1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. 4Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

 In chapter 4, we begin to move into the realm of ministry and confrontation with the world.
John begins this section by asking us to identify our opposition. Since the world is in the control of the antichrist, who Jesus said is the “ruler of this world,” Christians are necessarily involved in warfare. In 2:18, 19, we were told that many have gone out from the fellowship of believers and gone into apostasy becoming antichrists. Many of these have become false prophets and are determined, if possible, to lead astray the true believers. We have many of these today, both inside and outside the churches. In addition, there are many kinds of demonic forces and people who operate under their influence. There are also territorial spirits, evil spirits over nations, and false religions.

 John has already exhorted us frequently about our need to walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But now he gives us several criteria to discern spirits, so that we can recognize and defeat the evil spirits.

 ·. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary for recognizing spirits. We need to be filled with the Spirit and attentive to His voice at all times. The false can best be identified if we know the true. The Holy Spirit will bear witness in our spirit concerning the kinds of spirits operating in people, places, and situations and give us wisdom and authority to combat and cast out evil spirits.

 ·. An objective test of a spirit is whether or not it bears witness to the incarnation of Jesus (4:2). Antichrist spirits bear witness to and exalt the person they inhabit or control, advocate immoral acts and false teaching, or works of human design. Right spirits exalt Jesus in word and deed. They speak as oracles of God, saying what Jesus wants said, doing the miraculous works of Jesus.

  However good ideas, plans, speeches, and acts may seem, if they do not bear witness to Jesus, they are not of God, but of the antichrist. All teaching, secular or religious, all social work, political agenda and legal matters need to be subjected to this test as do public education and entertainment.  All “good works” that are conceived and executed according to man’s ideas and capabilities are fruit of the wrong tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and are, therefore, in antichrist’s domain. They represent a worldly point of view and are accepted by worldly people. They must be combated by Christians. John does not acknowledge any middle ground. There is only the Spirit of God and the spirit of antichrist (4:3).

 ·. A final test of spirits is whether they will listen to us or not (4:6). If we are truly born of God, our speech and our actions will be in obedience to God’s will and purposes. Those who know God will recognize our spirits as being in line with the truth and will listen to us and accept us (4:6).

 The world needs to be torn from the hands of antichrist and brought into the kingdom of God. We can confidently face all these evil spirits in the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is infinitely more powerful than the other spirits. We can overcome all the work of antichrist, because “greater is the one who is in us [the Holy Spirit] than the one who is in the world [antichrist]” (4:4).

 As we obey God, our lives become a living manifestation of the incarnation of Christ. The Holy Spirit bears witness in us and through us to the presence of Jesus in our lives.

The Testimony of Love  (4:7-16)

 7Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.  13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

 These verses, at first glance, appear to be a repetition of verses in the preceding chapter. But in the context, they take on a new meaning. They refer to a greatly expanded sphere for our love.

 The new life that we live in Christ Jesus becomes a witness in the world to the love of God (4:14). It can be clearly seen who is born of God and knows God and who is not (4:9). Our love for each other in the fellowship of believers can be seen by others. As someone commented about the early Christians, “Wow, see how those Christians love one another.” The love that we show towards one another is the same kind of love that God has shown towards us in calling us His children. This love is the love which prompted God to send His only Son into the world to give us a radically new kind of life (4:10). He loved us so much that He was willing to lay down His life for us. Similarly, others cannot only see the manifestation of God’s love in our relationships to each other, but also in our willingness to lay down our lives for others (4:11). This laying down of our lives may involve physical death on behalf of someone’s salvation, but usually (what is actually more difficult) living our lives in such a way that we can bring His redemption to the world.

 In Old Testament times, it was often thought adequate to love one’s friends and neighbors, but hate one’s enemies. Jesus corrected this impression by expanding the definition of neighbor to include anyone who would give help to someone in trouble.  He also said it was too easy to love people who are nice to us. His type of sacrificial, redemptive love includes enemies also.

