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Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];

And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would [a]annul, destroy, [b]sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [[c]nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 4:3 An ancient reading.
  2. 1 John 4:3 The Latin Vulgate.
  3. 1 John 4:3 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

On Denying the Incarnation

Dear friends,(A) do not believe every spirit,(B) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.(C) This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh(D) is from God,(E) but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,(F) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.(G)

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