# 1 John 04 đź“–: God Is Love
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Testing the Spirits
**Principle**- Know God so you know when someone is trying to deceive you.
[[# Verse 01]] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.Â
[[#Verse 01.]] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
[[#Verse 02.]] By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,Â
[[#Verse 03.]] but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
[[#Verse 04.]] You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
### God is Love
[[#Verse 07.]] Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.Â
[[#Verse 08.]] The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
[[#Verse 11.]] Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.
[[#Verse 12.]] No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us.Â
[[#Verse 13.]] By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
[[#Verse 15.]] If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.Â
[[#Verse 18.]] There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.Â
[[#Verse 19.]] We love because he loved us first.
[[#Verse 20.]] If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christiantoo.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 1.
- There is nothing wrong with using logic and reason to test anyone who claims to have a word from God.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The statement "God is love" appears only twice in the Bible, both in this chapter (4:8, 16).
2. The word for test in 4:1 (*dokimazĹŤ*) was used for testing metals and coins to see if they were genuine.
3. The confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:2) answers early teachers who denied Jesus had a real human body.
4. Irenaeus records that an early teacher named Cerinthus claimed "the Christ" came on Jesus at His baptism and left Him before the cross.
5. Irenaeus also preserved a story that John once rushed out of a bathhouse in Ephesus when he learned Cerinthus was inside.
6. The phrase "one and only Son" in 4:9 uses the same word (*monogenēs*) as John 3:16.
7. The title Savior of the world (4:14) appears in the New Testament only here and in John 4:42.
8. "No one has ever seen God" (4:12) matches John 1:18.
9. The word for punishment in 4:18 (*kolasis*) appears only here and in Matthew 25:46.
10. Words for love (*agapē* and related forms) appear more than twenty-five times in 4:7-21.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is God's one and only Son, sent into the world so we might live through Him (4:9). He came in the flesh (4:2) and is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and the Savior of the world (4:10, 4:14).
## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. John tells us to test the spirits (4:1-3). How can we wisely test what we hear, read, and watch?
2. John says God's love was revealed when He sent His Son (4:9-10). How does the cross shape your understanding of love?
3. Perfect love drives out fear (4:18). What fear might God's love be pushing out of your life?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 1: Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.
- đź“– verse 4: The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
- đź“– verses 9-10: God showed His love by sending His one and only Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- đź“– verse 16: God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God.
- đź“– verse 18: There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear.
- đź“– verse 19: We love because He first loved us.
## đź”— Related Passages
- 🔗 4:1 → Matthew 7:15 – Beware of false prophets in sheep's clothing.
- 🔗 4:1 → 1 Thessalonians 5:21 – Test everything; hold on to what is good.
- 🔗 4:2-3 → John 1:14 – The Word became flesh.
- 🔗 4:2-3 → 2 John 7 – Deceivers who deny Jesus came in the flesh.
- 🔗 4:4 → John 16:33 – Take heart; I have overcome the world.
- 🔗 4:9 → John 3:16 – God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
- 🔗 4:10 → Romans 5:8 – Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
- 🔗 4:12 → John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God; the Son has made Him known.
- 🔗 4:13 → Romans 8:16 – The Spirit bears witness with our spirit.
- 🔗 4:16 → John 15:9-10 – Remain in My love.
- 🔗 4:18 → Romans 8:15 – You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fear.
- 🔗 4:20-21 → Matthew 22:37-40 – Love God and love your neighbor.
- đź”— [[John 03#Verse 16.|John 3:16]] - God so loved the world.
- đź”— [[Romans 05#Verse 08.|Romans 5:8]] - God showed His love while we were still sinners.
- đź”— [[Romans 08#Verse 38.|Romans 8:38-39]] - Nothing can separate us from God's love.
- đź”— [[1 Corinthians 13#Verse 04.|1 Corinthians 13:4-7]] - Love is patient and kind.
- đź”— [[Deuteronomy 18#Verse 21.|Deuteronomy 18:21-22]] - How to recognize a false prophet.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[1 John 04 - SOAP|You Belong to God]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes