1 John 4
This chapter starts out with an admonition to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God.” Not every teaching or spirit is true. There is a very important test which can be used to know if a spirit is from God, or not. “By this you know the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (4:2). The test does NOT say:
- that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and yet is fully God
- that God has come in the flesh as Jesus Christ, taking on a human nature
- that Jesus Christ came from some pre-existent state into the flesh.
We must be very careful to read the text for what it says and not read into it what it doesn’t say! The phrase “come in the flesh” means that Jesus the Christ (Messiah) is a real human being, not just dressed up like one.
1 John 4 is actually the “love chapter” in the Bible as love is mentioned 26 times, almost three times as many times as in 1 Corinthians 13 (9 times). A friend once read this chapter as a devotional thought on Valentine’s Day, and it stuck with me as the “love chapter.” So much so that when I read it last February 14th, I thought that maybe the children’s song could also go “Yes, God loves me, yes, God loves me… the Bible tells me so.” Ultimately, it’s God’s love that ignites our love for others through His Son, Jesus the Messiah. A key verse that summarizes this chapter of love showing how love is of God is verse 9. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to bethe propitiation for our sins.”
God took the initiative, motivated by love, to remedy our sin problem.
Knowing that “God is love” (4:8,16) should motivate us to love others. But the author is not calling for a hippie kind of “All you need is love, love”. He is admonishing us to a love of other “brothers” who believe that Jesus, the human Jesus, is the Messiah/Christ (5:1). This admonition to love is a call for unity among like-minded believers, because they are family as the children of God. The way we love other like-minded believers whom we can see demonstrates how much we love God, whom we can’t see. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also (4:21).
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (4:7)
Bill & Stephanie Schlegel
(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on Sept 17, 2019 – good enough to share again! Thank you Bill and Stephanie.)
Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan chapters at BibleGateway.com here – Hosea 5-6 and 1 John 4
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