1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby ye know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ come in flesh is of God; 3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus Christ come in flesh is not of God: and this is that [power] of the antichrist, [of] which ye have heard that it comes, and now it is already in the world. 4 Ye are of God, children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that [is] in you than he that [is] in the world. 5 They are of the world; for this reason they speak [as] of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God; he that knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another; because love is of God, and every one that loves has been begotten of God, and knows God. 8 He that loves not has not known God; for God is love. 9 Herein as to us has been manifested the love of God, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time: if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, that he has given to us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen, and testify, that the Father has sent the Son [as] Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and have believed the love which God has to us. God is love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Herein has love been perfected with us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that even as he is, we also are in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has torment, and he that fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love because he has first loved us. 20 If any one say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he that loves God love also his brother.
1 John 4 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:1; Proverbs 14:15; 2 John 7
- 2 John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 4:3
- 3 1 John 2:22; 2 John 7; 1 John 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–8
- 4 Romans 8:31; 1 John 5:4; Romans 8:37; 1 John 4:16; 1 Corinthians 2:12
- 5 John 8:23; 2 Peter 2:2–3; John 17:14; John 3:31; John 17:16
- 6 John 14:17; John 10:27; 1 Corinthians 2:12–14; John 15:26; 1 John 4:1
- 7 1 John 4:20–5:1; 1 John 4:8; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 2:10; Galatians 5:22
- 8 1 John 4:16; 1 John 4:7; Psalm 86:15; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Psalm 86:5
- 9 John 3:16; 1 John 5:11; Romans 8:32; 1 John 4:10; John 6:57
- 10 Ephesians 2:4–5; Romans 5:8–10; 1 John 4:19; 1 John 2:2; John 15:16
- 11 John 15:12–13; Colossians 3:13; John 13:34; 1 John 3:23; Luke 10:37
- 12 John 1:18; 1 John 2:5; 1 John 4:17–18; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:20
- 13 1 John 3:24; Ephesians 2:20–22; 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; Galatians 5:22–25; 1 Corinthians 2:12
- 14 1 John 4:10; John 3:16–17; John 4:42; John 1:14; John 1:29
- 15 Romans 10:9; Matthew 10:32; 1 John 5:5; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:2
- 16 1 John 3:24; Psalm 36:7–9; 1 John 3:1; Psalm 18:1–3; 1 John 4:8–10
- 17 1 John 4:12; 1 John 2:28; Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:3; 1 John 2:5
- 18 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:15; 1 John 4:12; Luke 1:74–75; Hebrews 12:28
- 19 1 John 4:10; John 3:16; John 15:16; 2 Corinthians 5:14–15; Titus 3:3–5
- 20 1 John 3:17; 1 John 2:9; 1 John 4:12; 1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:11
- 21 Matthew 22:37–39; Leviticus 19:18; 1 John 3:11; Galatians 5:14; 1 Peter 3:8
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
So is this world to all the faithful seeking their own country, as was the desert to the people Israel. They wandered indeed as yet, and were seeking their own country: but with God for their guide they could not wander astray. Their way was God's bidding.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
"For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist;" and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan.
For that fear of which the Apostle John says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love," --that fear is not of the same kind as the Apostle Paul felt lest the Corinthians should be seduced by the subtlety of the serpent; for …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… to the soldiers, fear not, but to you; as for them, let them be afraid, that, taught by experience, they may bear witness and say, Truly this was the Son of God; but you ought not to be afraid, for perfect love casteth out fear.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
They fear God, indeed, but it is with that servile fear "which is not in love; for perfect love casteth out fear." Therefore to them that hope in Him He perfecteth His sweetness, inspiring them with His own love, so that with a holy fear, which love does not cast out, but which endureth for ever, they may, when they …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)