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),
- but on the contrary,
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)
- on account of this –
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
  - is not out-from God –

…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.]

Verses 7-10:

^.7Loved-people¹, let us love¹ one-another because the love¹ is out-from God, and every-person loving¹ was born² from God, and he knows God. ^.8The (person) not loving¹ did not know God because God is love¹.

^.9In this the love¹ of God was manifested in us – because God apostled² His son, the only-begotten (son) into the world in order that we may live by means of him.

^.10In this the love¹ is – not because we loved^1,2 God but because He loved¹ us and apostled His son (who is the) propitiation concerning our sins.

Loved-people (as verse 1 above)…

let us love¹ one-another (this is a polite command or a very strong suggestion advising all of us holy-people to love each other with God’s kind of love – we should evidence Godly-love towards other holy-people during the everyday living of our lives in the walk/behavior category)
- because the love¹ is out-from God (God’s kind of love originates and results from God),
and all/every person who is loving¹ (during the current time-period that began with the giving of the gift of holy spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts chapter 2)
- was born and continues born from God (begotten, given birth to, brought forth originating out from God),
- and he knows God (this person has a truly active and relative knowing of God, he/she is personally knowledgeable of God and receives God’s knowledge during everyday living).

The person who is not loving¹ did not personally know God (during the time that this person is not Godly-loving) – because God is love¹ (God is the One Who issues His love and He sets the standard to be conformed to by others of what His kind of love is).

In/by this the love¹ of God was manifested in us (caused to be evidenced, brought to light, shown-forth within us and so we have it and are able to utilize it) –

because God apostled and continues apostled His son (this truth has not changed – God sent forth/away His son on a specific mission or assignment after God raised him up alive and placed him at His right-hand side),
- emphatically and specifically the only-begotten son (the son born or begotten who is the only/sole genus, kind, descent; refer to Romans 1:4, 5:15 and 17, I Corinthians 15:45, Colossians 1:18)
  - into the world (the ordered-arrangement that God created)
for the purpose and result that we may live (we would be alive)
- by means of him (through God’s only-begotten son; all holy-people have received the gift of holy spirit which is the spirit of Christ in us – he is our life while we live in the present world).

In/by this the love¹ is (it is a reality, it exists presently and is available relative to mankind) –

not because of the fact that emphatically we loved¹ and continue to love¹ God (in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the verb meaning “we loved^{1, 2}” giving emphasis – the Godly-love does not exist based on the fact that we ourselves would manifest it towards God; we are not the originators of it)

…but on the contrary…

because of the fact that emphatically He loved¹ us (in Greek there is a definite word for “He” plus the verb meaning “He loved¹” giving emphasis – God Himself loved us with His kind of love)
- and apostled His son (God sent forth/away His son Jesus Christ on a specific mission or assignment after God raised him up alive and placed him at His right-hand side)
- who is the propitiation (that-which is propitiating, regaining favor, blessing, making atonement; refer to Hebrews 9:5, 11-15 and 23-28, and I John 2:2)
- concerning our sins (for the sins that we committed; refer to Hebrews 9:11 and 12).

The Greek word translated "propitiation" comes from the Septuagint Greek translation in Exodus 25:17 as being the mercy-seat or cover of the ark on which the blood was sprinkled as the means of propitiation, which is the gaining or re-gaining of favor, blessing, atonement, etc (also refer to Leviticus 16:15). God purposed Christ Jesus to be both the sacrificial offering shedding his blood and the covering-place of propitiation, and thus God could provide the availability of propitiation to mankind (refer to Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 2:17).

The word translated as “only-begotten” is taken from the Greek word monogenes which literally means: an only genus born (the sole kind begotten, the only descendant born), as an only child of the parent(s), the single/unique offspring of its kind/genus, because the parent(s) have no other children. The only child is loved with deepest love, affection and tenderness by his/her parent(s), and that child would have the attributes, characteristics, etc, given to him/her by the parent(s). Regarding Jesus Christ – he is the monogenes son relative to God his Father because Jesus is the only kind/genus of being who truly is: the son of God. Jesus is the MONOGENES. This word emphasizes genus/kind. Refer to Luke 9:38; John 1:14 and 18, 3:16; Romans 1:3 and 4; Hebrews 11:17; and I John 4:9.

