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1 Juan 4

7 salin · basahin sa 12 tradisyon.

NCB · Bagong Bibliya ng Konsenso

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2In this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God; and this is that spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is the one in you than the one in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God; the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was revealed among us, that God has sent his Son, the one and only, into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us. 13In this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16And we have come to know and have believed the love that God has among us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17In this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as he is, we also are in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment; and the one who fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should also love his brother.

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Kung saan nagkakasundo ang mga tradisyon

Christian traditions affirm that the text establishes dual criteria for discerning the Spirit of God: correct Christological confession of the incarnation and ethical obedience in mutual love. It is broadly agreed that claiming to love the invisible God while harboring hatred or indifference toward a visible brother is an ontological impossibility that completely invalidates one's profession of faith. Some traditions draw further implications from the chapter, arguing that the confession of… Mag-sign in para mabasa ang ang buong pinagkaisahan →

Pinaniniwalaan ng karamihan, pero hindi ng lahat

  • Claiming to love the invisible God while harboring hatred or indifference toward a visible brother is an ontological impossibility that completely invalidates one's profession of faith. (6 affirm)

Kung saan nagkakaiba ang mga tradisyon

  • The command to test the spirits requires evaluating all spiritual claims and teachings against the objective standard of the written Scriptures and apostolic tradition.

    lutheran: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: QUALIFY; methodist: QUALIFY; restorationist: QUALIFY

  • The command to test the spirits empowers the local congregation to discern teaching collectively, independent of external religious hierarchies or magistrates.

    catholic: DENY; baptist: AFFIRM; anabaptist: AFFIRM

  • The command to test the spirits provides a practical mandate for regulating charismatic phenomena, spiritual warfare, and private revelations.

    catholic: QUALIFY; orthodox: AFFIRM; lutheran: QUALIFY; methodist: QUALIFY; pentecostal: AFFIRM

  • The phrase 'come in the flesh' supports a celestial flesh Christology, asserting that Christ brought His flesh from heaven rather than inheriting it from Mary.

    anabaptist: QUALIFY

  • The phrase 'come in the flesh' demonstrates that Christ took on fallen human nature in order to fully identify with and overcome human sin.

    adventist: QUALIFY

  • The assertion that 'God is love' is the foundational principle of all theology, preceding any doctrines of human sin or depravity.

    anglican: QUALIFY

  • The perfect love that casts out fear describes a spiritual maturation from the servile fear of punishment to the chaste, filial reverence of an adopted child of God.

    catholic: AFFIRM; orthodox: AFFIRM; oriental-orthodox: AFFIRM; lutheran: DENY; reformed: AFFIRM; methodist: QUALIFY

  • The perfect love that casts out fear refers not to the believer's own inherent charity, but to faith grasping God's perfect love in Christ to quiet a terrified conscience.

    catholic: DENY; lutheran: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM; baptist: DENY; methodist: DENY; restorationist: DENY

  • The perfect love that casts out fear describes the attainable earthly state of entire sanctification, in which the believer's heart is purified from the root of sin.

    lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY; methodist: AFFIRM

  • The declaration 'We love him, because he first loved us' proves monergistic salvation, where God's electing grace is the sole efficient cause of human faith.

    lutheran: AFFIRM; reformed: AFFIRM; methodist: QUALIFY

  • The declaration 'We love him, because he first loved us' establishes the necessity of prevenient grace to awaken the human capacity to respond to God.

    lutheran: DENY; reformed: DENY; methodist: AFFIRM

  • Visible, practical love for fellow believers is the non-negotiable evidence of regeneration, requiring a regenerate church membership.

    lutheran: QUALIFY; baptist: AFFIRM; methodist: QUALIFY

Kung paano ito binabasa ng bawat tradisyon

Ang bawat pagbasa ay ginawa nang hiwalay — walang tradisyon na nakakakita sa sagot ng iba.

