1 John 4

Guy N. Woods Commentary On 1st John 4SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND SPIRIT OF ERROR (1 John 4:1-6) 1 John 4:1 —Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God;—The fervent address of love with which this verse begins, “ beloved,” occurs three times in this chap­ter, verses 1, 7, and 11, and indicates the tender warmth of affec­tion characteristic of the writer for those addressed. To it a warning is appended with reference to false teachers which then abounded. Such were the “ spirits” referred to, and often else­where alluded to in the Epistle. (E.g., 2: 18, 22, 26 ; 4; 5, etc.) The sense of the admonition is, therefore, “ Refrain from believing every teacher who claims to be from God, but prove (test) them and see whether or not they really are of God.” This warning was especially needful at the time because Asia Minor generally, and Ephesus particularly, was rampant with magic and mysticism, heresy and error, and the advocates of each cult claimed super­natural direction and aid. Affecting to be led by the power of God, they sought to support their theories in the same fashion, and by means of the same claims as false teachers today.

The readers of the Epistle were thus admonished to “ prove” the spirits (dokimazete ta pneumata) run an assay on them, as a metallurgist does his metals, and determine whether they were of God. This, they were able to do, either by exercising miraculous power in the discernment of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), or by com­paring the claims of these men with the known teaching of the Holy Spirit through properly accredited representatives. (See the comments on 1 John 2:27 ff.) There was undoubtedly a wide diffusion of spiritual gifts during the miraculous age of the church in order to supply the deficiency obtaining in the absence of an infallible, documented report of the Spirit’s teaching such as we have in the New Testament today. It is significant that it was John’s readers who were to make the test and not some ecclesias­tical dignitary or official head. Here, by implication, is positive proof of the falsity of the claim to infallibility by the pope of Rome and the consequent denial of the right of private judgment in matters religious as is done in the Catholic Church today.

1 John 4:2 —Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.— The reason for the injunction delivered in the earlier clauses of this verse. These false prophets are referred to by John in 2: 18 as “ antichrists,” and the Lord, during his public ministry, warned that such would appear: “ And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray.” (Matthew 24:11.) It was, therefore, a time of crisis; and the welfare of the cause of Christ and the sal­vation of their own souls were dependent on the immediate repu­diation of these deceivers and antichrists. Such still abound, and the injunction is equally applicable to us today. Men still affect to be led by the Spirit of God; still claim to be representatives of the Most High; yet attempt to propagate their doctrines on the basis of supernatural aid. These we are to prove (try, test) by the infallible standard we possess— the New Testament. It mat­ters not how pious or religious a teacher may affect to be, he is worthy of belief only when his teaching is in complete harmony with the word of God.

If it is not in harmony therewith, he ought to be, he must be, speedily repudiated. To do otherwise is to imbibe the poison of unbelief; it is to espouse false doctrine; it is to become a party to the propagation of error. “ If any one cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting: for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works.” (2 John 1:10-11.) Because Satan ever attempts to counterfeit the work of the Lord, false prophets have ever abounded. (Luke 6:26; Acts 13:6; Revelation 16:13.) We must be constantly watchful, we must exercise ceaseless vigilance lest we, too, succumb to their allurements and surrender to their seductions.

1 John 4:2 —Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that con­fesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:—The test by which certain false teachers then prevalent might be dis­cerned and identified is here indicated: “ Every spirit that confess­eth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” Conversely, any man who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh was not of God. Numerous false doctrines regarding the nature of Christ were then being propagated. Some of these questioned his deity; others, his humanity. The apostle thus provided a test by which false and true teachers might be distinguished in the matters then confront­ing the church: those who confessed that Jesus had come in the flesh were of God. (a) Those who acknowledged such, confessed the deity of Jesus by admitting that he was the Christ, and thus the Messiah of the Old Testament prophets; (b) in confessing that he had come in the flesh they repudiated the doctrine of the Docetic Gnostics who denied this. These men denied the humanity of Jesus by alleging that he only appeared to have a body of flesh but, in reality, did not. Thus, in acknowledging both the humanity and the deity of Jesus one vindicated his claim to the Spirit’ s direc­tion. Paul similarly said, “ Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3.)

The verb “ is come” in this verse is translated from a Greek perfect, thus indicating past action with existing results. The in­carnation was past as to its occurrence, but its effects— benefits and blessing— yet remain, and will continue to do so throughout time and eternity, involving the sum of all that Christianity has vouchsafed to man. This confession embraces the basic truth on which Christianity rests, the foundation stone on which the church is built. (Matthew 16:13-20.) To deny it is the mark of the false teacher; to acknowledge it, with all that this involves, is to vindi­cate one’ s claim to the truth. It thus supplies an infallible test: and by it the true may be separated from the false.

1 John 4:3 —And every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.—This is a negative statement, embodying the same truth as that which is pos­itively put in verse 2, with the additional information that to refuse to confess both the deity and the humanity of Jesus is to manifest the spirit of the antichrist. (See comments on 1 John 2:22, for the identity of the antichrist.) Warnings had been given that such would appear; and now they were there. Though these false teachers were not the antichrist primarily designated in this fash­ion, they exhibited the spirit of the antichrist, in their opposition to Christ and his teaching. In this sense, all false teachers, in­cluding those in the world today, are of the antichrist. They are of the antichrist in that they are opposed to the teaching of Christ, his church, and his people; and though they pretend to be of him, they have, in reality, arrayed themselves against him. The fact that they teach much that is true does not justify their claim of being of the Lord; the error which they teach and the opposition which they exhibit establish their true spirit— the spirit of the antichrist. The Catholic Church teaches many things that are true; but this monstrous ecclesiasticism is so formidably arrayed against the truth and the cause of the Lord that it is on the side of Satan, and so of all the denominational and sectarian world.

