TRUE SPIRIT, TRUE LOVE
Opening Prayer
I come to your Word today, Father, seeking you and wanting to hear your voice. Thank you for never disappointing me; you are present to teach me on every page that you have inspired.
Read 1 JOHN 4:1–12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
On Denying the Incarnation
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Footnotes
- 1 John 4:6 Or spirit
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Suppose you had to devise a list of non-negotiable characteristics for a true group of Jesus’ followers. What would be on that list? How should the church be distinct from every social group in modern society?In yesterday’s passage, John stated that Christianity involves believing in the Son and loving one another (3:23). He now would deal with both aspects in more detail. Our assurance comes from the Spirit of God living in us, but there are other spirits in the world too. In chapter 4, verses 1–6, John told the believers to test the spirits. The Holy Spirit will always celebrate the truth of who Jesus is—and the Holy Spirit is living in us and at work in us! False spirits undermine the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done (vv. 2, 3).
In verses 7–12, John addressed the issue of loving one another. This command was not just a pragmatic suggestion. Our love for one another reflects the great truth of who God is. True love comes from God himself (vv. 7, 8)! We do not have to look into ourselves and try to pump up some loving effort from within. No, the love comes from God to us—then it will flow from us to one another.
Apply
How might false prophets be at work in your life to point you away from the truth and love of Jesus Christ (v. 1)? How might the Holy Spirit want to stir your heart with the reality of Jesus’ love today?
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, guard my mind and heart; keep me grounded in the truth of the gospel. Help me, that Jesus’ love will overflow through me into the lives of others.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
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