1 John 4
“Dear
friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by THE SPIRIT. You
must test them to see if THE SPIRIT they have comes from GOD. For
there are many false prophets in the world.
2 This is
how we know if they have THE SPIRIT OF GOD:
If a person claiming to
be a prophet acknowledges
that JESUS CHRIST
came in a real body, that person has THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
3 But if someone
claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge THE TRUTH about JESUS, that person is
not from GOD. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you
heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 But you
belong to GOD, my dear children. You have already won a victory over
those people, because THE SPIRIT WHO lives in you is greater than the
spirit who lives in the world.
5 Those
people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the
world listens to them.
6 But we
belong to GOD, and those who know GOD listen to us. If they do
not belong to GOD, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if
someone has THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
or the spirit of deception.
Loving One Another
7 Dear
friends, let us continue to LOVE one another, for LOVE comes from GOD. Anyone who
loves is a child of GOD and knows GOD.
8 But
anyone who does not LOVE does not know GOD, for GOD is LOVE.
9 GOD showed
how much HE loved us by sending HIS ONE AND ONLY SON into the world so that we might have ETERNAL LIFE through HIM.
11 Dear
friends, since GOD loved us that much, we surely ought to LOVE each
other.
12 No one
has ever seen GOD. But if we love each other, GOD lives in us,
and HIS LOVE
is brought to full expression in us.
13 And GOD
has given us HIS SPIRIT as proof that we live in HIM and HE in us.
14 Furthermore,
we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that THE FATHER sent HIS SON to be THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
15 All who
declare that JESUS IS
THE SON OF GOD have GOD living in them, and they live in GOD.
16 We know
how much GOD LOVES US, and we have put our trust in HIS LOVE.
GOD IS LOVE, and
all who live in LOVE live in GOD, and GOD lives in them.
17 And as
we live in GOD, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on
the day of judgment, but we can face HIM with confidence because we live like JESUS here in this
world.
18 Such LOVE has no fear,
because PERFECT LOVE EXPELS ALL FEAR. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows
that we have not fully experienced HIS PERFECT LOVE.
19 We LOVE each
other because HE LOVED US FIRST.
20 If
someone says, “I LOVE GOD,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is
a liar; for if we don’t LOVE people we can see, how can we love GOD, WHOM
we cannot see?
21 And HE has given us this command: Those who LOVE GOD must also LOVE their fellow believers.””