1 John 4

1 John 4:1

How can I be sure? An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of 1 John www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 4 Test the *spirits to see if they are true (1 John 4:1-6) v1 My friends, do not believe every *spirit. First, make sure where they are from. See if they are from God. There are many false *prophets who have gone into the world. v2 This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God. The Spirit from God says that Jesus Christ has come. He came as a human being. v3 *Spirits may not agree with this truth about Jesus. Those *spirits are not from God. This is the spirit of the false *Christ. You have heard that the spirit of the false *Christ is coming. Even now, it is already in the world.

v4 You, dear *children, are from God. And you have overcome the false *prophets. The person in you is greater than the person in the *world. v5 These false *prophets are from the *world. Therefore, they speak about things of the *world. Those who belong to this *world listen to them. v6 We belong to God. Everyone who knows God will listen to us. Whoever does not belong to God will not listen. This is how we know the Spirit of truth. And this is how we know the false *spirits.

Verse 1 We should test whether a person’s message comes from God There are other *spirits, which are active in the world. These speak by people such as the false teachers. Many of those had been part of the church but they had left it. There are people today who speak from *spirits. They may or may not be in the church. We need to know the origin of what people say. We should not just believe what a person says. We need to know if it is from God or not. If it is from God, we should believe the message. If it is not from God, we must not believe that message.

We must test what a person says. His words may be from God’s Spirit or from some other *spirit. Even if the words seem to be right, we still need to know the origin. The origin is either the Spirit of truth or a *spirit of error.

Many people say that they are teaching God’s message. However, they may not be speaking the truth. We need to test what they say. They may or may not be false *prophets. There are many false *prophets in the world. They teach what is not right. And they speak from the evil *spirits. They teach what is false. They may pretend to have God’s Spirit when in fact they have an evil *spirit.

Verse 2 The Holy Spirit teaches the truth about Jesus This is how we can recognise God’s Spirit. The test is what a *spirit says about Christ. The Spirit from God teaches that Jesus Christ came. He came in a human body. This means that Jesus is the Son of God. He was the Son before he came to this earth. Jesus was the *Christ all through his life and his death. He is still the *Lord Jesus Christ.

The false *prophets may well have believed that *Christ came from God. But they probably said that Jesus was not the *Christ. They denied that the *Christ had come as a human person. They would not agree that the *Christ died. We can know the origin of the teaching by this test. It shows whether a person is speaking by God’s Spirit.

Verse 3 Evil *spirits oppose the *gospel message Jesus Christ came as a man. A *spirit that does not agree with this cannot be from God. The false *spirit does not agree that Jesus is the *Christ. This *spirit will work by the false *Christ who will come in the future (1 John 2:18). This *spirit is already here in the world. It is working by those who oppose the *gospel.

Verse 4 God lives in you by his Spirit. And God is greater than the devil. John puts ‘you’ first in the sentence. This is to impress them with the contrast. You, not the false teachers or those of the *world, are the ones who have overcome. You are from God.

Those who believe in the *Lord overcame the false *prophets. They refused to believe what the false *prophets taught. They refused to do what was not good. They did not join the group that left the church. Instead, they continued to believe what was true.

They were able to defeat the false teachers. The reason for this was that God was working by his people. God is in his people. And he is greater than the person who is in the *world. The person who is in the *world is the devil. The *world is all that opposes God.

God lives in us by his Holy Spirit. God has given the Spirit to be in us. The devil lives in those of the *world. So the *spirit of the false *Christ comes from the devil.

Verse 5 Christians belong to God, not to the *world Those of the *world speak false things about the *Lord. The devil works in them to oppose the truth about Christ. They are from the *world. Therefore, they speak from the *world. Their ideas come from the *world and from the devil. For this reason those of the *world will listen to them.

Verse 6

In contrast to the false teachers, we belong to God. ‘We’ includes all those people who speak the truth about the *Lord Jesus Christ. Those people will listen to the truth. Those who do not belong to God will not believe the truth. We can know the origin of what people say. We know whether it is from God or from evil *spirits. All we need to do is to notice who listens to the message. The Spirit of God is in his people. He will cause them to know what is true.

The true Spirit is God’s Holy Spirit. He lives in God’s people. Those who have this kind of *spirit speak the truth.

