1 John 4

4 ¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from our Father, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of our Father: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from our Father, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from our Father. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming, and now is already in the world. ⁴ You are from our Father, little children, and you have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from our Father. Whoever knows him listens to us; whoever is not from him does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Our Father Is Love

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from our Father, and everyone who loves has been born of him and knows him. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know our Father, because our Father is love. ^a a v8 "God is love" becomes "our Father is love" — love is not an attribute he wears but his very identity as Father. ⁹ By this the love of our Father was manifested among us, that our Father has sent his one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is what love is: not that we loved our Father, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ^b b v10 An atoning sacrifice is an offering that pays the full price for sin, restoring the relationship our sin had broken. ¹¹ Beloved, if our Father so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen our Father; if we love one another, our Father abides in us and his love is made complete in us. ¹³ By this we know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that our Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of our Father, our Father abides in him, and he in our Father. ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that our Father has for us. Our Father is love, and whoever abides in love abides in him, and he in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete in us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been made complete in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, "I love our Father," and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love our Father whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves our Father must also love his brother.