1 John 4
1 John 4:1-21
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Being spiritual is not a unique and elevated status. We are all spirits that are influenced by and influence spirits. It’s by discerning which spirits are carrying the truth that the intent and motive of what is being heard from them is known. This is why it is critical to understand that what sets Christ apart from deceptive spirits that are in opposition to Him is His expression of the Father’s love in coming to abide in the flesh. God LOVED us so much that He gave Jesus as a personal demonstration of that love, to be received in total life transformation. For a spirit to really believe this, they will exude this same spirit of love. There can be no representation of Christ without its immersion in love that is unbridled from its expression by fault finding and judgment. His coming in the flesh, while the world was still in the darkness of sin, was the most amazing demonstration that someone’s sin cannot disable love’s pursuit. The anti-Christ spirits of the world are set on condemnation and separation and are incapable of showing mercy and grace in love. We are empowered to completely overwhelm them, though, by the Spirit that resides inside of us now, producing a love response in every opportunity for destructive strife and accusations. As we discern this difference and respond only to the love voice inside, we will emulate God’s love expression in Christ – just as He is so we will be on this earth.
No spiritual gift results in anything other than an expression of God’s love towards brothers and sisters. Its intent will always be transformation and growth into the mature and perfected image of Christ, no matter the present representation. It will be known to be from Him, not by the glory it brings to the vessel, but the ministry it pours out.
I had not seen verse 16 like this before! We know and believe in the love God has towards us. The passion says, “”We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them.“
It seems like feeling loved, finding love and staying in love are huge aspects of our human life. Not only is the love of God unchangeable, it is eternal and readily available for us to feel. It is something we can know and have faith in. It is an attribute that we never have to question or shrink back from. We can boldly know that He loves us, and not only does that change us but it will change our ability to spread His love to others.