1 John 3:22–4:6
Chapter 3
His command is that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.
All who obey his commandments remain in God, and God remains in them. It is by the Spirit he has given us that we know he lives in us.
Chapter 4
Discernment of Spirit
Beloved, do not trust every inspiration. Test the spirits to see if they come from God, because many false prophets are in the world now.
How can you recognize the Spirit of God? Any spirit that acknowledges Jesus as the Christ who became flesh is of God.
But any spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God; it is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard of his coming, and even now, he is in the world.
You, little children, are of God, and you have already overcome these people because the one who is in you is more powerful than he who is in the world.
They are of the world, and their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.
We are of God, and those who know God, listen to us, but those who are not of God, ignore us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood as well.
Commentaries
The Commandment of Love.
The message, received from the beginning (11), is brotherly love. This is the unique mark of God’s children: love that comes from God and is directed toward one’s brother—those who love experience a new birth, or a new Passover (14). But be cautious! To love means to love like Jesus, who loved us to the end. If love is genuine, it must be shown “in deeds”; it cannot be satisfied with being ‘in word or speech.’
Discernment of Spirit.
False teachers and antichrists speak the language of the world; Christians should not listen to them. Concerning those influenced by Gnostic ideas that denied Christ’s humanity and the significance of his sacrifice on the cross, John affirms that Jesus crucified—not just the glorious Jesus—is a crucial part of the Christian message.