< 1 John 4 >

All the apostles warned the disciples that many would fall away from the truth and believe another gospel and in another Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:3-42 Corinthians 11:3-4XWaiting for response John called upon them to test the “spirituals” i.e. those who claimed to have the Holy Spirit v.11 John 4:1XWaiting for response because they would encounter many false prophets. A particular error at that time was that Jesus Christ did not have the same flesh as ourselves.vs.2-31 John 4:2-3XWaiting for response It was imperative, in the purpose of God, that Jesus be a partaker of our sinful nature so that he could be tempted in all points as we, yet achieve complete success over sin by a perfectly righteous life. This was made possible by Jesus being both the Son of God and son of man by the manner of his conception by the Holy Spirit and birth of Mary. Many people, however, have not liked the idea of Jesus having the same sinful flesh as ourselves and have introduced the idea of him having “clean flesh”. This was a serious error and spiritual leaders who advocated it were "antichrists".v.31 John 4:3XWaiting for response These introduced a multitude of errors into Christianity and the world listened to them v.51 John 4:5XWaiting for response so that within three hundred years apostate Christianity had united with Roman secular authority to become established as the state religion of the Empire.

John gave the disciples a test for them to apply to distinguish between those who taught truth and those who proclaimed error. This is essentially the same test which God gave to Israel: “To the law and to the testimony [the Holy Scriptures]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”. Isaiah 8:20Isaiah 8:20XWaiting for response The apostles, like the prophets of old, were inspired to write the word of God, therefore John declared: “We 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”.v.61 John 4:6XWaiting for response We can, and should, apply this same test today. We should test everything which is said on religious matters against the word of God through the apostles. Thus we shall be able to accept the truth and reject the error. Men invent and imagine many things, all of which lead people away from God and eternal life, but the word of God brings salvation.

John continued to exhort the disciples to love one another for thereby they could show that they were the children of God.v.71 John 4:7XWaiting for response God is love v.81 John 4:8XWaiting for response and he manifested his love by sacrificing his only begotten Son that we might have life.vs.9-101 John 4:9-10XWaiting for response Therefore, says John, “we should love one another”.v.111 John 4:11XWaiting for response Disciples can show they love God by loving their brethren whom they can see v.201 John 4:20XWaiting for response for “No man has seen God at any time”.v.121 John 4:12XWaiting for response This may seem a contradiction of those scriptures which speak of men seeing God but, in fact, they did not see the Father of Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe, but a manifestation of him, usually in angelic form. In the same way, the disciples who saw Jesus, saw a manifestation of the Father. John 14:9John 14:9XWaiting for response We are exhorted to show perfect love, as did the Father and Jesus, so that “we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world”.v.171 John 4:17XWaiting for response