1 John 4
1 Beloved! not in every spirit, believe ye, but test the spirits, whether they are, of God; because, many false prophets, have gone out into the world.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see whether they are from God; for many false teachers have gone out into the world.
2 Hereby, do ye perceive the Spirit of God: —every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ as having come, in flesh, is, of God;
The test by which you may recognize the Spirit of God is that every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come as man is from God,
3 And, every spirit that doth not confess Jesus, of God, is not. And, this, is the [spirit] of the Antichrist, touching which ye have heard that it cometh: even now, is it, in the world, already.
and that no spirit is from God which does not acknowledge this about Jesus. Such is the spirit of the anti-Christ; of whose coming you have heard, and it is already in the world.
4 Ye, are, of God, dear children, and have overcome them; because, greater, is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
As for you, dear children, you are God's children, and have successfully resisted them; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They, are, of the world: For this cause, of the world, they speak, and the world, unto them, doth hearken.
They are the world's children, and so their language is that of the world, and the world listens to them. We are God's children.
6 We, are, of God: he that is getting to understand God, hearkeneth unto us, —whoso is not of God, hearkeneth not unto us: from this, perceive we—the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The man who is beginning to know God listens to us, but he who is not a child of God does not listen to us. By this test we can distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
7 Beloved! let us be loving one another; because, love, is, of God, and, whosoever loveth, of God, hath been born, and is getting to understand God:
Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God.
8 He that doth not love, doth not understand God, because, God, is, love.
He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love.
9 Herein, hath the love of God in us, been made manifest, that, his only-begotten Son, God sent into the world, in order that we might live through him.
God's love for us has been manifested in that He has sent His only Son into the world so that we may have Life through Him.
10 Herein, is love: not that, we, have loved God, but that, he, loved us, and sent forth his Son, as a propitiation concerning our sins.
This is love indeed--we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved! If, in this way, God, loved us, we also, ought to love, one another.
Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 Upon God, hath no one, at any time, gazed: If we love one another, God, in us, abideth, and, his love, hath been perfected within us.
No one has ever yet seen God. If we love one another, God continues in union with us, and His love in all its perfection is in our hearts.
13 Hereby, perceive we—that, in him, are we abiding, and, he, in us, —in that, of his Spirit, hath he given unto us.
We can know that we are continuing in union with Him and that He is continuing in union with us, by the fact that He has given us a portion of His Spirit.
14 And, we, for ourselves have gazed, and are bearing witness—that, the Father, sent forth the Son, as Saviour of the world.
And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15 Whosoever shall confess, that, Jesus [Christ] is the Son of God, God, in him, abideth, and, he, in God.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God--God continues in union with him, and he continues in union with God.
16 And, we, have come to understand and to trust the love which, God, hath, in us. God, is, love; and, he that abideth in love, in God, abideth, and, God, in him [abideth].
And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him.
17 Herein, hath love with us, been made perfect, —in order that, boldness, we might have in the day of judging, —in that, just as, He, is, we also, are, in this world.
Our love will be manifested in all its perfection by our having complete confidence on the day of the Judgement; because just what He is, we also are in the world.
18 Fear, existeth not, in love, but, perfect love, casteth fear, outside; because, fear, hath correction: he that feareth, hath not been made perfect, in love.
Love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love.
19 We, love, because, he, first loved us: —
We love because God first loved us.
20 If one should say, I love God, and should be hating, his brother, false, is he; for, he that doth not love his brother, whom he hath seen, God, whom he hath not seen, he cannot love!
If any one says that he loves God, while he hates his brother man, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother man whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 And, this commandment, have we from him, —that, he who loveth God, love, his brother also.
And the command which we have from Him is that he who loves God must love his brother man also.