It is the spirit of the antichrist to do as they do, and all who manifest this spirit derive it from the same source. It originates from the love of error and from an unwillingness to abide in the truth. It is indeed possible for one to have the spirit of truth, i.e., a love for truth while in error; and, conversely, to have a spirit of error while holding much truth. The former repudiate, with­out hesitation, error as they learn the truth; the latter, though holding much truth, are often motivated by the same spirit as that which characterizes the world. Those of this class are sometimes met with in the church. Prejudice is not a peculiarity of the denominational world alone.

1 John 4:4 —Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.—“ Ye” is in emphatic position in the Greek text which, literally rendered, is: “ Ye out of God are, little children …” a clause indicative of John’ s love for them \

1 John 4:1

1 John 4:1. The spirits means those men who profess to be speaking by inspiration, such as John mentions in the closing verse of the preceding chapter. The false teachers used that claim to obtain attention from the uninformed. The brethren are warned not to believe every man who makes such a claim, but first try them which means to test and examine them by the rule that is given in the next verse.

1 John 4:2

1 John 4:2. Nobody denied that a person lived on earth by the name of Jesus Christ, but some denied that He was divine in a body of flesh. That was equivalent to saying that He was not the divine Son of God. That would also mean that Christ had no authority or saving virtue. It was generally known that a person was predicted to come into the world to fulfill the law and the prophets, and to effect a plan of salvation on the merits of His blood. But it was denied by some that the person known as Jesus Christ was the expected one. Hence if a man acknowledged the divinity of Christ it was evidence that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul teaches this also in 1 Corinthians 12:3 where he says, “No man can say Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” or Spirit.

1 John 4:3

1 John 4:3. This verse merely sets forth the opposite of the preceding one, and completes the rule by which the brethren may try the spirits, thus avoiding the misfortune of being misled by the antichrists and other false teachers.

1 John 4:4

1 John 4:4. The disciples had overcome them (the antichrists) because they were the children of God. He will care for those who trust in Him, and that will insure them the victory over the enemy because God who is in them is greater than the “wise men” of the world who were trying to seduce them.

1 John 4:5

1 John 4:5. They (the antichrists) are of the world, which means they are interested in worldly practices. That is why they are opposing Christ because he condemns their evil ways. But the people of the world will hear their false teaching because it encourages their unrighteous life.

1 John 4:6

1 John 4:6. We has special reference to John and the other apostles because they had been inspired to write the truth. To know God means to have come into close fellowship with Him by obedience to the word that was given by the Spirit. All such persons would logically be inclined to hear the apostles. The conflict between truth and error still is the concern of the apostle. That conflict is determined by whether a man is of God or of the world.

1 John 4:7

1 John 4:7. The apostle again comes to the subject of love which seems to have been very near to him. He has a sound reason for such interest in that subject, namely, love and God are inseparable. For that reason if a man is born (begotten) of God he is sure to exhibit love also since it is the family trait of God’s children.

1 John 4:8

1 John 4:8. On the basis of the affirmative as shown in the preceding verse, if a man does not have love as a predominant factor in his life, it is proof that he has not yet become acquainted with God.

1 John 4:9

1 John 4:9. This verse corresponds with John 3:16.

1 John 4:10

1 John 4:10. The example of love was set by the Father and not by man. That is why we have the brief but comprehensive statement in verse 19.

1 John 4:11

1 John 4:11. If God was willing to love us first even when we were in sin, we ought to love each other since no one of us is any more worthy than another.

1 John 4:12

1 John 4:12. No man hath seen God literally, but we may exhibit evidences of spiritual knowledge of Him by having love for the brethren. If we do so it will cause God to dwell in us or in our midst spiritually. His love is perfected or made complete in us when we follow His example of loving the children of God,

1 John 4:13

1 John 4:13. This is the same in thought as chapter 3:24; see the comments there.

1 John 4:14

1 John 4:14. John and the other apostles could testify, because they had seen the evidences that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1 John 4:15

1 John 4:15. See the comments at verses 1-3.

1 John 4:16

1 John 4:16. Known and believed. There is no conflict between these words as might be concluded because of the difference technically between them. The things that were known were the evidences, and what they believed was based on those evidences, namely, that God had a great love for man. The latter part of the verse has been explained in a number of the preceding verses.

1 John 4:17

1 John 4:17. Love made perfect means it is complete, and God made it Possible for man to have that perfect (or complete) love, to give them boldness in view of the judgment day. As he is. so arc we. To be confident with reference to the judgment, we must be on good terms with God in this world. That can be accomplished only by manifesting that unselfish love that was first shown by the Lord for us.

1 John 4:18

1 John 4:18. The Bible does not contradict itself, and when it appears that it does there is always an explanation for it. We know we are commanded to fear God (1 Peter 2:17), but our present verse says that perfect love will cast out fear. The explanation is very simple which depends on the meanings of the original Greek word phobos. Thayer gives us two definitions of the word as follows: “1. fear, dread, terror,” and “2. reverence, respect.” As we have seen frequently before, the particular meaning of any word must be determined by the connection in which it is used. The connection here shows John is using it in its had sense which would made it read, “There is no dread or terror in love.” If we love God and manifest it by loving our brother, we will not have any dread at the thought of meeting God in the judgment.

1 John 4:19

1 John 4:19. This is commented on at verse 10.

1 John 4:20

1 John 4:20. John has previously made this same charge, but he adds a logical reason for it here. It certainly is as easy to love a brother who is with us and whose fellowship we can enjoy, as it is to love God whom we cannot see now and must love on the basis of faith.

1 John 4:21

1 John 4:21. On the basis of the reasoning in the preceding verse, John commands the disciples not to attempt loving God it they will not love the brethren also, for their profession of love will be rejected.