◀ All Reading Plans / Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks / 1 John 4:1–5:21 (Disciples’ Literal New Testament)

Prev Day

December 3, 2025

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

December 2025
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Return to today's reading

Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

1 John 4-5

Test The Spirits. The Spirit From God Confesses Christ

4 Beloved, do not be believing every spirit, but be testing the spirits^[a] to see if they are from God, because many false-prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know^[b] the Spirit^[c] of God: every spirit that is confessing Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh is from God. ³And every spirit that is not confessing Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist— which, you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴You are from^[d] God, little children, and you have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one in the world. ⁵They are from^[e] the world. For this reason they are speaking from the world, and the world is listening-to them. ⁶We are from God. The one knowing God is listening-to us. He who is not from God is not listening-to us. From this, we know the Spirit^[f] of truth and the spirit of error^[g].

Be Loving One Another, Because The Love Is From God

⁷Beloved, let us be loving one another. Because the love^[h] is from God! And everyone loving has been born^[i] from God, and knows God. ⁸The one not loving did not know God, because God is love.

God Made His Love Known To Us By Sending His Son

⁹By this God’s love was made-known among^[j] us: that God has sent-forth His only-born^[k] Son into the world in order that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love— not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and sent-forth His Son to be the satisfaction^[l] for our sins.

We Ought To Be Loving As He Loved Us

¹¹Beloved, if God loved us in-this-manner^[m], we also ought to be loving one another.

Love Makes the Unseen God Visible In Us, Together With Our Confession of Christ

¹²No one has ever seen God; if we are loving^[n] one another, God is abiding in us, and His love^[o] has been perfected^[p] in us. ¹³By this^[q] we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us: because He has given to us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen, and are testifying that the Father has sent-forth the Son to be Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God is abiding in him and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come-to-know and have believed the love which God has in us.

Love Demonstrates Our Mutual Relationship With God, And Gives Us Confidence

God is love; and the one abiding in the love is abiding in God, and God is abiding in him. ¹⁷By this^[r], the love has been perfected with^[s] us in order that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. Because just as that One is^[t], we also are, in this world. ¹⁸Fear^[u] is not in love— rather, perfect love throws fear out, because fear has punishment. And the one fearing has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹We are loving because^[v] He first loved us.

Not Loving One Another As He Commanded Proves That We Do Not Love God

²⁰If someone claims that “I love God” and is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he has seen cannot be loving God Whom he has not seen. ²¹And we have this commandment from Him: that the one loving God should be loving his brother also.

Everyone Born of God Believes Jesus Is His Son, Loves His People, Keeps His Commands

5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born^[w] from God. And everyone loving the One^[x] having fathered is loving also the one having been born^[y] from Him. ²By this we know that we are loving^[z] the children of God: when we are loving God and doing His commandments. ³For this is the love of God: that we be keeping His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Because The One Born of God Is Victorious Over The World By Faith In Jesus

⁴Because everything having been born from God is being-victorious-over the world. And this is the victory having been-victorious-over the world: our faith!

Who Indeed Is Victorious If Not The One Believing Jesus Is The Son of God!

⁵And who is the one being-victorious-over the world if not the one believing^[aa] that Jesus is the Son of God!

Because Jesus Christ Has The Three-Fold Witness of God

⁶This One is the One having come by water and blood^[ab]: Jesus Christ (not in^[ac] the water only, but^[ad] in the water and in the blood). And the Spirit is the One testifying, because^[ae] the Spirit is the truth. ⁷Because^[af] the ones testifying are three^[ag]: ⁸the Spirit and the water and the blood. And the three are for the^[ah] one thing. ⁹If we receive the testimony of humans, the testimony of God is greater!

Because God Himself Has Testified That He Has Given Us Eternal Life In His Son

Because^[ai] this is the testimony of God: that^[aj] He has testified about His Son! ¹⁰The one believing in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one not believing God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified about His Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony^[ak]: that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹²The one having the Son has the life. The one not having the Son of God does not have the life.

I Wrote These Things That You May Know You Have Eternal Life

¹³I wrote these^[al] things to you, the ones believing in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

And This We Know With Confidence:

¹⁴And this is the confidence which we have before Him:

That God Hears Our Prayers

... that if we request anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us— whatever we request— we know that we have the requests which we have requested from Him.

But I Am Not Implying You Should Pray About a Sin Leading To Death

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he shall request, and He will give him life— for the ones sinning a sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death^[am]. I am not saying that he should pray about that. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

That God’s Children Are Not Sinning, And Are Protected From Satan

¹⁸We know that everyone having been born^[an] from God is not sinning^[ao]. But the One^[ap] having been fathered from God is keeping^[aq] him. And the evil one is not touching^[ar] him.

That We Are Born From God

¹⁹We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in^[as] the evil one.

That We Know The True God And Have Eternal Life In Him

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding in order that we might know the true^[at] One. And we are in^[au] the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ. This One^[av] is the true God and eternal life. ²¹Little-children, guard yourselves from idols!