Catholic

The chapter intertwines rigorous doctrinal discernment with a profound exhortation to mutual love, addressing a community fractured by secessionist teachers. The immediate crisis is pneumatological and Christological: believers must 'test the spirits' (v. 1) because false prophets are denying that Jesus Christ has 'come in the flesh' (v. 2). The author establishes two inseparable tests of orthodox Christian life: holding fast to the physical, incarnate reality of the Son sent by the Father to be the Savior and propitiation for sins (vv. 2-3, 9-10, 14), and practicing active love for one's fellow believers (vv. 7, 11). The text radically identifies the nature of God with this self-giving love ('God is love', vv. 8, 16), insisting that an invisible God is made manifest and dwells within the community through visible, neighborly charity (vv. 12, 20-21). Reception: The Catholic tradition reads this chapter as a foundational text for its Christology, pneumatology, and moral theology of charity. Historically, the Latin reception was heavily influenced by the Vulgate variant of verse 3, 'every spirit that dissolveth Jesus' (qui solvit Jesum, reflected in the Douay-Rheims). Pope Leo the Great famously utilized this variant to combat Nestorianism, arguing that to divide the human and divine natures of Christ is to 'dissolve' Him. Meanwhile, the insistence that Christ came 'in the flesh' (v. 2) undergirds the Eastern and Latin sacramental economy, where matter becomes the vehicle of grace, defended by Eastern Fathers like John of Damascus against iconoclasm and docetism. Augustine's extensive commentary on this chapter forms the bedrock of Western theology on grace and charity. He examines verse 18 ('perfect love casteth out fear') to distinguish between 'servile fear' (fear of punishment, which is cast out) and 'chaste fear' (filial reverence, which endures forever). Thomas Aquinas systematized the chapter's teaching on love, using verses 16 and 21 to define the theological virtue of charity as a real participation in the divine life—friendship with God—and proving that the habit of charity toward God is formally the same habit that loves the neighbor. In recent magisterial teaching, Pope Benedict XVI anchored his first encyclical entirely in verse 16 ('God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God'), declaring it the summary of the Christian image of God and human destiny.

Eastern Orthodox

In its immediate epistolary context, 1 John 4 provides the Johannine community with criteria for distinguishing true manifestations of the Spirit from false prophecy. The apostle establishes two inseparable tests of truth. The first is Christological: acknowledging that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (verses 2-3), thereby condemning early docetic or proto-gnostic movements that denied the material reality of the Incarnation. The second test is ethical and relational: mutual love among believers (verses 7-8). John asserts that love is not merely a moral command but an ontological participation in the very nature of God, who is love. Consequently, a claim to love the invisible God is exposed as a lie if it is not validated by tangible love for one's visible brother (verses 20-21). Reception: Eastern Orthodox tradition receives this chapter as a foundational text for Christology, apophatic theology, and the ascetical ascent toward theosis. The insistence that 'Jesus Christ is come in the flesh' (verse 2) is read as the bedrock of Chalcedonian orthodoxy and, crucially, the defense of holy icons. John of Damascus argues that because the invisible God truly became flesh, He circumscribed Himself in matter, making the depiction of Christ not only permissible but essential to confessing the Incarnation. The chapter also establishes the framework for the Orthodox distinction between God's essence and His energies. Verse 12 declares, 'No man has seen God at any time,' affirming the apophatic mystery of God's utterly transcendent and unknowable essence. Yet, in the same breath, the apostle writes that 'God dwells in us' through love (verses 12, 16). Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast tradition harmonize these statements by identifying this indwelling love as God's uncreated energy—grace by which humanity partakes of the divine nature without violating the inaccessibility of the divine essence. Furthermore, the assertion that 'perfect love casts out fear' (verse 18) profoundly shaped Orthodox ascetical theology. Writers like Dorotheos of Gaza and Clement of Alexandria describe the spiritual life as a progression from the 'initial fear' of a servant avoiding punishment, to the hope of a hireling seeking reward, and ultimately to the 'perfect love' of a son or daughter of God, where fear is replaced by unbroken communion.

Oriental Orthodox

The chapter instructs the Johannine community to discern true spirits from false ones based on a specific christological test: whether they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:1-3). John intricately binds this doctrinal confession to the ethical practice of mutual love, rooting both in the absolute reality that God is love (4:7-8). This divine love was historically manifested when God sent His only Son as an atoning sacrifice to give life to the world (4:9-14). Because God first loved humanity, believers are commanded to love one another; abiding in this perfect love casts out fear, granting boldness for the day of judgment, and proves the authenticity of one's unseen love for God through the visible love of a brother (4:15-21). Reception: In the Oriental Orthodox communion, this chapter is a paramount christological text. The mandate to confess 'that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh' (4:2-3) is foundational for the miaphysite Christology defended by the Alexandrian and Syriac fathers. Cyril of Alexandria reads this verse as demanding the confession of the single, unified subject of the Incarnate Word. To confess Him 'in the flesh' is to affirm the 'one incarnate nature of God the Word,' rejecting any framework that divides Christ into two separate natures after the union. Severus of Antioch relies on this same Johannine test to argue that acknowledging the Incarnation requires recognizing the Word and the flesh as indivisibly united; those who divide Him fail the test of the Spirit. Furthermore, Athanasius of Alexandria uses 4:13 ('he hath given us of his Spirit') to defend the divinity of the Holy Spirit; because the reception of the Spirit truly unites human beings to God, making them partakers of the divine nature, the Spirit Himself must be fully divine.

