Koine Foundations

Testing the Spirits of Truth and Falsehood

^4:1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to determine whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ^4:2 This is how you know God’s Spirit: Every spirit that acknowledges, “Jesus is the Christ who has come in the flesh,” is from God. ^4:3 And without exception, every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus in this way is not from God. Indeed, this is a spirit from the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world.

^4:4 But you are God’s offspring, little children, and have overcome ˹the false prophets˺ because greater is the one who is in you than the one who is in the world. ^4:5 They, on the other hand, are the world’s offspring. Because of this, they speak from the world’s mindset and the world listens to them. ^4:6 But we are God’s offspring. The one who knows God listens to us. Whoever is not God’s offspring does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.

Summary of Verses 4:1-6

In this unit, John warns that not every spirit that claims to speak for God can be trusted. He provides tests for believers to discern the spirits of truth and error because there are many false prophets and Antichrists who attempt to deceive and lead away others from true fellowship with God. There are two tests to determine the spirit of truth and the spirit of error:

• Test One: Is their confession about the incarnation of Jesus Christ consistent with the established truth?
• Test Two: Who listens to their message – the world or God’s offspring?

Click here for a full outline of First John.

Verses 4:4

In verses 4:1-3, John established the test for believers to discern the spirits of truth and error that emphasizes the reality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ – that the Son of God became a human being (“has come in the flesh“, see verse 4:2).

But you…

The readers are contrasted with those who have the spirit of the Antichrist.

are God’s offspring, little children,

As John closes this unit (4:1-6) and this section (2:29-4:6), he now ties this to several themes that started this section – a reminder that they are “God’s offspring“, and more about their relationship to the world (verses 4:4 and 4:5). As he wrote in 3:1:

^3:1 Look at the kind of love the Father has given to us, that we are called God’s children. And we really are! Because of this the world does not know us. And it is no wonder, because it did not know Him.

and have overcome ˹the false prophets˺…

They have overcome the false prophets by discerning that what they taught was false, and remaining faithful to the truth passing down from Jesus Christ through the Disciples like John. This is evidence that they are God’s offspring.

Greek Note: ˹the false prophets˺

The brackets in my translation around the words “˹the false prophets˺” indicates that I have substituted a noun for a pronoun in order to clarify the meaning of the pronoun. The phrase in Greek is νενικήκατε αὐτούς / nenikēkate autous which is literally “you have overcome them“. “Them” (αὐτούς / autous) is a personal pronoun that is plural in number and masculine in gender. Pronouns typically point back to and take the place of a noun (person, place, or thing) which is called the antecedent of the pronoun. Pronouns in Greek usually agree in number and gender with their antecedents. The closest possible antecedent in this passage is “false prophets” in verse 4:1 (ψευδοπροφῆται / pseudoprophētai) which is also plural and masculine. These false prophets were the focus of verses 4:1-3 and have the spirit of Antichrist (4:3).

because greater is the one who is in you than the one who is in the world.

As J.L. Houlden notes in his commentary: “The writer does not subscribe to a dualist system in which the universe is the battlefield of two essentially equally powerful spiritual forces. Rather, he knows that God… is stronger than the devil.” [HOULDEN p. 110]

Thus the readers’ victory in overcoming the false prophets is not due to any strength that naturally resided in them, but to the fact that the One who is in them is more powerful than any false opponent. John noted in verse 3:24 that “God abides in us” (i.e., true believers) and will emphasize that point again in verses 4:12, 13, and 15. God is greater than the spirit of the Antichrist that operates in the false prophets and disruptors.

The phrase “the one who is in you” refers to God since the pronoun is masculine gender in Greek, and God is a masculine word. If the phrase referred to the Holy Spirit, the pronoun would most likely be neuter gender (which it is not). And Jesus Christ is not in view in these verses so it is unlikely that the phrase refers to Him.

“the one who is in the world” is the one who has the spirit of error or the spirit of Antichrist, such as the false prophets and disruptors. Some understand this phrase to refer to the Devil who is the ruler of the world (see John John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

Verses 4:5

They, on the other hand,

The false prophets, which would include the disruptors, are now contrasted with the readers.

are the world’s offspring. Because of this, they speak from the world’s mindset and the world listens to them.

The term “world” probably refers to both:

• The people united in opposition to God, and
• Their system of though that is opposed to God.

The world gladly listens to the false prophets because what they teach about Christ and godly living is shaped by what the world already believes. They say what the world wants to hear. Thus what they teach is acceptable to the world and reinforces the world’s false beliefs as the truth. The false prophets also speak to a world that opposes the good news.

Glenn Barker explains this verse well in his commentary: “The false teachers are successful ‘in the world’ because their thinking, their theology, is accommodated in the world’s beliefs. So their teaching is philosophically congenial to the prevailing currents of the day. Naturally the world hears such teachers gladly.” [BARKER p. 341] He also notes that the false prophets’ success was probably used as an authenticating sign by them. [BARKER p. 340]

Verses 4:6

John brings the unit to a close by supplying a final test of the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error: the response of people to the message of truth.

So in this section John presented three tests:

• An evaluation of what people say or do, especially in regard to their love for others: Sacrificial love vs. moral laxity and hatred.
• A confession of a person’s belief in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and its redemptive significance: Jesus Christ has come in the flesh vs. Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh.
• A response to the message of truth: Listens vs. does not listen.

By means of these tests, a believer can distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error and determine whether someone is teaching by God’s Spirit or by the spirit of Antichrist.

But we are God’s offspring.

John and his readers belong to God. They pass the tests listed above.

The one who knows God listens to us. Whoever is not God’s offspring does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Therefore, it follows that anyone who knows God will listen to (i.e., accept and understand) their teaching of the truth passed down from Jesus Christ, and anyone who does not know God will not listen to their teaching. Those who do not know God will reject it.

“The one who knows God” is the one who has fellowship with God, or as John would also say, walks in the light and abides in God.

Go back to verses 4:1-3
Go forward to verses 4:7-8

Your Personal Study

Read First John 4:7-8 below and answer the questions.

^4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ^4:8 The one who does not love does not know God because God is love.

1. From what you learned so far in First John, how would you explain what it means to “love one another“?

2. Where does love originate?

3. What assurance is there for the believer who loves?

4. John mentions the person “who does not love” three different times in First John: 3:10; 3:14; 4:8. Read these verses and note what John says about such a person.

5. How would you explain to another person what it means that “God is love“?

---

First John Translation.

First John Translation with Outline and Notes.

Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.

Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.

How you can have eternal life.

© Copyright 2022-2024 by Matthew Jones
koinefoundations@gmail.com