4:1 try the spirits. Every pastor, teacher, evangelist or other Christian who professes to speak authoritatively and seeks to influence others in spiritual matters should be examined by the elders or other mature Christians before allowing him to speak in the church or other Christian group. True men of God will be led by the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the Scriptures which He inspired. False teachers are influenced by demonic spirits (note I Timothy 4:1), and their teachings—even with respect to the Scriptures—should be rejected.

4:1 false prophets. Even in John’s time, there were many false prophets, false apostles and false teachers plaguing the church (note, e.g., Matthew 24:11; II Corinthians 11:13; II Peter 2:1), and they will get even worse in the last days (e.g., Mark 13:22; II Timothy 3:13; 4:3-4). It is more urgent than even in John’s day to be able to discern the true and false teachers (that is, the Holy Spirit versus the seducing spirits and to recognize which is illuminating the professed teacher).

4:2 come in the flesh. The supreme test of the spirits, and the teachers whom they influence, is their teaching concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. If, in any way, they try to separate Jesus from “the Christ,” denying either the full deity or perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are not from God. Some attempt to make Jesus a mere man upon whom “the Christ-spirit” came. Some argue that everyone can be “a Christ” in the same sense Jesus was. Many deny His miraculous conception, bodily resurrection, or both. “Jesus” means “Jehovah our Savior” and “Christ” means “The Anointed One,” meaning God’s anointed prophet, priest and king. Unless Jesus Christ was perfect man, He could not die for our sins. Unless He was God, He could not defeat death and thus could never save us. Any doctrine less than that of Jesus Christ as the God/Man, God and Man perfectly, united in the hypostatic union, is deadly heresy. Further, since He is the Creator and His Spirit inspired the Holy Scriptures, any dilution of the doctrines of special creation and Biblical inerrancy comes dangerously close to heresy and has often led their proponents into outright apostasy. It is thus extremely important to “try the spirits whether they are of God” (I John 4:1).

4:3 spirit of antichrist. See notes on I John 2:18.

4:4 he that is in you. The devil may be “the god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4) and have a multitude of demonic spirits under his control (Ephesians 6:11-12), but the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer is the omnipotent God. As long as we neither “grieve…the Spirit” nor “quench…the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30; I Thessalonians 5:19), we can take great comfort in knowing that through the Spirit and His Word we can “overcome the wicked one” (I John 2:14).

4:6 spirit of error. The “spirit of truth” is the Holy Spirit, (John 15:26), and His leading will always be consistent with God’s Word, which is truth (Psalm 33:4; John 17:17). The “spirit of error” (literally, “fraudulent error” or “deception”) is Satan or his angels, whose leading is “of the world” (II Peter 4:5). See note on II Peter 4:4.

4:8 God is love. Some cults and even some evangelicals misuse this verse, making God essentially synonymous with “love,” denying in effect His other attributes. God is, indeed, a loving God, as attested in a multitude of Scriptures, but also “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Furthermore, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).

4:9 only begotten Son. See notes on John 1:14 and 1:18.

4:10 propitiation. See I John 2:2. These are the only occurrences (in addition to Romans 3:25) of this particular word. It is used in the sense of a substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy both God’s justice and love.

4:12 No man hath seen God. But “the only begotten Son…hath declared Him” (John 1:18). “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 14:9). Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). In a lesser way, though quite real, just as we see God in Christ, so men can see God’s attribute of love in us if we have allowed the Holy Spirit to bring His fruit (Galatians 5:22) to perfection in our lives.

4:13 Hereby know. This is the last of eight “tests” in I John beginning with the phrase, “Hereby know,” each one providing a means of testing the reality of our saving faith. See I John 2:3,5; 3:16,19,24; 4:2,6,13.

4:14 the Saviour. The Son is not just a savior. He is the Savior! “He that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (I John 5:12).

4:18 no fear in love. “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7). The denial of God and rejection of Christ because of the fear of men will indeed lead to torment, because “the fearful…shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).