Footnotes

1. 1 John 4:1 We must learn to discern the thoughts of human beings—the “spirits.” Among the teachers and theorists that had appeared at this time there were those who did not acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and Savior and wished to impose their views on the Christian communities. John says that this is perversion, the appearance of false christs of the end times (see 1 Jn 2:18-22). He strengthens believers by telling them that they do not belong to the world, i.e., this universe that delights in its limitations and its own insignificances. They must believe in the Gospel of God proclaimed by the witnesses who have been sent, among whom he places himself by saying “We are from God” (v. 6).
2. 1 John 4:2 Jesus Christ has come in the flesh: see note on 1 Jn 1:1. John excludes the Gnostics, especially those known as Cerinthians, who taught that the Divine Christ came upon the human Christ at his Baptism and left him at the Cross—thus claiming that only the man Jesus died.
3. 1 John 4:4 From God: another expression for “born of God” (1 Jn 2:29; 3:9). The one who is in the world: the devil (see Jn 12:31; 16:11).
4. 1 John 4:6 Spirit of truth . . . spirit of falsehood: this refers to the theme of the two spirits, which is similar to the theme of the two ways (see Deut 11:26; Mt 7:13-14). Confronted by two worlds, those who live on earth choose one or the other by partaking of the spirit of either one (see 1 Jn 3:8, 19). However, those who choose the right one (the spirit of truth) will attain certain victory (see 1 Jn 2:13f; 4:4; 5:4f).
5. 1 John 4:7 There are splendid pages in the Bible that speak of what love is—for example, Paul’s hymn on love (1 Cor 13) and this text. The whole theology of love is developed in these verses, which give us the deepest understanding of Christianity as a great movement of life and experience, and not an abstract speculation. Love is reality: i.e., in God; it is witnessed to in an experience: i.e., in Christ; and it is expressed in the reality of fraternal love: i.e., among believers.
   God and love: the two words go together, just as do knowledge of God and fraternal love. The living discovery of God does not take place in plumbing the most compelling ideas but in becoming like Christ, in the experience of fraternal love. Without this, no fellowship with God is possible. Fraternal love and faith in Christ go together; and this experience enables us to verify the value of every religion and every spirituality. Nothing else can deliver human beings from the fear of judgment.
6. 1 John 4:7 Love is from God: hence, those who love God show that they are born of God. God is love: i.e., he is loving in his essential nature and in all his actions. The Gospel of John also affirms that God is spirit (see Jn 4:24) and light (see Jn 1:5) as well as true and just, powerful, holy, and faithful.
7. 1 John 4:10 It was God who first loved us when we had no love for him or even for ourselves (see Rom 5:6-10). He showed his love by sending his Son to atone for our sins (see 1 Jn 2:2). This is the motive for our love for one another.
8. 1 John 4:13 A share in his Spirit: this is the Spirit promised for the Messianic Age (see Acts 2:17-21, 33); he has been poured out into our hearts (see Rom 5:5; 1 Thes 4:8) and brings forth in us the inner certainty that the Apostles proclaimed outwardly (see 1 Jn 5:6f; Acts 5:32)—in this case about the Divine adoption of Christians (see Rom 8:15f; Gal 4:6).