1 John Chapter 04

Testing the Spirits

4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Satan is alive and well. If one does not believe that Satan exists, then Satan has that man right where he wants him. Satan reveals himself to the world as a dark, scary and evil black menace who thrives on human blood, human sacrifice, and black magic. However, this is not the Satan of Scripture. The Satan of Scripture comes as an "angel of light." He uses the dark Satan of black magic to scare people into accepting the angel of light Satan of white magic. Satan is rarely found in the black masses of the forests. He is found in local churches. He sits on elder boards and he preaches from the pulpit. He speaks through charismatic prophets, healers, and tongues speakers. People go to church to hear from God, but if their Bible doctrine is not strong enough, they may actually be taught by demons.  

John warned his readers not to believe every spirit. Demons will disguise themselves as the Holy Spirit and perform actual miracles in charismatic churches. The Bible teaches that the real prophets will disappear, but false prophets will appear, especially in the churches. When in history did the real prophets disappear? Why does the church need miracles if there is a written Word of God? When and where will the false prophets appear? Is it possible for demons to enter charismatic churches and disguise themselves as messengers from God? Can demons make people sick, and then heal them, and make it look life faith healers are doing the work? Is it possible for demons to possess a body and speak in tongues? Is it possible for a demon to possess another body and give a prophecy? Can demons listen to the plans of humans and know what they are going to do in advance?

The way to test the spirits is through sound Bible doctrine. A person with sound Bible doctrine will understand that the gifts of tongues was a gift of hearing, not speaking gibberish. They will know that only the apostles and their legates could perform miracles, but only to authenticate that their message was from God. They would know that Paul lost the gift of healing at the end of his ministry, because the New Testament was almost complete. They know that prophecies and miracles were to disappear. They know that there is no such thing as a private prayer language. They know there is no such thing as being slain in the spirit. They know that there is only one baptism of the Spirit and it is not preceded by tongues. They know that false prophets will appear in churches. 

4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,

False prophets will deny the deity of Christ. They will say a lot of nice things about Jesus, but they will not confess that He is God in the flesh. 

4:3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.

Antichrists are false teachers who are against Christ. They existed in John's day and they exist today.  There is a specific Antichrist coming in the future. He will be a man who is possessed by Satan. He will attempt to exterminate the Jewish people so that they will not be able to cry out "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".

4:4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

 John was writing to Christians who were the little children of God. They should not be fooled by these gnostic teachers, because the Holy Spirit was living inside of them. By checking out Scripture, these believers would be led by the Holy Spirit to discern the false teachings of the gnostics. The Holy Spirit living inside  the believers is greater than the enemy who is in the world.

4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them.

 The gnostics were from the satanic world system. They spoke from the views that were taught to them by others who were living in the same system. Their listeners were also part of this system, so they listened to them as well.

4:6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

However, the believers were not part of this satanic world system. They had been saved out of it. They were from God. They knew God. God listens to their prayers. Whoever does not listen to these believers are not from God. The believers have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit teaching them, so they know the truth and they can recognize doctrinal error.

God is Love

4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

The believers were commanded to love one another, meaning other believers. They were not to love the false teachers who were spreading heresy. The Greek word for "love" is ἀγάπη (agape), and it means divine love. Divine love only comes from mastering Bible doctrine. When one masters Bible doctrine, then he will know how to pray. His prayers will be prayers of divine viewpoint instead of human viewpoint. He will pray for the things of God instead of the things of Satan. Those who do not master Bible doctrine will pray for snakes.

4:8 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

 A person cannot experience agape love unless he is a believer in Christ. Agape love is not sex, kindness, and tolerance of all things. Agape love is knowing God through Bible doctrine. When a believer tells someone that they do not have agape love, then they are telling the believer that they do not know Bible doctrine.