The word "love¹" or the verb "to love¹" comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor, or towards anyone else. God tells His children today (all who have the spirit of Christ within us) how to Godly-love by means of His previously-revealed written Word and also via our holy spirit-life whereby we receive information from Him regarding how to love in different specific situations. It is the carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will (refer to I Corinthians chapter 13 and I John 5:1-3). It is not the same as the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.

Also in this context, it is beneficial to note that loving one-another with God's kind of love is the completion of the law of Moses (refer to Romans 13:8-10 and Galatians 5:14). The law had to be carried-out within the realm of the flesh because mankind did not have holy spirit-life on a permanent basis prior to Acts 2:1-4. The law instructed people how to love correctly towards God and one-another (refer to Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus Christ completed the law of Moses (refer to Romans 8:3 and 4, and 10:4). All holy-people have the spirit of Christ in us and so we have God's love in Christ within us, and our holy spirit-life teaches us regarding God and the things of God, including how to Godly-love in different circumstances (refer to Romans chapter 8 and I Thessalonians 4:9).

[Reference: John 3:16-18, 4:24, 5:36 and 38, 6:29 and 57, 7:29, 8:42, 10:36, 11:42, 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23 and 25, 20:21; Acts 3:20 and 26, 10:36, 13:33, 28:28; Romans 3:24-26, 5:6 and 8, 6:10, 13:8-10, 15:30; I Corinthians 2:11-16, 8:3; Galatians 4:9, 5:22; Colossians 1:8 and 27, 3:1-4; I Thessalonians 5:10; II Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 2:17, 6:4, 7:25-27, 9:5, 11-15 and 23-28, 10:10; I Peter 1:3 and 12, 2:24, 3:18; I John 1:2 and 5, 2:2, 25 and 29, 3:9, 11, 18 and 23, 5:1, 4, 11 and 18.]

Verses 11-16:

^.11Loved-people¹, if God thus loved¹ us, also we owe-it to love¹ one-another. ^.12Not-one-person at-any-time gazed-upon² God; if-ever we may love¹ one-another God remains in us and His love¹ in us is having been made-complete².

^.13In this we know that we remain in Him and He in us – because He gave² to us out-from His Spirit; ^.14and we gazed-upon² and witness that the Father apostled² the son (who is) savior of the world; ^.15he-who if-ever may express-agreement that the son of God is Jesus, God remains in him and he in God; ^.16and we knew² and believed² the love¹ which God has in us. God is love¹, and the (person) remaining in the love¹ remains in God and God remains in him.

Loved-people (as verses 1 and 7 above)…

if God loved¹ us in this manner (detailed in verses 9 and 10 above),
also emphatically we owe-it (in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the verb meaning “we owe-it” giving emphasis – we ourselves are indebted, we are obligated, obliged)
- to love¹ one-another (to evidence love¹ towards other holy-people during the everyday living of our lives in the walk/behavior category).

Nobody at any time gazed-upon God (purposefully looked at Him) and continues to gaze-upon God (for/with the purpose of seeing Him evidence His Godly-love). None of mankind could ever watch God Himself for the purpose of seeing Him manifest His love as though He were in a public demonstration or a theatre where mankind could gaze upon Him carefully considering the details.

If it should ever happen that we would be loving¹ one-another…

God remains in us (stays, continues within our sphere of action)
and His love¹ within us presently and actively is in the state of
- having been made-complete (having already been caused to reach and arrive at its ending-issue, made perfect, it has arrived at its ultimate state of completeness) and it is continuing made-complete (refer to I John 2:5).