 No one has seen God the Father at any time. Jesus had stressed this fact with His first disciples, but He assured them that, if they had seen Him, they had seen the Father also (4:12).  Jesus, come in the flesh, is the revelation of God the Father. If we love one another with His love, we, too, will be a manifestation of the Father because the Father will be in us. If we are fully obedient to Him, walking in His righteousness, as was recommended in chapter 3, His love is perfected in us. This means that we can become a perfect revelation of God’s love and glory (4:12).

 God has given us His Holy Spirit to bear continual witness of the presence of God in our lives. As we continue to pray in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, we have the assurance that we are abiding in Jesus. We can rest in this assurance (4:13).

 Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we “see” Jesus with our spirits. We then testify to what we have seen and known in the Spirit. Our lives become a living testimony of Jesus’ presence in the world and proclaim Him as  the Savior of the world (4:14). Our lives as well as our words will bear witness to the incarnation of Jesus, because His life and His love will be manifested through us. When we speak, it will be under the anointing of the Spirit. When we act, it will be in obedience to the guidance of the Spirit and will manifest His power.

 In John 14:12, Jesus is quoted as saying to His disciples: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I go to the Father.” These miraculous works of love—deliverance, healing, stilling storms, providing fish to eat—all testify to who Jesus is. As He told some Jews who were harassing Him, the works He was doing testified that the Father was in Him doing His works through Him.  As we do the “greater works”, we testify to the resurrection of Christ. The works demonstrate that He is alive, that He is abiding in us, and manifesting His love through us. A witness in words only, without the demonstration of the loving power of Jesus, will give people a right to call us hypocrites. Our actions will contradict our words. (Who wants to believe in an Almighty God who cannot do anything?) As we are obedient to God, the resurrection power of Jesus, through the operation of His Holy Spirit will do the “greater works” He has promised.

Confidence in God (4-17-5:3)

 17In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because he first loved us. 20If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. 5:1 Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child.  2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome

 In 4:12, it was stated that, “if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” In the present passage, John gives us the powerful corollary that “In this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment.” The ultimate benefit of our love for God and for each other is this complete confidence in facing all of life and death. As we are obedient to fulfill the commandment of love of our brethren, God perfects His love in us. This perfect love of God working in us removes all fear.

 If we have no fear of punishment or judgment, we will have no fear of death, or of anything else. We can pray and act with confidence, and see the mighty works of God. This sets us free to love ourselves and others more fully.

 Our love is a response to His love for us (4:19). His love in us enables us to love our brethren. Conversely, our love for the brethren whom we can see is a requisite for loving God whom we cannot see (4:19). God commands us to love all who believe that Jesus is His Son, because they are His children. If all Christians fervently believed this, it would do wonders for ecumenical relationships. Our churches could be united and become God’s Church. Total revival could happen, winning cities and nations for God, preparing for the full manifestation of His rule on earth.

 Christian love is equivalent to obeying God (5:3). If we always do what He tells us to do, we will act in accordance with His love, because He is, by nature, love. He will always instruct us to do  loving, redemptive acts, even if they sometimes appear harsh. Remember, Christ’s love is life-changing, not just “accepting.”

 The absence of fear and complete confidence in our relationship with God is essential to our life and ministry because our ability to pray effectively is based on our hearts’ not condemning us.

Overcoming the World (5:4-13)

 4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. 7And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. 9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son. 10He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son.11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. 13I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

 Whatever is born of God,  (5:4) could also be translated “Anything that originates with God.” This would broaden the statement to include not only Christians who are children of God, but also all the redemptive works of God.

 “The world” refers to everything that is not of God. It is fruit of the tree of good and evil, with which Satan successfully tempted Eve and Adam. Included in world are sinful people and the chaos to which creation has been subjected as a result of mankind’s disobedience.   The good news is that faithful servants of God can overcome the world. This includes our personal sanctification (overcoming the world in us). But, further, it includes reversing all the results of Adam’s sin: restoring man’s authority over creation, bringing all things into God’s order, perfecting the Church, bringing us into unity in preparation for His coming. Jesus’ miracles of healing and deliverance and His command over the forces of nature demonstrate what He means by world redemption. They also show us how this process is to be carried out. He trained His first little group of disciples to do this kind of ministry and He wants to train us also. As we continue this life and ministry, we give testimony to the resurrection of Jesus and His continuing process of redemption.