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Bawat salin

Ang parehong kabanata sa 7 public-domain na salin.

WEB · World English Bible

1Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 7Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. 9By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. 13By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. 20If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

KJV · King James Version

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. 20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

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Mga pagkakaiba na nagpapabago sa kahulugan (49)
  • v1 [lexical]: test / try / prove — “try” (KJV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “prove” (ASV, YLT, DARBY) vs “test” (WEB)
  • v1 [grammatical]: whether they are / if they are / if they be — “whether they are” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “if” (YLT, DARBY) vs “if be” (DRC)
  • v1 [grammatical]: are gone out / have gone out — “are” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, DRC) vs “have” (WEB, YLT, WEBSTER)
  • v2 [grammatical]: hereby you know / by this you know / by this is known — “Hereby know ye” (KJV, ASV) vs “By this you” (WEB) vs “in this” (YLT) vs “know” (DARBY) vs “By this know” (WEBSTER) vs “By this is” (DRC)
  • v2 [grammatical]: who / that / which confesses — “that confesseth that” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “who confesses” (WEB) vs “doth confess” (YLT) vs “which confesses” (DARBY) vs “which” (DRC)
  • v2 [lexical]: is of / is from — “is of” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, DRC) vs “having come” (YLT) vs “from” (WEBSTER)
  • v3 [grammatical]: of whom / whereof / of which — “of whom you” (WEB, DRC) vs “whereof ye have” (KJV, ASV) vs “of which” (DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “which” (YLT)
  • v4 [textual]: overcome them / overcome him — “them” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “him” (DRC)
  • v4 [grammatical]: that / who — “that” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who” (WEB, YLT)
  • v6 [grammatical]: who knows / that knoweth — “that knoweth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who knows” (WEB) vs “who is knowing” (YLT) vs “knows” (DARBY)
  • v6 [lexical]: hears / listens to — “heareth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “listens to” (WEB) vs “doth hear” (YLT) vs “hears” (DARBY)
  • v6 [grammatical]: who / that — “who” (WEB, ASV, YLT, DARBY) vs “that” (KJV, WEBSTER, DRC)
  • v6 [lexical]: by this / from this / hereby — “By this” (WEB, WEBSTER) vs “not By this” (ASV, DRC) vs “from this” (YLT, DARBY) vs “Hereby know” (KJV)
  • v7 [grammatical]: let us / may we — “let us” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “let’s” (WEB) vs “may we” (YLT)
  • v7 [lexical]: for love / because love / for charity — “for love” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “because the” (YLT) vs “because” (DARBY) vs “charity” (DRC)
  • v7 [lexical]: of / from — “of” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, DRC) vs “from” (WEBSTER)
  • v8 [lexical]: (vv 8, 10, 16, 18) love / charity — “love” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “charity” (DRC)
  • v9 [lexical]: only begotten / only born — “begotten Son into” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “born” (WEB) vs “hath God sent to” (YLT)
  • v9 [grammatical]: might / may — “might” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “may” (YLT, DRC)
  • v9 [lexical]: through / by — “through” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “by” (DRC)
  • v10 [grammatical]: in this / herein — “In this” (WEB, YLT, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “Herein” (KJV, ASV, DARBY)
  • v10 [grammatical]: that / as though — “that” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “as though” (DRC)
  • v10 [lexical]: that / because — “that” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “because” (DRC)
  • v10 [textual]: loved / hath first loved — “loved” (WEB, KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “did love” (YLT) vs “hath first” (DRC)
