Bible Study 1 John 4: 1-21

 

Commentary of the Book of 1 John 

By Dr. Barry L. Jenkins

Text Used: Legacy Standard Bible

Bible Study 1 John 4: 1-21

Text:

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because 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, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been [a]born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested [b]in us, that God has sent His [c]only begotten 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 beheld God at any time; 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 We have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the 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 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in 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, because fear [d]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one 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, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Verse by verse commentary:

Verse 1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

John wants his readers to know that there are other spirits beside the Holy Spirit. They are demon spirits who use the false prophets to spread lies about Divine truth. We are to “test” the spirits. “Test” is a scientific and technological term used for determining the quality of metals to know their purity and value. Christians must test any teaching with a view to approving or disapproving it based on the Word of God revealed in Scripture. John is reminding his readers that behind human teachers who propagate false doctrine and error are demons inspired by Satan. Satan has his ministers as well. My opinion is that there are more false teachers in the church than truthful ones. My test: how often do you hear Bible repentance preached? No repentance, no salvation.

Verse 2: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,”

John gives a practical identifiable measuring stick to determine whether the propagator has a message from a demon spirit or the Holy Spirit. This is the first test of a true Gospel messenger: they acknowledge and proclaim that the Lord Jesus Christ is God incarnate in human flesh. The Greek construction does not mean that they merely confess Christ as having come to earth, but that they confess that He came in the flesh to the earth, i.e., His human body was physically real as well as His Divinity. The Lord Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% human. Both aspects of Who He is must be equally maintained by the teacher who is to be considered a true message under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, he is a false teacher and is to be called out and rejected.

Verse 3: “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

The false teachers who denied the true nature of the Son (100% God and 100% human) are to be identified among the antichrists. The same type of demonic deception that will work to produce the final world ruler and one world government, who will rule as a false Christ, is always actively seeking to misrepresent Jesus Christ’s true nature, thus perverting the gospel. This is the test. Look for it. The final Antichrist will not be something new, but will be the ultimate compilation of all the antichrist spirits that have perverted truth and propagated satanic lies since the beginning of the church at Pentecost. 

Verse 4: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

John wants to assure his readers that while there are many false teachers in the world, they need not be afraid. The Holy Spirit resides within them and fills them with all that is needed to prevail against the false teachers and antichrists. Why? Because “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” The believer has been baptized into Christ and has been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 5: “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them.”

False teachers do get a following and in fact, the false cults and teachers are growing faster that true churches. The reason is that the false teachers have a religion that appeals to the flesh. It makes them happy, e.g. more money and wealth, etc. True Gospel preaching includes repentance and denying self, so only the elect will respond to that type of message. The ones from the world have their message and it appeals to Satan’s children.

Verse 6: “We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

The Holy Spirit unites believers. We may disagree on non essentials of the faith, but on the central doctrines of the faith there will be agreement: the Sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, Holy Spirit conviction and blood redemption, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. John wants you to know that there is a Spirit of Truth and also one of error, Both are actively involved in the church. We are to guard against error keeping to the truths of God’s Word.

Verse 7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

John introduces the reader to the first of five reasons that Christians love: because God’s nature is love. Love is inclusive in all He is and does. Even God's judgment and wrath are perfectly harmonized with His love. He is love, not simply does actions of love. The difference is important. If God is our Father, and we are His children, His love should be seen in our outward lives. If you do not have this love, you are not His child.

Verse 8: “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Someone may profess to be a Christian, or had made a “decision” for Jesus, but only those who display love like their heavenly Father actually possess His Divine nature and are truly Christians. The Christian has the nature of God in him so he would be compelled to demonstrate His love to others.

Verse 9: “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”

You will find the love of God on the blood stained cross at Calvary. On the cross is where you find the love of God manifested. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” God has proven His love by the gift of His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, and that is the proof of His love. The explanation of this love is found in Him and not in us—because we are not lovely, and some of us do not ever seem to become very lovely. God did for us in spite of us.

Verse 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.”

