1 John 4 begins with a warning, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God,” and gives the test: every true spirit confesses “that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” Then John reaches the summit of his letter: “God is love.” That love was shown when “God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him,” and it is proved in us when we love one another. Love brings boldness for the day of judgment, because “perfect love casteth out fear.” And “we love him, because he first loved us.”
A study in 1 John 4 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 14 min read
Try The Spirits
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
1 John 4:1-6
The chapter that will say “God is love” opens with a call for careful discernment. Love is not gullibility. “Believe not every spirit.” Behind every teacher and every claim to spiritual power there is a spirit, either the Spirit of God or a spirit of error. “Many false prophets are gone out into the world,” and not everything supernatural comes from God (Matthew 24:24; Revelation 16:14).
So “try the spirits,” test them. John’s test is about Christ: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” The false teachers of John’s day denied that the eternal Son had truly become human. Any message that gets Christ wrong, His full deity or His real humanity, is not from God, however impressive it may seem. And every spirit must be tested by the written word (Isaiah 8:20).
That was the principle of the Reformers, and of the leaders of the advent awakening when fanaticism threatened the movement. Of William Miller, Ellen White wrote:
“He declared, with Luther, that every spirit should be tested by the word of God.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 396
And John adds a word of confidence: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” The believer does not need to be afraid of the spirits of error. The Spirit who lives in him is greater than Satan and all his agents.
God Is Love
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:7-12
“God is love.” John does not say merely that God loves, or that love is one of His qualities. He says that love is what God is. Everything He does flows from it: His creating, His law, His warnings, His judgments, and above all His gift of His Son.
And how do we know? Not by reasoning about God in the abstract. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” The love of God took the form of a baby in a manger, and then of a Man on a cross. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Love did not wait for us to become lovable. It came to us while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8, 10).
Then John draws the conclusion he always draws: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” “No man hath seen God at any time.” The world cannot see God. But when His people love one another, the invisible God becomes visible in them. John had seen what happens when that love fades.
“But gradually a change came. The believers began to look for defects in others. Dwelling upon mistakes, giving place to unkind criticism, they lost sight of the Saviour and His love.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 548
He That Dwelleth In Love
“Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
1 John 4:13-16
How can we know that God lives in us? John gives three marks here, and they belong together. The Spirit: “he hath given us of his Spirit.” Confession: “whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him.” And love: “he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” The Spirit leads to confessing Christ, and confessing Christ leads to a life of love.
“We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.” Many Christians believe in God’s power and His justice, but struggle to believe that He really loves them. John had rested his head on Christ’s breast. He knew. And he calls every believer to know and believe it too.
“True sanctification comes through the working out of the principle of love. ‘God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ 1 John 4:16. The life of him in whose heart Christ abides, will reveal practical godliness.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 560
Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
1 John 4:17-21
“That we may have boldness in the day of judgment.” For many people the judgment is a terror. John says the believer can face it with boldness. Not because he has never sinned, but because God’s love has been made complete in him, and “as he is, so are we in this world.” We belong to the Judge. His Son is our Advocate.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.” John is not speaking of reverent awe of God, which Scripture everywhere commends (Revelation 14:7). He means the dread of punishment, the fear of a slave before a harsh master. That kind of fear and love cannot live together. As love grows, it pushes the dread out.
“And as this love was allowed full sway and became the motive power in the life, their trust and confidence in God and His dealing with them would be complete.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 551
“We love him, because he first loved us.” Here is the source of all Christian love. We do not start it. We respond. God’s love comes first, and ours is the answer. John’s own life showed it.
“The depth and fervor of John’s affection for his Master was not the cause of Christ’s love for him, but the effect of that love. John desired to become like Jesus, and under the transforming influence of the love of Christ he did become meek and lowly.”
Ellen G. White · The Acts of the Apostles, p. 544
This is the same John whom Jesus once named, with his brother, “The sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), who wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village (Luke 9:54). Love made him the apostle of love.
And the chapter ends where love must always end up, with the brother. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.” It is easy to claim to love an invisible God. The test is the brother or sister we can see, with all their faults. “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Love for God and love for our neighbour are the two tables of the one law (Matthew 22:37-40), and no one can keep the first while breaking the second.