 The conditions for our being able to overcome the world are as follows:

 ·. Being born again (living as children of God (chapter 3)).
 ·. Our faith (believing that Jesus is the Son of God (5:5)).
 ·. Believing God’s testimony about His Son (the three witnesses (5:6-8)).

 “Our faith”(5:4, 5)  means a complete confidence in all that Jesus has said and done and a trust that He will always be faithful to His promises. Believing that Jesus is the Son of God means that we see Him as He is; we know His purposes for the redemption of the world and our part in this process; we believe and demonstrate that He can still do the things He did along the dusty lanes of Galilee or in the tumultuous city streets of Jerusalem. We know that He loves us unconditionally and wants us to be all He has planned for us.

 In order to equip us for overcoming the world, God the Father has given us three witnesses as His testimony concerning His Son—the water, the blood, and the Spirit (5:6-8).

 “This is he who came by water and blood”(5:6). Why did John say that He came by water and blood?

 Jesus came to the river Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptizer. The waters of baptism were for those who had been living in sins and had been separated from God and the people of God. Jesus, of course, needed repentance the least of anyone who ever lived. He came voluntarily and submitted to the waters of baptism on our behalf to signify that He was identifying Himself with sinful, separated humanity. He was signifying that He was going to take on Himself the sins of all the people and would become the Savior of the world. Jesus’ baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry just as His sacrifice would form the culmination of it.

 Jesus came to Mount Calvary, to the shedding of His blood  to seal the new covenant and to make His salvation available to all mankind. The shedding of His blood sealed, in a most dramatic and powerful way, the promise made by His baptism. This blood of the New Covenant started our ministry, made us overcomers, and guaranteed the full redemption of the world.

 “The Spirit is the witness (5:7).” The Spirit bears witness to Jesus in the hearts of believers,  making us aware continually of Jesus’ presence. Jesus had told His disciples when He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit would bear witness to Him teaching them all they needed to know.  The Spirit in us is also a witness to Jesus before the world. The Spirit equips us as witnesses and sends out to all the world.  Our lives bear witness to His sanctifying grace; our ministry bears witness to His resurrection power.

 We know truth through the Holy Spirit, because He is the truth, could also be translated reality. The Holy Spirit puts us in touch with reality. Unfortunately, in modern English, the word reality has lost its meaning because we have been taught that reality is relative or just personal opinion. Anybody can create his own version of reality. This kind of nonsense has been able to capture modern thought because people who do not walk in the Spirit cannot hear what God says, and therefore do not have the mind of Christ. They are not in touch with reality. Reality can only be understood by being in Christ. We will be in touch with reality in proportion as we truly listen to the voice of the Spirit. In doing so, we need to apply the principles of discerning spirits which we discussed in connection with 1 John 4:1-6.

 “There are three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood (5:8).” In verse 9,  John explains that this is God’s own testimony to the Son. John the Baptizer prophesied over Jesus, when He came for baptism, that Jesus would save mankind from sin, and that He would baptize in the Holy Spirit. Certainly three of the most critical and significant events in the life of Jesus were His baptism, His sacrificial death, and His sending of the Holy Spirit

 The three witnesses of God by which God testified concerning His Son bring us into the realm of the three sacraments—Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confirmation. It is through these that the witness of Jesus gets incorporated into our lives.  The Baptism of Jesus marked His equipping for the fulfillment of His purpose. Our Baptism brings us into union with His life and ministry. The blood of Jesus guarantees the fulfillment of His redemptive purpose in the world. When we receive His body and blood in the Holy Communion, not only are we cleansed from sin and made one with Him, but we are also strengthened and equipped for our life and ministry. We receive His life and He lives in us and we in Him. Jesus also received the Holy Spirit at His Baptism.  Jesus’ entire ministry was carried on in the power of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit for us is associated with our Confirmation which equips us for our ministry. These three witnesses, which John says are really one, are internalized for us by the Sacraments and the life of the Christian community. We appropriate the benefit of them by our faith.