There is a false *spirit that comes from the devil. There are also the spirits of people who do not have God’s Spirit. What these say cannot be the true message of God. They teach what is false and they lead people away from the truth. God is love. He loves us and we should love him (1 John 4:7-21) v7 Dear friends let us love each other, because love comes from God. All who love have been born of God. They know God. v8 Whoever does not love does not know God. This is because God is love. v9 This is how God showed his love among us. God sent his one and only Son into the world. He came so that we might live by him. v10 This is what love is. It is not that we have loved God. It is that he loved us. God sent his son as the *sacrifice to die for us. He died to take away our *sins. v11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love each other. v12 No person has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. By this, his love is complete in us.

v13 God has given us his Spirit. Therefore, we know that we live in him. We also know that he lives in us. v14 We have seen that the *Father has sent his Son. We are witnesses that it is true. The *Father sent Jesus to rescue the people of the world. v15 Jesus is the Son of God. God lives in those people who believe this. Those people also live in God. v16 We know the love that God has for us. And we believe it.

God is love. Those who love like him live in God. God also lives in them. v17 This is how love has become perfect among us. We can be confident in that day when God will be the judge. Because as he is, so also are we in this world. v18 There is no fear in love but perfect love removes fear. It is the thought of punishment that causes fear. So, the person who is afraid does not have this perfect love.

v19 We love because God first loved us. v20 Some people may say that they love God. But if they hate their *brothers or sisters, they are lying. They do not love their *brothers and sisters whom they can see. Therefore, they cannot love God whom they have not seen. v21 God has given us this command. Those who love God must love their *brothers and sisters also.

Verse 7 Christians should love each other We should obey the command and love each other. Love is part of the character of a Christian. The Christian is a child of God. The child of God receives this love from the *Father.

We should love other Christians because love comes from God. God is the origin of this love. God makes us able to love each other although by nature we may not do so.

All those who have this love are born of God. This love is not just an attitude of love. It is a love that acts. Those people who are born of God will love each other. Love proves whether we are born of God. Those who love know God.

Verse 8

Love is the test of whether a person knows God. If we know God, we will love other Christians. If we do not love the Christians then we do not know God. The reason for this is that God is love.

Love is not a description of God. He is so much more than love. But it is part of his nature and character. All that God does, he does in love.

Verse 9 God loved us. He sent Jesus. God showed his love for us and for all people. He sent his only Son, whom he loves, into the world. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived among us. He showed us the love of God.

Jesus is God the Son. He became a man and he lived on earth. God sent him for this purpose, that by Christ we might live. He died for us and for our *sins. God raised him up from death. And God now gives *eternal life with Jesus.

Verse 10

This love is not the same as any other kind of love. In the *Greek language, John used a different word for this love. It is not the normal human love. It is a love that comes from God. God is the only origin of such love. God loves us although we did nothing to deserve his love. Our love is merely a reaction to his love. This is opposite to what the false teachers may have taught.

Love is this: that God loved us. God’s love shows what true love is. We know true love by what God has done for us. He loved us before we loved him. We cannot love him unless he gives us his love.

This is what God did because of his love for us. He sent his Son to die for our *sins. When Jesus died, he removed our *sins from us. But Jesus rose up from death to life again. So by the *Lord Jesus, we can have life and we are able to love God.

Verse 11 Christians should love each other because God loves us As God loved us so much, we ought to love each other. He showed his love when he sent his Son to die for us. We should love in the same manner as God does. We should be ready in love to give ourselves for each other.

Verse 12

The false teachers said that they had seen God. They said that they had special knowledge about God. This cannot be true, because no person has ever seen God. What they said was false.

John tells us to love those people that we can see. We do not see God with our eyes. But we do know him when we love each other. And, as we love each other, we love God. Our love is the evidence that God lives in us.

God does not live in us because we love each other. Rather we love each other because God lives in us. But we do know him when we love each other.

When we love like this, God’s love has achieved its purpose in us. He has created love in us that is like his love. The love that God has produced in us is good and complete. We all share the same love with God and with each other.

Verse 13 We know that God lives in us We cannot see God but we do know him. We know that we remain in him. We know that he lives in us. We can know this because God has given his Spirit to us.

Verse 14 We know that God sent Jesus to rescue us Nobody has seen God. But we have seen that the *Father sent Jesus. John and his friends were there when Jesus lived among them. They saw the Christ with their own eyes. They knew that he was the Son of God. They knew that the *Father had sent him. All who believe can know this truth. We do not see it with our eyes. But we know it by *faith. We know that the *Father sent his Son Jesus to this world.