In The Epistles of John, Dr. H. A. Ironside wrote:

Years ago a lady who prided herself on belonging to the intelligentsia said to me, “I have no use for the Bible, for Christian superstition, and religious dogma. It is enough for me to know that God is love.” “Well,” I said, “do you know it?” “Why, of course I do,” she said; “we all know that, and that is religion enough for me. I do not need the dogmas of the Bible.” “How did you find out that God is love?” I asked. “Why,” she said, “everybody knows that.” “Do they know it yonder in India?” I asked. “That poor mother in her distress throwing her little babe into the holy Ganges to be eaten by filthy and repulsive crocodiles as a sacrifice for her sins—does she know that God is love?” “Oh, well, she is ignorant and superstitious,” she replied. “Those poor wretched negroes in the jungles of Africa, bowing down to gods of wood and stone, and in constant fear of their fetishes, the poor heathen in other countries, do they know that God is love?” “Perhaps not,” she said, “but in a civilized land we all know it.” “But how is it that we know it? Who told us so? Where did we find it out?” “I do not understand what you mean,” she said, “for I’ve always known it.” “Let me tell you this,” I answered; “no one in the world ever knew it until it was revealed from heaven and recorded in the Word of God. It is here and nowhere else. It is not found in all the literature of the ancients.”

4:9 By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.

 Man will not find love in nature. He will find hunters and the hunted. He will find a bloody tooth and a sharp claw. If man looks into his conscience, he will find total depravity. The only place to find love is at Calvary. Love is revealed through the Word of God, and not through any other literature, agency, or system in the world. 

4:10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 The Greek word for "atoning sacrifice" is ἱλασμός  (plasmas), which is often translated as propitiation. A better translation is "mercy seat". Under the Mosaic Law, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year and poured the blood of an innocent lamb on the mercy seat. The mercy seat was the lid on the tabernacle. 

What is love? Love is the blood of Jesus being poured on this mercy seat to remove the sins of His little children,

Man is totally depraved and evil. He does not understand God, nor does he seek God. Man would never choose God, but God chose man. God loved man first, He proved this when He poured the blood of Jesus on the mercy seat. After God loved and chose man, then man chose and loved God.

4:11 Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.

The little children are to imitate their Daddy. If Daddy loves all of his children, then the children should love their brothers and sisters. The brothers and sisters is not the brotherhood of all men under all religions. The brotherhood consists of all brothers "in Christ". 

The Greek word for "ought" is ὀφείλω (opheilow), a present active indicative verb, meaning to continually be morally indebted to love one's brother. If a person does not love believers, then one must question his salvation.

4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us.

 Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others did not see God, because "God is spirit". What they did see was a theophany, or a visual representation of God. God revealed Himself in the form of a man so that He could communicate directly with His creation. Never did God reveal His full glory. The only person to see God face to face in His full glory was the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is God, the Second Person of the Trinity.

God lives inside all believers. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion. The love of God sanctifies the believer, making him more Christ-like.

4:13 By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit.

 Believers know that they reside in God. They know that God lives inside them. They know that they have been baptized with the Holy Spirit for eternity.

4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

The "we" is the apostles. The apostles saw the Lord Jesus Christ. They testified what they saw. Their testimony was that God the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The gnostics claimed to have super-knowledge, but they were not actual eye-witnesses to these events. Their super-knowledge is not based on factual testimony. 

4:15 If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.

 The purpose of agape love is to confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Those who possess agape love will attempt to take the gospel to the world. Those who do not have agape love, or those immature in the faith, will criticize those who use their agape love to take the gospel to the world.

4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

Only those who know God can experience agape love. The only way to know God is through the Scriptures. Therefore, agape love is knowing God through Scriptures. When a person says "I love Jesus", but they do not know the Scriptures, then you have to doubt their sincerity. How do they know that they love Jesus if they have not studied the entire counsel of the Word of God? If a person says that they do not have to study the entire counsel of the Word of God to know Jesus, then they are only going to love a fragmented Jesus. To love all of Jesus, one must study the entire counsel of the Word of God.

4:17 By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.

The Greek word for "perfected" is τελειόω (teleiow), a perfect passive indicative verb, meaning to start and finish a process. The verb is perfect, meaning that the process started as a onetime action of the past, but it continues forever. Agape love is started in the past, but it continues through stages of development into the future until it is completed. Agape love will be completed when the believer is either raptured or dies to be with Christ forever. Since this love is a process that began in the past and continues forever, then the believer may have confidence that when the day of judgment arrives, the believers will be like Jesus. Therefore, there will be one condemnation for those who are "in Christ".

4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.

Since the believer will be completed with divine love, then there is no need for him to fear judgment.

4:19 We love because he loved us first.

 The believer was a dirty, rotten sinner who was totally depraved and a hater of God and everything good, yet Christ loved the believer first.

4:20 If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

It is impossible for one to love God and hate believers. If one says that they love God, but then they hate believers, then they are a liar.

4:21 And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.

God did not request a believer to love another believer. He commanded it.