 “He who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in himself (5:10).” The testimony in our lives is the reality of the eternal life that God has given us. “This life is in his Son” (5:11) can mean either that Jesus has eternal life in Himself or that we have eternal life when we are in Him. Both meanings are probably intended. We have the same life in us that is in Christ Jesus. This means, of course, that we can live as He does and do the things that He does. We will have the mind of Christ. This gives us confidence for our life and ministry. It equips us to love as He loved. It also equips us to do our part in bring about the redemption of the world.

The process for overcoming the world is: Believe fully in Who Jesus is and the implications of that faith; obey whatever the Word (Jesus) says; be perfected in love and thus freed from fear; have confidence in God’s answers to our prayers; pray according to His will; see His victory.

 As we obey God, our lives become a living manifestation of the incarnation of Christ. The Holy Spirit bears witness in us and through us to the presence of Jesus in our lives.

Confidence in Asking(5:14-17)

 14And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. 16If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not.
A marvelous corollary of our victory over the world  is that our prayers and intercessions will surely be answered. If we ask anything according to His will it will happen. This, of course, demands that we listen and obey so that we always know what His will is and do it. This is the key to our part in overcoming the world.

 Obviously, the restriction on our getting what we ask for is that we must ask according to God’s will, not our own desires. As an example of this principle,  John explains in 5:15—17 that we can pray for the repentance of some who fall into sin but not for others. John does not clearly define who is going to fit into each category. 1 John 2:1, 2 stated that anyone who confesses his sin will definitely be forgiven. But there are also indications that some cannot come to repentance. If, instead of confessing their sins, people run off and try to hide, sin becomes multiplied and sometimes a permanent way of life. In that passage, John referred to such people as antichrists.

 We can get some insights on this matter from other New Testament writings. This same principal occurs in Hebrews 6:4-6:

  For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.

 In advising the Corinthians about a man who is committing sin with his father’s wife, Paul says:
  . . . with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:4b-5
 In our passage in 1 John, no criterion is given for the distinction between mortal sins and those which are not mortal. We may conjecture that this is because John has been emphasizing the necessity of seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our prayers. We need to be obedient to Him in each specific case. Sometimes it is appropriate to ask for a person to come to repentance and come back to a walk with the Lord. In other situations, it may be well to allow the person to experience the effects of the sin and God’s judgment on it, in the hope that the person will be shocked into consciousness and repent. Some may even be unable or unwilling to come to repentance. Clearly, it is inappropriate for us to judge these situations or to say the same prayer for everyone. Only God knows whether a person is ready to repent or if he needs some more corrective judgment to bring him to awareness of sin.  In Romans 8, Paul states that we do not know how to pray and that we have to pray according to the Holy Sprit’s instruction.  God’s promise is that our prayers will be answered if we pray according to His will.

Summary (5:18-21)

18We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one. 20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.  21Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
In closing, John reemphasizes very briefly some of the salient points of the epistle.

 He reiterates the crucial statement from 3:9 that anyone who is born of God does not sin. The prototypical One who is born of God (i.e., Jesus) protects the believer and shields him from the power of the evil one (5:18).

 Again John emphasizes the antithesis between those who are born of God and are under His control and protection and those who are of the world which is in the control of the evil one.  We are a different race and culture from the culture of the world.

 John powerfully affirms that his readers are in the Lord. We know who we are in the Lord. We know the protection and authority of the Lord. We know in a profound way that the Son of God has come in the flesh, because He dwells in us and gives us His life. He has totally identified with us and revealed Himself to us and in us so that we have understanding and insight into the full meaning of His Incarnation, we see Him as He is, we enter into a close relationship with Him , we know personally Him Who is the truth (reality). Being in Him is the closest possible relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. This intimate relationship with the true God gives us a firm grasp on His truth (reality). Knowing the true God and  walking in His truth is the true meaning of eternal life (5:20c). This eternal life is the key to all the themes of this epistle—forgiveness, cleansing from sin, sanctification, effective ministry, overcoming the world, bearing witness to Jesus..