1 John 4:1–6

4:1 Once more the vocative term of endearment “Beloved” marks the shift to a new section. This direct address calls for refocused attention as John again warns his readers about false teachers. The “spirits” in view here are men who claim to speak under the prompting of the Spirit. John stresses that discernment is necessary, for numerous false teachers will claim the inspiration of the Spirit. We do not have to believe people just because they claim that God told them what to say. Such people could be sincerely misled or even intentionally deceitful. These ideas or teachings (“spirits”) must always be tested rather than simply taken at face value. The manner of testing is what John addresses next.

4:2 John’s characteristic “by this you know” introduces the test he prescribes for questionable teachings (cf. 4:1 and comment). Our aim is to “know the Spirit of God,” that is, to recognize whether or not the Holy Spirit is behind any questionable teaching. To be considered as being from God, every idea or teacher must affirm that Jesus is the incarnate Messiah. This concern about proper understanding of the person and work of Christ was mentioned previously, in 2:18–23, which has many similarities to this section.

4:3 To “confess Jesus” is a shorthand way of referring to the full affirmation of 4:2. Any teacher or doctrine that fails to affirm, or that perhaps undermines, the messiahship and incarnation of Jesus cannot be from God. Instead, such teaching is the “spirit of the antichrist.” As in 2:18, John reminds his readers that they knew such a spirit was coming and that it is now currently active.

This flies in the face of much of modern Western Christianity, which seems to think that sincerity is all that matters and that doctrinal distinctives are insignificant if one means well. Of course doctrinal precision is not all that matters, but certain doctrines must be clearly held in order for a person to be part of God’s people. No matter how well-intentioned one is, if he denies the incarnation of Jesus, he is not a true member of Christ’s church.

4:4 The reality of a sinister spirit at work that is opposed to Christ should be disconcerting, and no doubt was to John’s audience, since they had just witnessed the effect of this spirit in their own church. So, having mentioned this reality, John turns to comforting his beloved “little children.” His comfort is threefold. First, he reminds them that they are “from God,” like the spirit that confesses Jesus (4:2) and unlike the false spirit (4:3).¹ The distinction of being “from God” or “from the world” will be a major theme in the rest of this section. Despite whatever the false teachers may say, these believers who are holding fast can be encouraged by the apostolic witness that they are rooted in God.

Secondly, these faithful believers have “overcome” the false teachers and those who follow them (the spirit of antichrist). We do not know what percentage of this church left and what percentage stayed, but it may have felt like evil was winning. John encourages them that they have in fact overcome, no matter what they were feeling (cf. more on this in the comment on 5:4).

Third, the basis for the certainty of victory is that the one who is in them, empowering them—God—is greater than the one who is in and empowering the world. The one in the world is not explicitly identified but is ultimately the Devil, who has been in view at various times (2:14; 3:10, 12).

Thus believers should recognize the serious reality of spiritual danger, but they should not be paralyzed by fear, because they know God—that he has made them his own (they are “from” him, and he is in them) and that he is more powerful than all the forces arrayed against them. This fundamental truth can be found throughout Scripture and is the basis for Christian courage and composure in a fallen world.

4:5 In contrast, those who follow the false teachers are “from the world” (the realm of hostility to God, which believers are not to love; cf. 2:15). John has just explained that the false teachers’ connection to the world is why faithful believers have overcome them (4:4). Here he explains why such conquered people seem to have such success: the world is attracted their message because they are “on the same page.” False teachers will commonly gain a great following because they tell the world what the world wants to hear. A message tailored to the desires of the world will always find a following, but it will not lead to life. This is a resounding warning against assessing any ministry by the number of its followers.

4:6 “We,” as in chapter 1, refers to John and the broader apostolic witness (cf. comment on 1:1). In 4:4 he said that “you,” his hearers, were from God. Here he includes himself—“we”—because now he is speaking of the message proclaimed. John is from God (he meets the test of v. 2), and therefore those who know God listen to his message, while those who are not from God do not listen to him.

This is no license for any given preacher to say, “I am from God, and thus whoever listens to me is from God, and whoever does not like me does not know God.” Instead we must recognize this to be the inspired apostolic witness speaking. The status of message/messenger from God is not a subjective thing to be appropriated by whoever might do so. Rather, it is clearly delineated in this letter that to be “from God” is to be those who affirm Jesus as incarnate Messiah and Son of God, who pursue holiness and love fellow believers. The point is that those who truly know God listen to this sort of message. Those who do not like such a message prove that they do not know God. This is the point of the last sentence of verse 6: believers can tell the difference between the “Spirit of truth” and the “spirit of error” by whether or not any given teacher heeds the apostolic witness.