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1 John 4
Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

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

2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has[a] come in the flesh(B) is from God.(C) 3 But every spirit who does not confess Jesus[b] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist;(D) you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.

4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you(E) is greater than the one who is in the world.(F) 5 They are from the world.(G) Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us;(H) anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.(I)

Knowing God through Love

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God(J) and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way:[c] God sent(K) His One and Only Son(L) into the world so that we might live(M) through Him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us(N) and sent His Son to be the[d] propitiation(O) for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.(P) 12 No one has ever seen God.[e](Q) If we love one another, God remains in[f] us and His love is perfected in us.

13 This is how we know that we remain in Him(R) and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit.(S) 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son(T) as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses[g](U) that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

17 In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment,(V) for we are as He is in this world.(W) 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear,(X) because fear involves punishment.[h] So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.(Y) 19 We love[i] because He first loved us.(Z)

Keeping God’s Commands

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother,(AA) he is a liar.(AB) For the person who does not love his brother(AC) he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.[j] 21 And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 4:2 Or confesses Jesus to be the Christ
  2. 1 John 4:3 Other mss read confess that Jesus has come in the flesh
  3. 1 John 4:9 Or revealed in us
  4. 1 John 4:10 Or a
  5. 1 John 4:12 Since God is an infinite being, no one can see Him in His absolute essential nature; Ex 33:18-23.
  6. 1 John 4:12 Or remains among
  7. 1 John 4:15 Or acknowledges
  8. 1 John 4:18 Or fear has its own punishment or torment
  9. 1 John 4:19 Other mss add Him
  10. 1 John 4:20 Other mss read has seen, how is he able to love . . . seen? (as a question)
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1 John 4
New Life Version

The Spirits Must Be Tested

4 Dear Christian friends, do not believe every spirit. But test the spirits to see if they are from God for there are many false preachers in the world. 2 You can tell if the spirit is from God in this way: Every spirit that says Jesus Christ has come in a human body is from God. 3 And every spirit that does not say Jesus has come in a human body is not from God. It is the teaching of the false-christ. You have heard that this teaching is coming. It is already here in the world. 4 My children, you are a part of God’s family. You have stood against these false preachers and had power over them. You had power over them because the One Who lives in you is stronger than the one who is in the world. 5 Those false teachers are a part of the world. They speak about the things of the world. The world listens to them. 6 We are a part of God’s family. The person who knows God will listen to us. The person who is not a part of God’s family will not listen to us. In this way, we can tell what is the spirit of truth and what is the spirit of false teaching.

Loving God Makes Us Love Our Christian Brothers

7 Dear friends, let us love each other, because love comes from God. Those who love are God’s children and they know God. 8 Those who do not love do not know God because God is love. 9 God has shown His love to us by sending His only Son into the world. God did this so we might have life through Christ. 10 This is love! It is not that we loved God but that He loved us. For God sent His Son to pay for our sins with His own blood.

11 Dear friends, if God loved us that much, then we should love each other. 12 No person has ever seen God at any time. If we love each other, God lives in us. His love is made perfect in us. 13 He has given us His Spirit. This is how we live by His help and He lives in us.

Love Gives Us More Faith in Christ

14 We have seen and are able to say that the Father sent His Son to save the world from the punishment of sin. 15 The person who tells of Him in front of men and says that Jesus is the Son of God, God is living in that one and that one is living by the help of God. 16 We have come to know and believe the love God has for us. God is love. If you live in love, you live by the help of God and God lives in you.

The Love of God Has Power Over Fear and Hate

17 Love is made perfect in us when we are not ashamed as we stand before Him on the day He judges. For we know that our life in this world is His life lived in us. 18 There is no fear in love. Perfect love puts fear out of our hearts. People have fear when they are afraid of being punished. The man who is afraid does not have perfect love. 19 We love Him because He loved us first. 20 If a person says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. If a person does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God Whom he has not seen? 21 We have these words from Him. If you love God, love your brother also.

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Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

New Life Version (NLV)

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