Footnotes

1 John 4:1 That is, spiritual manifestations; expressions of a professed ‘spiritual gift’, as this word is used in 1 Cor 14:12.
1 John 4:2 Or, recognize.
1 John 4:2 Or, spirit from God, maintaining the same sense as the other four uses of ‘spirit’ in v 1-3.
1 John 4:4 That is, you belong to Him, having been fathered by Him.
1 John 4:5 They belong to the world which is passing away. This is the source of their words.
1 John 4:6 Or, spirit.
1 John 4:6 Or, deception.
1 John 4:7 That is, this love, the love just mentioned. Or, love, in an abstract sense.
1 John 4:7 Or, fathered. This love flows from a living relationship with God.
1 John 4:9 Or, in-connection-with; or, in.
1 John 4:9 Or, unique, one-and-only, only-begotten.
1 John 4:10 See 2:2.
1 John 4:11 Or, to such an extent.
1 John 4:12 That is, with the love from God (v 7) made known to us in His Son (v 9).
1 John 4:12 Or, our love for Him.
1 John 4:12 Or, brought to its goal, brought to full development.
1 John 4:13 John knows love cannot stand alone as a witness that God is abiding in us, so he now inseparably links it to two other witnesses, the Spirit and our confession of Christ.
1 John 4:17 That is, by this mutual abiding just mentioned, God’s love has been brought to its goal with us, that we may have confidence.
1 John 4:17 That is, together with us, along with our cooperation; or, among us, in our mutual love as Christians.
1 John 4:17 is... we also are. That is, abiding in the Father’s love; or, reflecting God’s love or character.
1 John 4:18 This is a negative reason why such love produces confidence (v 17). Fear is part of a performance-based relationship, with penalties for failure. A mutually-abiding love relationship has no such fear, but rather brings confidence. This is the Greek word order. Or, There is no fear in-connection-with love.
1 John 4:19 This is a positive reason why such love produces confidence. Our love is the result of the relationship, not the cause of it.
1 John 5:1 Or, fathered.
1 John 5:1 the One having... Him. That is, the [God] having fathered [us] is loving also [the children] having been born from Him.
1 John 5:1 Or, fathered.
1 John 5:2 That is, with love flowing from an abiding relationship with God. In this section, John inseparably binds together love for God, love for His children, believing in His Son, and obeying His commandments. We cannot claim to have one apart from any of the others.
1 John 5:5 Or, having-faith, to show the relationship to ‘faith’ in v 4.
1 John 5:6 These two historical witnesses may refer to Christ’s baptism (where the Father testified) and death (where the resurrection gave the Father’s testimony); or, His birth (He came in real flesh) and His death (He died a real death); or, the blood and water that came from His side (Jn 19:34, giving testimony to His real humanity and death).
1 John 5:6 Or, in-connection-with, by, with.
1 John 5:6 John denies some false teaching of his day, the details of which are not certain. We know some denied that God died. They taught that the Spirit of God came on the human Jesus at His baptism and left in Gethsemane. Jesus was not God come in the flesh (4:2), and His death had no significance. Perhaps John is refuting some such teaching here.
1 John 5:6 The Spirit is presently adding His testimony to the two historical witnesses because it is His nature to testify to the truth.
1 John 5:7 The one believing Jesus is the Son of God is victorious (v 5) because Jesus has the threefold divine testimony to His identity, sufficient proof even in a human court.
1 John 5:7 three: the Spirit. Some manuscripts say ‘three in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And the ones giving testimony on earth are three: the Spirit’.
1 John 5:8 That is, they are in agreement.
1 John 5:9 The one believing is victorious because he is believing God’s own testimony.
1 John 5:9 God’s testimony is that He has testified.
1 John 5:11 The content of God’s testimony regarding His Son is now given.
1 John 5:13 That is, 4:7-5:12; or, 5:1-12; or, 5:5-12; or, the whole book.
1 John 5:16 If John means physical death, any sin leading to this level of discipline from God could be in view, as in Act 5:5; 1 Cor 11:30. If John means spiritual, eternal death, some think he means the knowing and deliberate rejection of Christ, as in 2:19, 22, and Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-29.
1 John 5:18 Or, fathered.
1 John 5:18 See 3:9.
1 John 5:18 the One having been fathered... him. Or, the one having been born from God is keeping himself [from sin].
1 John 5:18 Or, guarding, keeping watch over, preserving.
1 John 5:18 That is, to bring him harm.
1 John 5:19 That is, in the sphere of, in the domain of.
1 John 5:20 That is, the real, genuine God.
1 John 5:20 That is, in union with, in the domain of.
1 John 5:20 Grammatically, this could refer to Jesus Christ or the true One. Some think it would redundant to say the true One... is the true God, and so John says here what he says in Jn 1:1: Jesus is God. Others think John repeats himself for emphasis as he prepares for the command regarding idols.

Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)

Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing