1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
Terrie's Comments:
Sometimes I feel like there is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic of the antichrist... "how are we going to know that it is him!?" Verses 2-3 are very clear on how to tell... Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and was a human like us. If anyone is teaching or claiming something different then they are speaking on behalf of the antichrist.
REAL LOVE - isn't that what we all are looking for? Real love is this... It has nothing to do with us. Before we loved God or even acknowledged Him, He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Not because we asked for it but because He loved us! It doesn't depend on what we do or what we don't do. It is not based on our merits, achievements or if we deserve it. It is a gift. Because He LOVED US. Since He loves us that much we get to out pour that love that overflows freely to our brothers and sisters around us and around the world. His love is expressed through us further when we love each other in the body of Christ!
Tori's Comments:
I'm definitely receiving a lot of repetition about how we know someone's a child of God by whether they love. And what is love but self-sacrifice? It shows God. Just loving (in the action sense) a brother or sister in the faith is a constant reminder of God's love and sacrifice, and our consequential victory and ability to have a relationship with God. Ahhh!
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
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Please keep all comments respectful. We want to remember that each of us is at a different place in our walk with God. This is a place for us to share openly about what has been revealed to us as we open up Gods word and to learn from others. Please take every opportunity possible to build each other up in love :-)