  • v10 [lexical]: propitiation / atoning sacrifice — “to be the propitiation” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “a” (YLT, DARBY, DRC) vs “as atoning sacrifice” (WEB)
  • v11 [lexical]: beloved / my dearest — “Beloved” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “My dearest” (DRC)
  • v11 [stylistic]: word order of also ought — “ought” (WEB, ASV, YLT, DARBY, DRC) vs “to love” (KJV, WEBSTER)
  • v12 [grammatical]: is perfected / has been perfected / charity — “love is” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “has been” (WEB) vs “having been” (YLT) vs “charity” (DRC)
  • v13 [grammatical]: (vv 13, 17) because / that — “because” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “of His Spirit” (YLT) vs “that” (DARBY)
  • v14 [lexical]: seen / beheld — “seen” (WEB, KJV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “beheld” (ASV)
  • v14 [textual]: the Son / his Son — “the” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “his” (DRC)
  • v15 [grammatical]: whosoever shall confess / whoever confesses — “Whosoever shall confess” (KJV, ASV, DARBY, DRC) vs “Whoever confesses” (WEB) vs “whoever may” (YLT) vs “Whoever” (WEBSTER)
  • v16 [grammatical]: have known / know — “have known” (KJV, DARBY, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “know” (WEB, ASV) vs “we” (YLT)
  • v16 [lexical]: love that / charity which — “which” (WEB, ASV, DARBY) vs “love that” (KJV, YLT, WEBSTER) vs “charity which” (DRC)
  • v16 [grammatical]: has to / has in / has for — “hath to” (KJV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “in” (ASV, YLT) vs “has for” (WEB) vs “has” (DARBY)
  • v16 [lexical]: dwells / abides / remains — “that dwelleth” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “abideth” (ASV, DRC) vs “who remains” (WEB) vs “who is remaining” (YLT) vs “abides” (DARBY)
  • v16 [lexical]: dwells in love / abides in charity / remains in love — “love dwelleth” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “remains” (WEB) vs “abideth” (ASV) vs “the” (YLT) vs “abides” (DARBY) vs “charity abideth” (DRC)
  • v18 [lexical]: love casts / charity casts — “love casteth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “casts” (WEB, DARBY) vs “doth cast” (YLT) vs “charity” (DRC)
  • v18 [grammatical]: because / for — “because” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “the” (YLT) vs “for” (DARBY)
  • v18 [lexical]: has torment / has punishment / has pain — “hath torment” (KJV, WEBSTER) vs “punishment and” (ASV, YLT) vs “has punishment” (WEB) vs “has and” (DARBY) vs “pain And” (DRC)
  • v18 [grammatical]: that/who fears / is fearing — “that feareth is” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who fears” (WEB) vs “who fearing hath” (YLT) vs “fears has” (DARBY)
  • v18 [lexical]: made perfect / perfected — “made perfect” (WEB, KJV, ASV, WEBSTER) vs “been” (YLT, DARBY) vs “perfected” (DRC)
  • v19 [textual]: we love / let us therefore love — “We” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “Let us therefore” (DRC)
  • v19 [textual]: he / God — “he” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER) vs “has” (DARBY) vs “God” (DRC)
  • v20 [grammatical]: a man say / anyone says — “a man say” (KJV, ASV) vs “says” (WEB) vs “any one may” (YLT) vs “any one” (DARBY) vs “sayeth” (WEBSTER) vs “any” (DRC)
  • v20 [grammatical]: that/who loveth not / doesn't love — “that loveth not” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “who doesn’t love” (WEB) vs “who is loving” (YLT) vs “loves” (DARBY)
  • v20 [grammatical]: has seen / sees — “hath” (KJV, ASV, YLT, WEBSTER) vs “has” (WEB, DARBY) vs “seeth” (DRC)
  • v21 [textual]: from him / from God — “him” (WEB, KJV, ASV, YLT, DARBY, WEBSTER) vs “God” (DRC)
  • v21 [grammatical]: who / that loves — “who loveth” (KJV, ASV, WEBSTER, DRC) vs “loves” (WEB) vs “is loving” (YLT) vs “that loves” (DARBY)

Sa likod ng pahinang ito

Pinagmulang teksto. Greek (TAGNT, public-domain critical text). The provided Greek text, which largely aligns with the standard critical text (NA28/UBS5) but includes select Majority Text/Byzantine readings (e.g., in verses 3 and 19).

Mga banal na pangalan: Theos (God).

