1 Beloved,tJer. 29:8 do not believe every spirit, butu1 Thess. 5:21; [1 Cor. 12:10; 14:29; Rev. 2:2] test the spirits to see whether they are from God, forvSee ch. 2:18 manyw2 Pet. 2:1 false prophetsx2 John 7 have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God:y[1 Cor. 12:3] every spirit that confesses thatz2 John 7 Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spiritach. 2:22; 2 John 7 that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming andbch. 2:18; [2 Thess. 2:3-7] now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, forcSee Rom. 8:31 he who is in you is greater thand[1 Cor. 2:12]; See John 12:31 he who is in the world. 5 eJohn 3:31; 8:23 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, andfJohn 15:19 the world listens to them. 6 We are from God.g[John 8:47; 10:16; 18:37; 1 Cor. 14:37] Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we knowhJohn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 the Spirit of truth andi[1 Cor. 2:12; 1 Tim. 4:1] the spirit of error.
7 Beloved,jch. 3:11 let us love one another, for love is from God, andkch. 2:29 whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 lch. 3:10 Anyone who does not love does not know God, becausemver. 16; 2 Cor. 13:11; [ch. 1:5; John 4:24] God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, thatnSee John 3:16 God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love,oRom. 5:8, 10 not that we have loved Godn[See ver. 9 above] but that he loved us and sent his Son to bepSee ch. 2:2 the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 qver. 20; John 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:16 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us andrch. 2:5 his love is perfected in us.
13 sch. 3:24 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 Andtch. 1:1, 2 we have seen and testify thatuSee John 3:17 the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior ofvSee ch. 2:2 the world. 15 wch. 5:5; [Rom. 10:9]; See Matt. 14:33 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 SoxJohn 6:69 we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.ySee ver. 8 God is love, andzver. 12; ch. 3:24 whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By thisa[ch. 2:5] is love perfected with us, so thatbch. 2:28; 3:21 we may have confidence for the day of judgment, becausec[ch. 3:1] as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, butd[John 3:18; Rom. 8:15] perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has nota[See ver. 17 above] been perfected in love. 19 ever. 10 We love because he first loved us. 20 fch. 2:4; 3:17 If anyone says, “I love God, ” andgch. 2:9, 11 hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love Godhver. 12; [1 Pet. 1:8] whom he has not seen. 21 AndiGal. 6:2 this commandment we have from him:jver. 7; ch. 3:11 whoever loves God must also love his brother.