The Epistles · Chapter 4 of 5

1 John 4

John urges believers to test the spirits, since many false prophets have gone out; every spirit confessing Jesus come in the flesh is from God. He then turns to love: love comes from God, and God is love. God proved his love by sending his Son as the propitiation for our sins. Because he first loved us, we must love one another; perfect love casts out fear.

What happens in 1 John 4

John warns his readers not to believe every spirit but to test them, for many false prophets have gone into the world. The test is Christological: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that denies it belongs to the spirit of antichrist. He assures them that the One in them is greater than the one in the world. Then the chapter turns to its great theme: love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows him, because God is love.

This love was shown when God sent his only Son that we might live, and sent him to be the propitiation for our sins. Since God so loved us, we must love each other; his love is perfected in us as we do. John declares there is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear, and we love because he first loved us.

1 John 4 in context

In this section of his letter John weaves together two tests of true faith: right confession of Christ and genuine love for others. Writing against teachers who denied Jesus' real incarnation, he insists that authentic faith both affirms the Son come in flesh and overflows in love.

Chapter four contains some of Scripture's clearest statements that God is love and that love is proved in the sending of the Son.

Main themes of 1 John 4

Testing the spiritsNot every spiritual claim is from God. John gives a clear measure: does it confess that Jesus Christ has truly come in the flesh? Truth about the incarnate Son distinguishes the Spirit of God from the spirit of error, and believers need not fear, for God in them is greater.

God is loveJohn does not merely say God loves; he says God is love, love is his very nature. Therefore everyone born of God loves, and the one who does not love has not known God. Human love is the family resemblance of those who belong to a loving God.

Love casts out fearLove and fear cannot finally share the same heart. Perfect love, God's love received and returned, drives out the torment of fear, especially fear of judgment. Because he first loved us and dealt with our sin, we can face the day of judgment with boldness rather than dread.

This is a letter to the early church, and to you, teaching how to live the new life in Christ. As you read, receive it as personal instruction from the Spirit.

1 John 4 (KJV)

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And 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. 4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We 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. 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In 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. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16And 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. 17Herein 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. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. 20If 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? 21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Verses to carry from 1 John 4

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”1 John 4:8

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”1 John 4:10

“We love him, because he first loved us.”1 John 4:19

Thematic connection

How 1 John 4 points to Jesus

Christ is both the test of truth and the proof of love in this chapter. The confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh separates the Spirit of God from every counterfeit, guarding the reality of the incarnation. And the love John commands is defined entirely by Christ: God showed his love by sending his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him, and sent him to be the propitiation for our sins.

Love here is not a feeling we generate but a gift we receive at the cross, where the Son bore our sin. Because he first loved us in this costly way, we are freed from fear and enabled to love one another. Every command to love flows back to the sending of the Son.

Questions about 1 John 4

What does it mean that God is love in 1 John 4?

John says love is not just something God does but who God is. He proves it by pointing to the cross: God sent his only Son as the propitiation for our sins. So God's love is defined not by sentiment but by sacrifice. And because God is love, those who truly know him will love others.

How does perfect love cast out fear?

John says there is no fear in love, and perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment, especially fear of judgment. When we grasp that God loved us enough to send his Son to bear our sins, we can face judgment with boldness. Received love, not our own performance, is what dissolves fear.

Reflection

John ties two things tightly together: believing rightly about Jesus and loving others truly. Is there a fear that torments you? Return to the proof of God's love, his Son given for your sins, and let that received love press outward toward someone you find hard to love.

A prayer from 1 John 4

God who is love, thank you for sending your Son as the propitiation for my sins while I was still unlovely. Cast out my fear with your perfect love, and let the love you poured into me overflow to the people around me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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