Kinonsulta rin, pero hindi ibinilang sa pinagkaisahan

Academic textual-historical analysis

Academic analysis of 1 John 4 situates the chapter within the late first-century crisis of the Johannine community, which had recently suffered a schism. The author instructs the remaining members to 'test the spirits' (v. 1), indicating an environment where charismatic prophetic utterances were common but increasingly divisive. The primary criterion for valid prophecy is Christological: acknowledging that Jesus Christ 'has come in the flesh' (v. 2, Greek: en sarki elēlythota). Scholars widely interpret this as a polemic against secessionists holding docetic or Cerinthian views—those who separated the divine Christ from the human Jesus or denied the reality of the incarnation. The text frames this conflict in stark dualistic terms typical of Johannine literature: God versus the world, truth versus error (vv. 4-6). In the second half of the chapter (vv. 7-21), this theological dualism is paired with an ethical test. The famous declaration that 'God is love' (vv. 8, 16) serves not as abstract philosophy, but as the theological warrant for internal community solidarity. Loving one's 'brother' (v. 20) is presented as the visible proof of the invisible God's indwelling presence, operating as a strict boundary-marker distinguishing the true community from the schismatics.

Jewish interpretation

Modern Jewish historians read 1 John 4 as a late first-century or early second-century Christian text produced by a community navigating an internal schism over the physical incarnation of Jesus (vv. 1-3). From a Jewish historical perspective, the chapter is notable for its profound conceptual parallels to Second Temple sectarian Judaism. Scholars observe that the injunction to 'test the spirits' (v. 1) and the strict dualism between the 'spirit of truth' and the 'spirit of error' (v. 6) closely mirror the theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls community, particularly the Treatise on the Two Spirits found in the Rule of the Community. Furthermore, the warning against 'false prophets' (v. 1) is viewed as an application of the biblical tests for prophecy found in Deuteronomy 13.

Latter-day Saint

In its immediate context, the epistle addresses a community facing schism and charismatic confusion. The author commands believers to evaluate or 'test the spirits' to distinguish true prophetic inspiration from false teachings, establishing the physical incarnation of Jesus Christ as the primary doctrinal litmus test. The chapter then transitions into a profound meditation on the nature of God as love, arguing that since God's love initiated salvation, anyone claiming to know God must organically exhibit love for their fellow believers, which consequently banishes fear.

Jehovah's Witnesses

In this epistle, the author urges readers to test the 'spirits' (prophetic utterances or teachings) to determine if they originate with God, warning of false prophets and the spirit of the antichrist. The test of a spirit from God is the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. The chapter then transitions into a profound meditation on the divine nature and Christian ethics, stating plainly that 'God is love.' God manifested this love by sending his only-begotten Son into the world as a propitiatory sacrifice for sins. Consequently, believers are commanded to love one another; loving the invisible God requires demonstrating tangible love for one's visible brother.

