The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

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

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh(B) is from God,(C) but every spirit that does not confess Jesus[a] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,(D) which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:3 Other mss read confess that Jesus has come in the flesh

How to Recognize the Spirit of God

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ[a] has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 4:2 Or “confesses Jesus as Christ who has come in the flesh” (see also 2 John 7)