1 John 4

1 Dear friends, don't trust every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to find out whether they're from God, for there are many false prophets out there in the world.

Dear ones, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 How can you recognize God's Spirit? Every spirit that accepts Jesus Christ came with a human body is from God;

By this the Spirit of God is known: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ as having come in flesh is of God,

3 while every spirit that doesn't accept Jesus, that spirit isn't from God. In fact it is the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming, and which is already in the world.

and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as having come in flesh is not of God; indeed, this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming—actually, it is already in the world right now.

4 But you belong to God, my friends, and you have defeated them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Dear children, you are of God and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than the one in the world.

5 They belong to the world, so they speak like people of the world, and the world listens to them.

They are of the world; that is why they speak of the world, and the world listens to them.

6 We belong to God and whoever knows God listens to us, while whoever doesn't belong to God doesn't listen to us. This is how we can distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of deception.

We are of God: he who knows God listens to us; he who is not of God does not listen to us—by this we know the Spirit of the Truth and the spirit of the deception.

7 Dear friends, let's go on loving one another, for love comes from God. All those who love are born of God and know God.

Dear ones, we must love one another, because the love is of God and everyone who loves has been begotten by God and knows God.

8 Those who don't love don't know God, for God is love.

He who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 How was God's love shown to us? God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could live through him.

God's love was made real within us by this: God sent His only begotten Son into the world in order that we might live through Him.

10 This is love! It's not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and he sent his Son to be the reconciliation for our sins.

In this is the love, not that we loved God but that He loved us—He even sent His Son as the propitiation for our sins.

11 Friends, if this is the way God loves us, we ought to love one another like this too.

Dear ones, since God loved us in this way we are obligated to love one another, really.

12 No one has ever seen God. However, if we love one another then God lives in us, and his love is fulfilled in us.

No one has ever looked at God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is being perfected in us.

13 How can we know that we live in him, and that he lives in us? He's given us the ability to love by his Spirit.

By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

14 For we are witnesses to what we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world.

Yes, we have observed and do testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

15 God lives in everyone who declares that Jesus is the Son of God, and they live in God.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.

16 We have experienced and trusted in the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.

Yes, we have come to know and believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in the love abides in God, and God in him.

17 This is how love is made complete in us so that we can be confident on judgment day: by the fact that we live just like him in this world.

The love is perfected with us for this: that we may have confidence in the Day of judgment, since just as He is so are we in this world.

18 Where there is love there can be no fear. God loves us completely, and this love drives all our fears away. If we do fear, it's because we fear being punished, and this shows that we have not been fully re-made by the completeness of God's love.

There is no fear in love; rather perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment; so he who fears has not been perfected in love.

19 We love because he loved us first.

We love Him because He first loved us.

20 Anyone who says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, is a liar. Anyone who doesn't love a brother whom they can see, can't love God whom they can't see.

If anyone says, “I love God,” while hating his brother, he is a liar. Well, how can he love God whom he has not seen, while not loving his brother whom he has seen?

21 This is the command he gave to us: those who love God love their brothers and sisters too.

Indeed, this commandment we have from Him: he who loves God must love his brother also.