First John 4:1-21
Continuing from chapter 3, John writes:
I John 4:1-6:
4:1Loved-people1, you must not believe every spirit, but you must prove the spirits if they are out-from God because many lying-prophets went-out2 into the world. .2In this you know the spirit of God – every spirit which expresses-agreement (regarding) Jesus Christ having come2 in flesh is out-from God, .3and every spirit which does not express-agreement (regarding) Jesus is not out-from God and this is the (spirit) of antichrist which you heard2 that it comes and now is already in the world.
.4You are out-from God, little-children, and you were-victorious-over2 them because the (one) in you is greater than the (one) in the world. .5They are out-from the world because-of this – they utter-forth out-from the world and the world hears them. .6We are out-from God; the (person) knowing God hears us; he-who does not hear us is not out-from God – out-from this we know the spirit of the truth and the spirit of the wandering.
Loved-people1 (beloved, truly you are loved by God and by myself with God’s kind of love)…
- you must not believe every spirit (do not have faith relative to all/every single spirit, you must not trust what every spirit makes known to people by any method),
- you must prove the spirits (it is imperative that you put them to the test, prove the spirits by examination or testing to either approve or disapprove; in other words, don’t accept the content of everything that you hear or see as being true from God's viewpoint but prove them)
- if they are out-from God (if the spirits originate and result from God, if God is the source of the spirits including their actions, what emanates from them, their communications)
- because many lying-prophets (false prophets, those who claim to speak God's words being revealed to them concerning the past, present and/or future – lying prophets do not speak the only true God’s words to the people, instead they speak lies, false statements issuing from spirits that do not originate from God – a lot of lying-prophets)
- went-out and continue gone-out into the world (entered into the ordered arrangement that God created and lying-prophets are still in the world today).
In/by this you know the spirit of God (you have a truly active and relative knowing of the spirit that God gives, you are personally knowledgeable of the spirit from God) –
- every spirit which expresses agreement (all/every spirit that is saying the same words, speaking agreement with, assenting to the same spoken things)
- regarding/with Jesus Christ having come and continuing come in flesh (that Jesus, the savior, who is Christ, the one who is anointed, has already come within the sphere of the flesh of mankind, the physical natural body with its soul/breath life, and this truth has not changed - he is within all holy-people; refer to I John 5:5-12)
- is out-from God (originates and results from God; God is the source of this spirit’s actions, communications),
- and every spirit which does not express agreement
- regarding Jesus (as stated in verse 2 above)
- does not originate and result from God
- and this is the spirit of antichrist (anti/against Christ; an opponent opposing the Anointed-one)
- which you heard and continue to hear that the spirit is in the process of coming and at the present time is already in the world.
Emphatically you are (you – referring to the holy-people to whom John wrote this letter; in Greek there is a definite word for “you” plus the verb meaning “you are” giving emphasis – you yourselves are)…
- out-from God (you originate from God),
…little-children (in the figurative usage being a very tender, affectionate term of endearment)...
- and you were victorious and are still victorious (you have conquered, you have the victory)
- over the lying prophets (who speak the words they receive from the spirit of antichrist)
…because…
- the one in you (referring to the spirit from God within you; this spirit is the anointed-thing which is the spirit of Christ, and it teaches you, it communicates the word of God to you; refer to I John 2:20 and 27, 3:9 and 24, 5:5-12)
- is greater (is comparatively larger in magnitude, rank, importance, depth, etc)
- than the one in the world (referring to the evil-one, satan/the devil, who has many different names corresponding to the different characteristics, activities, etc, which that particular name describes; refer to I John 2:14 and 16, 3:8 and 12).
Emphatically they are (they – referring to the lying prophets; in Greek there is a definite word for “they” plus the verb meaning “they are” giving emphasis – they themselves are)…
- out-from the world (originate from the world)
- they utter-forth (utter sound, voice, speak words) originating and resulting from the world
- and the world hears them (those in the world who reject God’s words listen to the lying prophets speaking to them).
Emphatically we are (we – referring to all holy-people, including John and those with him when he wrote this letter; in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the verb meaning “we are” giving emphasis – we ourselves are)…
- out-from God (we originate from God Who is our Father in the spirit category; we have holy spirit-life within us and therefore we can utter-forth what our holy spirit communicates to us);
- the person who is knowing God (who has a truly active and relative knowing of God, who is personally knowledgeable of God)
- hears us (listens to us speaking to them);
- he-who does not hear us
…out-from this we personally know…
- the spirit of the truth (the spirit having the quality of truth and emanates God’s essential reality, inherent verity, the state of being true) and
- the spirit of the wandering (the spirit having the quality of error and emanates error, it causes people not to stay in their rightful-place, it misleads, leads astray giving information and evidences causing people to wander away from God’s truth).
[Reference: Matthew 7:15, 24:11 and 24; John 8:47, 14:17, 15:26, 16:13; Acts 2:31, 13:6; Romans 1:3 and 4, 6:10, 8:3, 10:9 and 10; I Corinthians chapter 2, 6:19, 12:1-13; II Corinthians 3:17 and 18, 4:4 and 11, 5:16 and 17; Ephesians 2:2 and 13-18; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:22 and 27, 2:11; I Thessalonians 5:19-21; I Timothy 3:16, 4:1; Hebrews 1:1-3, 2:14, 5:7-10, 10:10-12 and 19-22; I Peter 3:18 and 21, 4:1; II Peter 2:1; I John I John 2:13-27, 3:12 and 24, 5:4, 18 and 19; II John 1:7. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
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Which spirit realm?
