1 John 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 85-95, late in the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian
Location
Ephesus and the surrounding churches of Roman Asia, a region crowded with temples, mystery cults, and traveling religious teachers
Audience
Gentile Christian congregations in that region, most meeting in private homes rather than public buildings
Situation
John tells the church to test the spirits behind traveling teachers, giving one plain measure: does the teacher confess that Jesus Christ came in actual human flesh. He then grounds the community's love for one another in God's own love, shown by sending his Son as the sacrifice for sin.
Key Background
Prophecy delivered aloud by inspired speakers was common in first century religion, both inside the church and in surrounding pagan cults such as the oracles of Apollo, so a congregation regularly faced the question of which speaker to believe. Traveling teachers depended on hospitality from local believers, which meant a household risked funding a false message simply by opening its doors. John's test focuses on the physical humanity of Jesus because that was the exact point his opponents denied, and because a Christ who never truly suffered offers no real rescue.
Friends, don't believe every out there. Instead, test them to see if they're really from God, because a lot of have gone out into the world.
Here's how you can recognize every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus the as a being — that's from God.
But every spirit that doesn't acknowledge Jesus like that? That's not from God. That's the spirit of the — the one you've heard is coming. And it's already here in the world right now.
But you, dear ones — you belong to God, and you've already these fake teachers. Because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the
These false teachers belong to the That's why they speak from the world's perspective, and the listens to them.
We belong to God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who doesn't belong to God doesn't listen to us. That's how we can tell the difference between the of and the of
Friends, let's each other, because comes from Everyone who loves has been from and knows
Anyone who doesn't doesn't know because is — that's his very nature.
Here's how God's love showed up in our lives: God sent his and only Son into the world so that we could have through him.
This is what real looks like — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the that for our
Friends, if God us that much, we should love each other too.
No one has ever seen God with their own eyes. But if we love each other, God in us and his love its in us.
Here's how we know we live in him and he lives in us: he has given us a share of
And we've it and can tell you: the Father sent the Son to the world.
If anyone that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in that person and that person lives in God.
And so we've come to and the love God has for us. God is love, and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.
This is how love reaches its full expression among us: so that we can face the of with Because in this world, we are living the same kind of life he lives.
There is no in love. Instead, love that has reached its full expression out the because has to do with Anyone still living in hasn't yet experienced love in its fullness.
We because he loved us first.
If someone says, "I love God," but hates a or they're a Because if you can't love someone you can see, how can you possibly love a God you can't see?
And this is the we have from him: anyone who loves God must also love their and