1 John 4

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

Dear friends, many people [who have a false message] are teaching it to people [MTY]. So do not trust every [message that someone claims/says that God’s] Spirit [MTY] [gave to him]. Instead, (test/think carefully about) the teachings that [you hear] in order to know whether they are from God or not.

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

[I will tell] you how to recognize [teachings that come from] the Spirit of God: Those who affirm/say that Jesus Christ came [from God] to become a human [like us] are [teaching a message] that is from God.

3 and every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not of God; and this is that of the antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

But those who do not affirm/say [that about] Jesus are not [teaching a message] from God. [They are teachers who] oppose Christ. You have heard that people like that are coming [to be among us]. Even now they are already here!

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

As for you who are very dear to me, you belong to God, and you have refused [the false messages] that those people [teach], because [God], who enables you [to do what he wants], is (greater/more powerful) than ([Satan/the devil]), who enables (godless people/people who conduct their lives in a way that displeases God) [MTY].

5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.

As for [those who are teaching what is false], they are (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY]. Because of that, they teach what (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY] want to hear. That is why the (godless people/people whose lives displease God) [MTY] listen to them.

6 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 truth, and the spirit of error.

As for us [(exc)], [because] we belong to God, whoever (knows/has a close relationship with) God listens to us. [But] those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. That is how we can know whether [the things that people are teaching] [MTY] are true or whether they are false, and deceiving [people].

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God.

Dear friends, we must love each other, because God [enables us] to love [each other], and because those who love [their fellow believers] have become God’s children and (know/have a close relationship with) him.

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God’s [nature] is to love [all people]. So those who do not love [their fellow believers] do not (know/have a relationship with) God.

9 By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

I will tell you how God has shown us [that he] loves us: He sent (his only Son/the only one who was also God) [to live] on the earth to enable us to live [eternally] as a result of [our trusting in what] he [accomplished for us by dying for us].

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

[And God] has shown [us what it means to] love [another person]: [It does] not [mean] that we loved God, but [it means] that God loved us and sent (his Son/the one who was also God) to sacrifice [his life] in order that [our sins might be forgiven] {[he might forgive] our sins}.

11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

No one has ever seen God. [Nevertheless], if we love each other, [it is evident that] God lives within us and that we love others just like he [intends/wants us to do].

13 By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

[I will tell you] how we can be sure that we have a close relationship with God and that God is within us: He has put his Spirit within us.

14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.

We [apostles] have seen (God’s Son/the one who is also God), and [we tell people] that the Father sent him to save [the people in] the world [MTY] [from being punished for their sins].

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

[So] those who affirm/say that Jesus is the (Son of/one who is also) God, God is within them, and they have a close relationship with God.

16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

We have experienced how God loves us and we believe that he loves us. [As a result, we love others. Because] God’s [nature] is to love people, those who continue to love [others] have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them.

17 In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.

We [should] love others completely. And if we do that, when the time comes for [him to] judge us, we will be confident [that he will not condemn us] (OR, [that we have a close relationship with him]). [We will be confident of that] because of our [conducting our lives] in this world as Christ did.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

We will not be afraid [of God] if we [truly] love [him], because those who love [God] completely cannot possibly be afraid [of him]. [We would be] afraid only [if we thought that he would] punish us. So those who are afraid [of God certainly] are not loving [God] completely.

19 We love, because he first loved us.

We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.

20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

[So] those who say “I love God” but hate a fellow believer are lying. Those who do not love one of their fellow believers, whom they have seen, certainly cannot be loving God, whom they have not seen.

21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.