In/by this we know (we have a truly active and relative knowing, we are personally knowledgeable) that…

we remain in God (we stay, continue within His sphere of action)
and God in us (He stays, continues within our sphere of action) –

…because…

God gave and continues to give to us
- out-from His Spirit (originating from God Himself Who is Spirit; God is the source; all holy-people have received holy spirit-life from God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ; God gave this gift of holy spirit to us on a permanent basis, which is the spirit of Christ in us; it is the deposit, token, earnest of what we will receive at a future time; God continues to communicate His information to the spirit within us and then this spirit manifests God’s information to us – and this is how we personally know that we remain in God and He remains in us);
and emphatically we (in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the following verbs in the first person plural form giving emphasis – we ourselves)
- gazed-upon and continue to gaze-upon (we purposefully look at, gaze for/with a purpose, watch as in a public demonstration or in a theatre carefully considering the details)
- and witness (we attest with information, we give the declaration of knowledge that we personally have and therefore we state and confirm it on the strength of our own authority)
  - that the Father apostled and continues apostled (this truth has not changed – the Father sent forth/away on a specific mission or assignment; as verses 9 and 10 above; this verse emphasizes that God is the Father – the Father apostled and continues apostled)
  - the son (the Father’s son; the word ‘son’ emphasizes origin, quality, and essence)
  - who is savior of the world (the son is the one who saves the world; he is the one who carried-out God's will to make it available for people to be saved, to be made-safe from sins and their consequences, and thereby have a true and vital spiritual relationship with the only true God);
if it should happen at any time that someone would express-agreement (not only during the time that John was writing this letter but it is still a true fact today that if anyone would at any time during his life say the same words, speak agreement with, assent to the same spoken thing, which is…)
- that the son of God is Jesus (God’s son presently and actively is Jesus – he is alive today and he is now at God's right-hand side, second-in-command to God his Father [some Greek texts also include the word “Christ” – that the son of God is Jesus Christ]),
  - God remains in him
  - and he in God;
and emphatically we (again here in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the following verbs in the first person plural form giving emphasis – we ourselves)
- knew and continue to know (we have a truly active and relative knowing, we are personally knowledgeable of)
- and believed and continue to believe (we have faith, we trust)
  - the love¹ which God has in us (within the holy spirit-life that is in all holy-people; refer to Romans 5:5, Galatians 5:22, and II Timothy 1:7).

God is love¹ (God is the One Who issues His love and He sets the standard to be conformed to by others of what His kind of love is; as verse 8 above)…

and the person who is remaining (staying, continuing) within the sphere of action of the love¹
- remains in God (within God’s sphere of action)
- and God remains in him (within that person’s sphere of action).

[Reference: John 3:16-18, 4:24 and 42, 5:36, 20:21 and 31; Acts 1:8, 2:33 and 34, 4:33, 5:22 and 31, 9:20, 13:23 and 33, 14:3, 23:11, 26:22; Romans 1:3 and 4, 3:21, 5:5, 7:22, 8:9, 14-17, 35 and 39, 10:9 and 10, 13:8; I Corinthians 1:9, 12:3(b)-13; II Corinthians 1:19, 4:16; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 1:20-23, 3:16, 5:23; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:1; I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:8 and 9; II Timothy 1:7-10; Titus 1:4, 2:13, 3:5 and 6; Hebrews 1:1-3, 4:14, 8:1, 10:10-14, 12:2; I Peter 3:18-22; II Peter 1:1 and 11, 2:20, 3:2; I John 1:2, 3 and 7, 2:5, 22, 23 and 27, 3:8 and 9, 23 and 24, 5:5 and 10-13.]

Verses 17-21:

^.17In this the love¹ was made-complete² with us, in order that we may have boldness in the day of the judgment – because according as that-one is also we are in this world.

^.18There is not fear in the love¹ but the complete love¹ throws the fear outside because the fear has curtailment, but the (person) being fearful was not made-complete² in the love¹.

^.19We love¹ because He first loved¹ us.

^.20If-ever someone may say that, “I love¹ God” and he may hate his brother – he is a liar; for the (person) not loving¹ his brother whom he saw², is not able to love¹ God Whom he did not see²; ^.21and we have this commandment from Him in order that the (person) loving¹ God may also love¹ his brother.

