1 John 4 - Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)

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. 2 By 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. 3 And 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. 4 You are from[d] God, little children, and you have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one in the world. 5 They are from[e] the world. For this reason they are speaking from the world, and the world is listening-to them. 6 We 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

7 Beloved, 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. 8 The one not loving did not know God, because God is love.

God Made His Love Known To Us By Sending His Son

9 By 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. 10 In 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

11 Beloved, 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

12 No 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. 13 By this[q] we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us: because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen, and are testifying that the Father has sent-forth the Son to be Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God is abiding in him and he in God. 16 And 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. 17 By 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. 18 Fear[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. 19 We are loving because[v] He first loved us.

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

20 If 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. 21 And we have this commandment from Him: that the one loving God should be loving his brother also.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 4:1 That is, spiritual manifestations; expressions of a professed ‘spiritual gift’, as this word is used in 1 Cor 14:12.
  2. 1 John 4:2 Or, recognize.
  3. 1 John 4:2 Or, spirit from God, maintaining the same sense as the other four uses of ‘spirit’ in v 1-3.
  4. 1 John 4:4 That is, you belong to Him, having been fathered by Him.
  5. 1 John 4:5 They belong to the world which is passing away. This is the source of their words.
  6. 1 John 4:6 Or, spirit.
  7. 1 John 4:6 Or, deception.
  8. 1 John 4:7 That is, this love, the love just mentioned. Or, love, in an abstract sense.
  9. 1 John 4:7 Or, fathered. This love flows from a living relationship with God.
  10. 1 John 4:9 Or, in-connection-with; or, in.
  11. 1 John 4:9 Or, unique, one-and-only, only-begotten.
  12. 1 John 4:10 See 2:2.
  13. 1 John 4:11 Or, to such an extent.
  14. 1 John 4:12 That is, with the love from God (v 7) made known to us in His Son (v 9).
  15. 1 John 4:12 Or, our love for Him.
  16. 1 John 4:12 Or, brought to its goal, brought to full development.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 1 John 4:17 That is, together with us, along with our cooperation; or, among us, in our mutual love as Christians.
  20. 1 John 4:17 is... we also are. That is, abiding in the Father’s love; or, reflecting God’s love or character.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.

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