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The Prophet Elijah, Gothic medieval art. Elijah was one of the rst prophets of the Bible to struggle with false prophets.
4:1 John knows that Christian believers are surrounded by many ideas, philosophies, and teachings. How do we know what is true? John o ers a simple test: the incarnation, “Jesus Christ come in the esh.”
4:7 It is all about love. God saved us in love, not in response to our love, but with a free gift of love. If we are to become like this God of love, we must love each other. St. Augustine expressed this another way: “Love, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good” (On the letter of John to the Parthians).
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 JOHN -
Con dence Before God.* 19[Now] this is how we shall know that we* belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him 20in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have con dence in God 22and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.n 23And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.o 24Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.p
Testing th4e Spirits.*
1Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many
false prophets have gone out into the world.a 2This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the esh belongs to God,b 3and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus* does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.c 4You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.d 6We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of deceit.e
God’s Love and Christian Life. 7* Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 9In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.f 10In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.g 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 12No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.h
* [3:19–24] Living a life of faith in Jesus and of Christian love assures us of abiding in God no matter what our feelings may at times tell us. Our obedience gives us con dence in prayer and trust in God’s judgment. This obedience includes our belief in Christ and love for one another.
* [3:19b–20] This di cult passage may also be translated “we shall be at peace before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for. . .” or “and before God we shall convince our hearts, if our hearts condemn us, that God is greater than our hearts.”
* [4:1–6] Deception is possible in spiritual phenomena and may be tested by its relation to Christian doctrine (cf. 1 Cor 12:3): those who fail to acknowledge Jesus Christ in the esh are false prophets and belong to the antichrist. Even though these false prophets are well received in the world, the Christian who belongs to God has a greater power in the truth.
* [4:3] Does not acknowledge Jesus: some ancient manuscripts add “Christ” and/or “to have come in the esh” (cf. 1 Jn 4:2), and others read “every spirit that annuls (or severs) Jesus.”
* [4:7–12] Love as we share in it testi es to the nature of God and to his presence in our lives. One who loves shows that one is a child of God and knows God, for God’s very being is love; one without love is without God. The revelation of the nature of God’s love is found in the free gift of his Son to us, so that we may share life with God and be delivered from our sins. The love we have for one another must be of the same sort: authentic, merciful; this unique Christian love is our proof that we know God and can “see” the invisible God.
CHAPTER 3
n. [3:22] 5:15; Mt 7:7–11; 21:22; Jn 14:13–14.
o. [3:23] Jn 13:34; 15:17.
p. [3:24] 4:13; Jn 14:21–23.
CHAPTER 4
a. [4:1] 2:18; Mt 24:24.
b. [4:2] 1 Cor 12:3; 1 Thes 5:21. c. [4:3] 3:22.
d. [4:5] Jn 15:19.
e. [4:6] Jn 8:47; 10:16.
f. [4:9] Jn 3:16.
g. [4:10] Rom 5:8.
h. [4:12] Jn 1:18; 1 Tm 6:16.