1 John 4

1 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.

Mis amados, no crean a cada espíritu, sino ponlos a prueba, para ver si son de Dios: porque un gran número de falsos profetas han salido por el mundo.

2 [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.

En esto conocerás el Espíritu de Dios: todo espíritu que dice que Jesucristo ha venido en carne, es de Dios;

3 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!

Y todo espíritu que no dice esto, no es de Dios; este es el espíritu del Anticristo, de lo cual has tenido noticias; y está en el mundo incluso ahora.

4 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].

Ustedes son de Dios, hijitos míos, y lo han vencido, porque el que está en ti es más grande que el que está en el mundo.

5 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.

Ellos son del mundo, por lo que su charla es la charla del mundo, y el mundo les presta atención.

6 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].

Somos de Dios: el que tiene el conocimiento de Dios no peca; todo aquel que peca, No le ha conocido.

7 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.

Hijitos Nadie los engañe, tengamos amor el uno para el otro: porque el amor es de Dios, y todo el que tiene amor es hijo de Dios y tiene conocimiento de Dios.

8 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.

El que no tiene amor no tiene conocimiento de Dios, porque Dios es amor.

9 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].

Y el amor de Dios se hizo claro para nosotros cuando envió a su único Hijo al mundo para que pudiéramos tener vida a través de él.

10 [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}.

Y esto es amor, no porque tuviéramos amor por Dios, sino porque él nos amó a nosotros, en que envió a su Hijo Unigénito para ser una ofrenda por nuestros pecados.

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

Amados, si Dios nos ha amado así, es correcto que nos amemos unos a otros.

12 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].

Ningún hombre ha visto a Dios: si nos amamos unos a otros, Dios está en nosotros y su amor se ha perfeccionado en nosotros.

13 [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.

Y el Espíritu que nos ha dado es el testimonio de que estamos en él y él está en nosotros.

14 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].

Y hemos visto y testificamos que el Padre envió al Hijo para ser el Salvador del mundo.

15 [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.

Todo el que dice abiertamente que Jesús es el Hijo de Dios, tiene a Dios en él y está en Dios.

16 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.

Y hemos visto y creído en el amor que Dios tiene por nosotros. Dios es amor, y todos los que tienen amor están en Dios, y Dios está en él.

17 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.

De esta manera, el amor se ha perfeccionado en nosotros, para que podamos estar sin miedo en el día de juicio, porque como él es, así somos nosotros en este mundo.

18 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.

No hay temor en el amor: el amor verdadero echa fuera el temor, porque donde está el miedo, hay dolor; y el que no está libre del temor no está perfeccionado en el amor.

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

Tenemos el poder de amar, porque él primero tuvo amor por nosotros.

20 [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.

Si un hombre dice: Tengo amor a Dios, y odia a su hermano, es mentiroso: ¿cómo es que el hombre que no ama a su hermano a quien ha visto puede amar a Dios a quien no ha visto?

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

Y esta es la palabra que tenemos de él, que aquel que ama a Dios debe tener el mismo amor por su hermano.