William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 4:2-3
4:2-3 This is how you recognize the spirit whose source is God. Every spirit which openly acknowledges that Jesus has come in the flesh and is Christ has its origin in God. And every spirit which is such that it does not make this confession about Jesus has not its source in God; and this is the spirit of Antichrist, about which you heard that it was to come and which is now here present in the world. For John Christian belief could be summed up in one great sentence: "The Word became... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 4:1-3
The apostle, having said that God's dwelling in and with us may be known by the Spirit that he hath given us, intimates that that Spirit may be discerned and distinguished from other spirits that appear in the world; and so here, I. He calls the disciples, to whom he writes, to caution and scrutiny about the spirits and spiritual professors that had now risen. 1. To caution: ?Beloved, believe not every spirit; regard not, trust not, follow not, every pretender to the Spirit of God, or every... read more