The reason that God sent Jesus was to save people from *sin and death. By Jesus, people can be free and receive a new life with God.

All the people of the world have *sinned. Their *sins have separated them all from God. Jesus Christ died for the *sins of all people. What he has done is sufficient to *save each one of them. But to benefit from what Jesus has done we must accept it. We must trust in him.

Verse 15 Real Christians believe that Jesus is God’s son God lives in those who believe. They agree that Jesus is the Son of God. They believe the truth that God sent Jesus. Jesus came to *save the people of the world. If they believe in the *Lord Jesus, they will receive a new life. This life is in God.

Verse 16 We can depend on God’s love Christians can be sure that the love of God is real. They can depend on it. They know that God loves them. His love can never fail. God loves all people but not just in general. God loves each person and each one is precious to him.

The writer says again that God is love (1 John 4:8). God’s nature is to love and to act in love. His love comes from his own character. The cause of his love is not the person whom he loves. He loves because he is love.

A person who has this love lives in God. And God lives in him. The love that God gives will reach out to other people.

Verse 17

We love God and we Christians love each other. We live in God. God lives in us. This gives us confidence for that future day when God is the judge.

Love is complete in us when we love God. This is the confidence that we have in him.

As we love God and each other, love achieves its purpose. It will develop in us. And we will be more mature in love. This is what God intended it to do for us.

The day is coming when God will be the judge of all people. That day will be the end of the world, as we know it. We can be confident that God will decide for us. This is not because of what we have done. It is because we have the life of Christ. He has taken away all our *sins because he loves us.

We have confidence because we are like Christ. As Christ lives in God, so by him we also live in God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. By him, we are children of God. As God loves the Son, so he also loves us. Jesus lived here on earth in the *Father’s love. And we live in the *Father’s love too.

We are on this earth. Christ is not on this earth now. We are here to be his agents and to bring other people to God.

Verse 18 We are not afraid, because of God’s love Fear is in contrast to the confidence that love brings. There can be no fear in perfect love. Love gives confidence in God. So as love grows in a person, the fears will disappear.

Perfect love is the love that God has for us. It is the love between God and the Christian. Because we love, we do not fear. Because God loves us, we have nothing to fear. Love is perfect when it is complete and mature.

Fear has to do with the future and the unknown. (The ‘unknown’ means future events that we do not expect.) There is the fear of death. The love of Christ overcomes this fear. Christ brings us the promise of new life. There is the fear of punishment for all that we have done wrong. But Christ has taken all the punishment for our *sins. His perfect love takes away all that would make us afraid. In love, we can be certain about the future. The unknown is in the control of God, who loves us.

Those who do not love God are right to be afraid. The day is coming when God will be their judge.

Verse 19 We love other people because God loved us first We Christians love God and we love each other. But our love is a grateful reaction to God’s love. We love because he loved us first. We could not love if God had not loved us first. He has given us his love. So, we are able to love. He has provided us with the power to love by his love.

The love with which we love is not our own. We do not create it, nor do we have the power to express it.

It is always the love of God. It is his love in us. We live in the *Father. And we live in Jesus the Son. So this love also becomes our own love. With this love, we can love God. We also love each other with the same love.

Verse 20 Someone who hates other people does not love God Some people said that they loved God. But they did not really love the Christians. What they said was false. They were not telling the truth. If we love God, we will love other people. If we do not love our Christian *brothers and sisters, we do not love God. Our love for other Christians shows that we love God.

We love because God loves us. God’s love in us makes us able to love each other. This is the test of our love for God. We may say that we love God. However, if we fail to love each other, we do not really love God. We can see each other but we cannot see God. It is easier to love those whom we can see. It is not so easy to love God whom we have not seen. If we fail to love each other, we have failed to love God.

To John, either we love or we hate. To hate here means anything less than pure love. And love will always show itself in actions.

Verse 21

The first command is that we should love God. But to love God is to love our Christian *brothers and sisters. We cannot separate the two loves. They are one. If we love God, we will obey him. And his command is that we love each other.

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2005

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Espirit</b%3E ~ spirits are alive, but we cannot see them. There are good spirits usually called angels. Bad spirits (also called evil spirits, or demons) live in the air round us. Satan is their leader.