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1 John 4

KJV · Chapter 4/5

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3And 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.

4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

6We 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.

7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

9In 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.

10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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

12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

16And 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.

17Herein 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.

18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

19We love him, because he first loved us.

20If 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?

21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

John teaches believers to test the spirits, since not every spiritual teaching comes from God, and states that the central test is recognizing that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He declares that God is love, and that loving one another is proof that we know God, for no one has ever seen him, but his love is made complete in us when we love.

Explanation

The spiritual test John proposes—confessing that Jesus Christ came in the flesh—directly combats a teaching called docetism, which viewed matter as evil and therefore denied that Jesus had a real human body, claiming he only appeared to have flesh. The statement 'God is love' (4:8, 16) is one of the most concise and profound definitions in the whole Bible of God's nature, going beyond saying that God loves to affirming that love is his very essence. John argues that, since no one can see God directly, mutual love among Christians becomes the visible, tangible evidence of God's invisible presence in the world. Today's application is to remember that correct doctrine about Jesus must always go hand in hand with genuine love for others.

Fun facts

  • The statement 'God is love' (4:8 and 4:16) appears only in this letter in the whole Bible, making it one of the most quoted and translated phrases in all of Christian Scripture, in practically every language in the world.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 John 4:1The suggested test for “trying the spirits” — that is, evaluating teachings and prophets — is precisely whether a person confesses that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” — denying this is called the spirit of antichrist, linking back to the theme already addressed in chapter 2.
  2. 1 John 4:2Gives the concrete test for “trying the spirits” mentioned in the previous verse: every teaching that acknowledges that Jesus Christ truly came in human flesh is of God.
  3. 1 John 4:3The reverse test: any teaching that denies this real humanity of Jesus is not of God — it is identified with the “spirit of antichrist,” already foretold and already present at that time.
  4. 1 John 4:4Reassures readers about these false teachings: they have already overcome these deceivers, because God, who is in them, is greater than any opposing spiritual force in the world.
  5. 1 John 4:5Explains why these false teachers succeed with some people: they belong to the world, speak the world’s language, and so the world listens to them easily.
  6. 1 John 4:6Contrasts with the previous verse: whoever truly knows God listens to the apostles (“us”), and this difference in audience helps distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
  7. 1 John 4:7Introduces the central theme of the rest of the chapter: loving one another because love comes from God, and whoever truly loves shows that he is born of God and knows Him.
  8. 1 John 4:8The phrase “God is love” is not just one quality among others attributed to God, but practically a definition — the text uses this idea as the foundation for everything it says about loving one another in the verses that follow.
  9. 1 John 4:9Explains how God’s love became visible: He sent His only Son into the world, with the clear purpose of giving life through Him.
  10. 1 John 4:10Explaining that God’s love did not begin with human beings loving first, but with God sending the Son as the “propitiation” for sins, reverses the common logic that human love is the starting point — here, it is always a response.
  11. 1 John 4:11Draws a practical conclusion from God’s love described in the previous verses: since God loved so much, Christians also have an obligation to love one another.
  12. 1 John 4:12Saying that “no man hath seen God at any time,” but that He becomes visible when we love one another, proposes mutual love as a practical way of making God perceptible, since He cannot be seen directly.
  13. 1 John 4:13Gives another sign that God and the believer live in mutual abiding: the presence of God’s own Spirit given to each one.
  14. 1 John 4:14Returns to the eyewitness language from the letter’s opening: the apostles saw with their own eyes and testify that the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.
  15. 1 John 4:15Repeats the test of faith already used before: publicly acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God is a sign of a mutual relationship between that person and God.
  16. 1 John 4:16Reinforces the chapter’s central definition, “God is love,” and connects living in love to living within a real relationship with God.
  17. 1 John 4:17Explains the practical effect of mature love: it gives confidence for the day of final judgment, because the believer already reflects Christ’s own character in the world.
  18. 1 John 4:18The idea that “perfect love casteth out fear” describes a relationship between confidence and fear: where there is certainty of God’s love, the text argues, there is no room left for fear of judgment, because fear and punishment are linked.
  19. 1 John 4:19Simply sums up the origin of Christian love: it is not a human initiative, it is always a response to the fact that God loved first.
  20. 1 John 4:20Makes love for God impossible to separate from love for one’s brother: it is contradictory — the text calls it being “a liar” — to say one loves God, whom one has not seen, while hating a brother, whom one sees every day.
  21. 1 John 4:21Closes the chapter by directly citing Jesus’ commandment: whoever loves God must, as a direct consequence, love his brother also.

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