1 John 4:4-6

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:1-6

Confession of the Incarnation is the assurance that the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of truth, is working in us, and not the spirit of error. The passage seems clearly to teach that there are two rival influences contending for power over the spirits of men. We must test men's spirits to see whether they are organs of the Spirit of truth or of the spirit of error. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:1-6

The power of trying the spirits. In the preceding homily we laid stress on the duty here indicated of "trying the spirits," and also on the test with which we are furnished for applying to them through all time. We moreover there referred almost exclusively to them as ψευδοπροφῆται rather than as πνεύματα . But a close study of all the clauses in these six verses will disclose to us teachings of great vividness and power concerning the false prophets themselves—the point from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:1-6

The spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I. NEED FOR TESTING . "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Again, at the thought of danger, his heart warms toward his readers as his beloved. It is necessary to bear in mind the circumstances in which they were placed. They had the help of true prophets. The apostolic age had not come to an end. John was still living; and there... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:4

Ye are of God. The ὑμεῖς is in emphatic opposition to the false teachers. They are on one side, and the apostle's readers on the other, and it is from this standpoint that they are to "prove the spirits." St. John knows nothing of any neutral position from which the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error can be criticized "with absolute impartiality." "He that is not with me is against me." This assumed neutral position is already within the domain of error. Ye have overcome them. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:4

The victory of the Christian over antichristian teachers. "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them," etc. Very suggestive are the words with which our text begins, "Ye are of God." As having communion with him; as heartily holding and confessing the truth which unites with him ( 1 John 4:2 ); as having been born of him, and being his offspring morally and spiritually, they were of God. The text suggests the following observations. I. THAT CHRISTIANS ARE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:5

The source of their character and their teaching is the world; from it they derive their inspiration; and of course the world listens to them. Once again (see on 1 John 3:23 ) we have an echo of Christ's last discourses: "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own" ( John 15:19 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:6

The opposite ease stated again, but not in the same form as in 1 John 4:4 . The "we" here is not the same as the "ye" there, with the mere addition of the writer. "We" here seems to mean the apostles. If it is considered "broad enough to include all who have truly received Christ by faith," it leaves no one to be the hearers. "He that knoweth God heareth us" will mean that we hear ourselves, if "us" means all believers. But St. John's meaning seems rather to be that he who acquires... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:4

Ye are of God - You are of his family; you have embraced his truth, and imbibed his Spirit.Little children - Notes, 1 John 2:1.And have overcome them - Have triumphed over their arts and temptations; their endeavors to draw you into error and sin. The word them in this place seems to refer to the false prophets or teachers who collectively constituted antichrist. The meaning is, that they had frustrated or thwarted all their attempts to turn them away from the truth.Because greater is he that... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:5

They are of the world - This was one of the marks by which those who had the spirit of antichrist might be known. They belonged not to the church of God, but to the world. They had its spirit; they acted on its principles; they lived for it. Compare the notes at 1 John 2:15.Therefore speak they of the world - Compare the notes at John 3:31. This may mean either that their conversation pertained to the things of this world, or that they were wholly influenced by the love of the world, and not by... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:6

We are of God - John here, doubtless, refers to himself, and to those who taught the same doctrines which he did. He takes it for granted that those to whom he wrote would admit this, and argues from it as an indisputable truth. He had given them such evidence of this, as to establish his character and claims beyond a doubt; and he often refers to the fact that he was what he claimed to be, as a point which was so well established that no one would call it in question. See John 19:35; John... read more

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