Mga piniling salin na ginawa ng NCB (50)
  • v1: "test" — Accurately conveys evaluative scrutiny rather than mere trial or proof, leaving the practical scope of testing the spirits unresolved.
  • v1: "whether they are" — Fits the indirect question structure of testing alternatives.
  • v1: "have gone out" — Uses contemporary perfect active phrasing for clarity.
  • v1: "Beloved... every spirit... the spirits" — Preserves the deliberate plural-to-singular-to-plural progression of the address.
  • v2: "In this" — Establishes a consistent contemporary translation for the recurrent Johannine structural refrain.
  • v2: "that confesses" — Treats 'spirit' grammatically while personifying its action.
  • v2: "has come in the flesh" — Literal rendering of the perfect participle that preserves the dispute over the exact nature of this physical incarnation.
  • v2: "from God" — Conveys origin and source dynamically in contemporary English.
  • v2: "Spirit of God" — Interpretive capitalization recognizing the personal Holy Spirit over a mere generic spiritual disposition.
  • v3: "that does not confess" — Follows the provided Greek basis over the ancient variant targeting docetic heresies.
  • v3: "that spirit of the antichrist" — Resolves the substantive article by supplying the implied noun from the context.
  • v3: "and now... already" — Preserves the double emphasis particles in the Greek.
  • v4: "them" — Translates the plural pronoun targeting the false prophets.
  • v4: "the one in you than the one in the world" — Preserves the singular combatant contrast against the plural address.
  • v5: "preserve threefold 'world' repetition" — Emphasizes origin and audience deliberately by maintaining the identical noun root.
  • v6: "the one who knows" — Translates the substantival participle gender-neutrally and substantively.
  • v6: "listens to" — Conveys active reception, attention, and obedience rather than mere auditory perception.
  • v6: "From this" — Differentiates this prepositional phrase from the repetitive 'ἐν τούτῳ' (In this) refrain.
  • v6: "the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" — Preserves the symmetrical definite-article pattern reflecting Qumranic dualism.
  • v7: "let us love" — Dignified hortatory subjunctive.
  • v7: "because" — Introduces a direct causal clause clearly in contemporary English.
  • v7: "love... love... loves" — Preserves the cognate polyptoton consistently.
  • v8: "love" — Standard contemporary equivalent for agapē.
  • v8: "God is love" — Literal rendering that preserves the foundational assertion over divine nature intact without determining its precedence over other attributes.
  • v8: "preserve chiastic inclusio structure" — Reflects the conceptual contrast concluding directly in the foundational aphorism.
  • v9: "his Son, the one and only" — Conveys uniqueness (monogenēs) without relying on archaic 'begotten' terminology, preserving the appositional article pattern.
  • v9: "through" — Standard rendering of dia with the genitive for agency/means.
  • v10: "not that... but that" — Preserves the chiastic contrastive structure perfectly.
  • v10: "he loved" — Translates the simple aorist indicative verb accurately.
  • v10: "an atoning sacrifice" — Renders hilasmos dynamically for modern theological clarity without archaism.
  • v11: "we also ought" — Mirrors verse 10's reciprocal structure directly.
  • v12: "has been perfected" — Translates the perfect periphrastic indicating a completed state with ongoing results.
  • v13: "of his Spirit" — Preserves the partitive construction indicating shared substance.
  • v14: "the Son" — Translates the definite article exactly as it appears in the source text.
  • v15: "Whoever confesses" — Contemporary indefinite relative clause rendering.
  • v15: "God abides in him, and he in God" — Maintains the symmetrical formula of mutual indwelling with the consistent root for 'abide'.
  • v16: "have come to know" — Reflects the perfect tense highlighting an acquired knowledge with present effect.
  • v16: "the love that" — Contemporary relative pronoun usage.
  • v16: "among us" — Expresses the communal reality of God's love operating within the assembly.
  • v16: "abides... abides... abides" — Preserves the triplicate repetition of the root emphasizing depth of mutual indwelling.
  • v17: "in this world" — Preserves the demonstrative pronoun specifying present reality against the coming judgment.
  • v18: "perfect love casts out fear" — Literal rendering that leaves the dispute over the exact nature of this perfection (sanctification vs mature faith) intact.
  • v18: "fear... fears" — Maintains the cognate interplay between the noun and participle naturally.
  • v18: "involves punishment" — Expresses the inherent connection between fear and the anticipation of a penalty.
  • v19: "We... he" — Translates the provided Greek emphatic pronoun shift, highlighting the reciprocal order of love.
  • v19: "We love him, because he first loved us" — Direct translation of the provided source text, leaving theological debates over monergism or prevenient grace for the reader to decide.
  • v20: "If anyone says" — Translates the indefinite pronoun accurately and gender-neutrally.
  • v20: "whom he has seen... whom he has not seen" — Preserves the parallel demonstrative and relative perfect tense pattern perfectly.
  • v21: "from him" — Translates the pronoun provided in the source text.
  • v21: "the one who loves... should love" — Preserves the cognate verb stems and renders the hina clause accurately as a binding obligation.
Mga limitasyong dapat malaman
  • This is AI-generated and source-grounded, and it is approved by no community that holds these traditions.
  • The readings were produced in isolated calls that do not see one another. Isolation prevents anchoring; it does not make them independent witnesses.
  • The Nicene-Trinitarian boundary, and the decision not to seat non-denominational Evangelicalism separately (it is a cross-traditional movement already present within several voting profiles), are editorial choices.
  • The roster, the grouping into three families, and the rule that families (not seat counts) carry consensus all shape the result. A different roster would produce a different synthesis.
  • One profile cannot exhaust a tradition; the synthesis reflects what the profiles said, not everything the traditions hold.
  • The non-voting panels (Academic, Jewish) never vote; LDS and Jehovah's Witness readings are a comparative appendix only.
  • Any profiles excluded for this chapter after failing the audit are named on the page and removed from the eligible roster for it.
  • The rendering is unreviewed by any tradition, and every contested wording it settled is listed in Choices Made — where the text forced a decision, the decision is documented rather than hidden behind a claim of preserved ambiguity.

Tingnan ang buong step-by-step na proseso → · AI-generated noong Oct 20, 2026, gemini-3.1-pro-preview (high thinking) — every stage, v4 spec + Addendum B (claim-audited, cross-stage-checked)