Notice the order. God loves us first and then we love Him back. He initiates the relationship. It is an error to take credit for your salvation saying that you made the first move towards Him. The word “propitiation” literally means “satisfaction.” Christ became the sin substitute for the believers. Everyone either pays for his own sins in eternity or he has a sin substitute who pays the price. You must have a sin substitute.

Verse 11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. “

God’s love gift of sending His Son gives believers not only the privilege of salvation, but also an obligation to follow His pattern of sacrificial love. Christian love must be self-sacrificing like the Lord Jesus Christ showed us. We are to love because we have first received God’s love. 

Verse 12: “No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

John reveals another reason why Christians demonstrate love: because love is the heart and soul of our Christian witness. Nobody can see God loving since He is invisible. The Lord Jesus Christ no longer walks the world to demonstrate the love of God. The only demonstration of God’s love in this age is the body of Christ. The argument can be summarized as follows: Love originated with the Father, was manifested in His Son, and demonstrated in His people.

Verse 13: “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

We can only love because the Holy Spirit is within us. This is not human fleshly love. We cannot work it up in the flesh. This is love Divinely implanted in the believer. Scripture teaches us that love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Love is first on the list. Some believe that love is the fruit and all the rest flows from love. 

Verse 14: “We have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

This is the gospel message. This is the message which we must testify. What is Christian love? Christian love is not sloppy, not sentimental,  not sexual, and it is not social. Christian love is a love that is honest, truthful, and Biblical. It is a love that gives what people need, not necessarily what they want. If you care about people, you care about their souls. If you care about their souls, you will give them the gospel.

Verse 15: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

This verse provides the context for rightly understanding verse 7 (“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”) Repenting and trusting in Christ as the Incarnate Son of God makes genuine, God-wrought love in a Christian’s heart possible. This is not a mental assent to the gospel, but rather a godly repentance following Holy Spirit conviction and faith in the blood sacrifice of Christ to save you.

Verse 16: “And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

God’s love is revealed in His covenant faithfulness and in His relentless pursuit of the lost by means of Holy Spirit conviction in spite of their resistance either through actual rebellion or callus indifference. “Come to know” is evidence of the spiritual assurance a believer has when he “believed the love which God has in us.” Since God is love, the one abiding in God is abiding in love, and therefore God abides in the believer in love. 

Verse 17: “By this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

Though not like Christ in the degree of our obedience, we are like Him in our basic intent and desires, and stand out as He did in comparison with the world at large. Again, John is giving us evidence of our assurance in Christ. The love of Christ is perfected with us because we have believed in His perfect sacrifice. Because it is perfect, that perfection will carry us safely through the day of judgment. We need not fear.

Verse 18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

John provides another reason why Christians can love, because love is the Christian’s assurance that on the day of judgment, he will be safe. The perfect love of Christ casts out all fear of judgment from the believer. If one is fearful of judgment, that is an indicator of one’s need for Christ. 

Verse 19: “We love, because He first loved us.”

In my opinion, it is a damnable heresy to teach that the lost sinner makes the first move toward God to be saved. In addition, it is a dangerous error to say that God takes the first step and the sinner takes the next step. The Scripture tells us that sinners are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2: 1). Dead people don’t move unless they are made alive. This is what spiritually occurs: the Holy Spirit quickens the lost soul, then convicts the lost of their dangerous spiritual condition, draws the lost to the blood stained cross of Calvary and shows his need of Christ, and then the sinner repents and places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is born again. God loves first, then we love because He enables us to love.

Verse 20: “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

John says that if you say you love God and hate your brother, you are a liar. Notice the word “cannot.” This speaks to the person’s ability to love God. It is impossible for them to be saved because they do not love the brethren. This is a clear pragmatic test for the church to use.

Verse 21: “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

This is God’s commandment. God does not ask or request if you feel like it or if you want to. He says, “This is what I command you. Because I love, you are to love.” You are not a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ unless you demonstrate love for the brethren in your life and in your service.