In/by this the love¹ was made-complete (it has already been caused to reach and arrive at its ending-issue, it was made perfect, it arrived at its ultimate state of completeness) and continues made-complete with us (in company and association with holy-people, true Christians who have received the gift of holy spirit, which is the anointed-thing, the spirit of Christ in us)…

for the purpose and result that we would have boldness (freedom of speech, frankness and openness of speaking)
- in the day of the judgment (during judgment day, the time-period of the action of pronouncing sentence, the process of making a separating decision, the passing of judgment, the decision being made in judgment) –

…because…

according as that-one (just as, according to how, in comparison to the way that specifically that one, God’s son Jesus Christ)
- presently and actively is (exists during the present time)
also emphatically we (in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the verb meaning “we are” giving emphasis – we ourselves)
- presently and actively are (exist during the present time)
in this world (within the sphere of action of the current world which will continue to exist until it will be replaced by the new heaven and new earth recorded in Revelation 21:1).

God has placed His Godly-love within Christ Jesus and within all holy-people. All of us, including Christ Jesus, have received the complete Godly-love from God our Father. Therefore, all of us including God and Christ Jesus are able to love with God’s kind of love – and we do it in company and association with one-another. God has given the same love to all of us, including Christ Jesus, so that we would have boldness during judgment time. Today, as we wait for Christ’s coming to gather all holy-people together with him, we have the ability to love with God’s kind of love. We will stand before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive judgment regarding our behavior (refer to Romans 14:10; I Corinthians 3:12-15; II Corinthians 5:10; James 2:12). Those who reject Christ receive judgment which will be implemented at a future time prior to Revelation 21:1 (refer also to Matthew 12:36; John 3:16-19, 5:22-30; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; I Corinthians 4:5; I Timothy 5:24; II Timothy 4:1; I Peter 4:5; II Peter 2:9 and 3:7; Revelation 19:11, 20:12 and 13).

John continues:

There is not fear (terror, fright, being scared, terrified of someone or something, or being afraid of doing something wrong and then receiving consequences of the performance of any wrong behavior; fear does not exist) within the cause and sphere of action of the love¹…

but on the contrary, the complete love¹ (God’s kind of love which is perfect by the ultimate arrival of its state of completeness, having reached God's intended fulfilling ending-issue)
- casts the fear outside (external to Godly-love’s sphere of action)
  - because the fear has curtailment (it holds a pruning, docking, it causes a person’s actions to be limited or cut-back within certain bounds),
but the person who is being fearful (having fear)
- was not made-complete (he was not caused to reach and arrive at his ending-issue, he was not made perfect, he did not arrive at his ultimate state of completeness) and continues not made-complete
  - within the sphere of action of the love¹.

Emphatically we love¹ (in Greek there is a definite word for “we” plus the verb meaning “we love¹” giving emphasis – we ourselves presently and actively love with God’s kind of love)…

because emphatically He first loved¹ us (in Greek there is a definite word for “He” plus the verb meaning “He loved¹” giving emphasis – He Himself Godly-loved us first time-wise; His love to/for us was not a response to our love to/for Him; God is the One Who loved us first and now we have the ability to love with His love also; refer to verses 10 and 11 above).

If it should happen at any time that someone would say that, “I love¹ God” and he would hate his brother (he would have active ill-will towards another member of God’s family) – he is a liar (one who speaks and lives lies, falsehoods, a falsifier); in truth…

the person who is not loving¹ his brother
- whom he saw and continues to see (he perceived with his eyes and understands the object-of-sight, his brother, in his mind's thoughts),
is not able to love¹ God (this person cannot, does not have the able-power or ability, is not capable of loving God with His kind of love)
- Whom he did not see and continues not to see (he has not perceived God with his eyes and does not understand God in his mind's thoughts);

…and we have this commandment from Him (a summary of what God commands) for the purpose and result that…

the person who is loving¹ God
- would also love¹ his brother.

[Reference: Matthew 22:37-40; John 1:18; I Corinthians 12:31 and chapter 13; II Peter 2:9, 3:7; I John 2:4-11 and 28, 3:3, 5, 7, 15, 16, 18 and 23. 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.]

I John Chapter 5