying, "... you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." The way that God is manifested in this world is through love. First, by the manifestation of Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins, and then through our lives as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1), aided by the Holy Spirit within us.
1 Jn 4:13
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.: Paul says to be a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Our sacrifice is to demonstrate God's love, no matter what. The world talks a big game of "being loving" yet is everything but. The Church does too. It's one of the biggest complaints from non-Christians. I think a lot of pastors miss the point when people say Christians are hypocrites and respond with, "we could use one more!" The people are correctly saying that we are supposed to be different through our love, but they can't see any difference from the world. We really need to reflect on this as Christians. Does the love of Christ reflect in your life? By the manifestation of love in your life, that's how "we know that we abide in Him and He in us."
1 Jn 4:14
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.: The apostles were witnesses to Jesus's ministry and testify that He is the Savior of the world. His offer is for everyone. Believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, He died for our sins, was resurrected, and you will be saved (Eph 2:8-9).
1 Jn 4:15
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.: John repeats that those of us who confess that Jesus is God in the flesh is proof that God abides in him, and he in God. Being the Son of God is calling Jesus God. In Jewish culture, calling someone "son of" implied them sharing the same nature, or essence. In Joh 5:18, when Jesus called Himself the Son of God, the Jews wanted to kill him for equating Himself with God.
1 Jn 4:16
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.: They knew Jesus, and because they knew Him, they can testify of the love that God has for us. Jesus was God in the flesh, and Jesus loved us so much that He died for us. There is no greater love than that (Joh 15:13). How do we know Jesus was talking about us? Because He continued on to say that He calls us friends in Joh 15:15! Surely, knowing that even while we were sinners, Jesus died for us to cover our sins, we can demonstrate love to others simply because He did it first and asks us to do it in return.
1 Jn 4:17
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.: By God (the Holy Spirit) abiding in us, as evidenced by the love that manifests in our lives, we can have confidence that we will be found innocent on the day of judgement. It's not our love, but the love of the Spirit that is on display through us.
1 Jn 4:18
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.: This is fear concerning the afterlife. It can't be a complete lack of fear because that would be irrational. Parents fear for their children and that's normal. We can have a complete lack of fear concerning what happens after we die if we believe and then see the love of God manifested in our lives. We have no fear of the judgement because Jesus was our propitiation, and our sins are covered.
1 Jn 4:19
We love because he first loved us.: Jesus loved us while we were sinners, and so much so that He died for us to set us to a right relationship with our heavenly Father. Since Jesus did that while we were sinners, we should have that same love toward others and meet them where they are as well.
br />1 Jn 4:20
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.: One of the key requirements of saying that you are a Christian is to understand our fallen nature. We have to know that we are fallen, sinful creatures that need a savior. How can you say that you understand the need for a savior because of our fallen nature, but then hate your brother who is in the same state? We should see ourselves reflected in them. If we can see them, but not have compassion on them because of their fallen nature, how can we say that we love God, who we haven't even seen? The test for ourselves is whether or not love manifests in our lives. If we're saved, love will be present.
1 Jn 4:21
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.: This is the one great commandment that Jesus laid down for us concerning each other. And what is love? 1Co 13:4-7 "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Since Jesus told us to love one another, and we claim to love Jesus, then we have to love one another.
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