Bullet Point Bible

Testing the Spirits

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,³ but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.⁴ You are from God, little children, and have conquered 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 worldâ€(tm)s perspective and the world listens to them.⁶ We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

John warns against spiritual gullibility, urging believers to practice discernment (1 John 4:1).
The historical context involved numerous false prophets challenging apostolic teaching (1 John 4:1).
The primary doctrinal test for discerning spirits is the confession of Jesus Christ's incarnation – His genuine humanity (1 John 4:2).
This directly counters early Gnostic and Docetic heresies that denied Christ came in the flesh.
Denial of Jesus' incarnation is identified with the "spirit of the antichrist," already active in the world (1 John 4:3).
Believers ("little children") are assured of victory over false teachings because God's Spirit within them is more powerful than Satan ("the one who is in the world") (1 John 4:4).
False teachers align with the world's values and perspective, hence their popularity with the world (1 John 4:5).
True believers recognize and listen to the apostolic teaching ("us"), providing another test to distinguish truth from error (1 John 4:6).
Theological Insight: Correct Christology (understanding who Jesus is) is fundamental to genuine Christian faith and fellowship with God.
Application: The need for careful evaluation of spiritual claims and teachings remains essential for Christians today.

God's Love and Our Command to Love

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.⁸ The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.⁹ By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.¹⁰ In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.¹¹ Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us.

John shifts focus to the ethical test of love, grounding it in God's own nature (1 John 4:7).
Love (*agape*) originates from God; therefore, genuine love for others is evidence of being born of God and knowing Him (1 John 4:7).
A defining statement about God's essence: "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Lack of love indicates a lack of relationship with God.
God's love is not merely a concept but was actively demonstrated ("revealed") through the sending of His unique Son, Jesus, to give believers life (1 John 4:9).
The pinnacle of God's love (*agape*) is its initiative: God loved us first and sent His Son as the "atoning sacrifice" (*hilasmos*) for sins, appeasing divine wrath (1 John 4:10).
God's immense, sacrificial love for humanity becomes the basis and motivation for believers' love for one another (1 John 4:11).
Although God is invisible, His presence ("resides in us") and His love are made tangible and brought to completion ("perfected") within the Christian community through mutual love (1 John 4:12).
Theological Insight: Love is presented not just as an action but as the very nature of God and the necessary fruit of regeneration.
Connection: This section links the doctrinal truth (God sent His Son) with the required ethical response (love one another).

Abiding in God Through Spirit and Confession

¹³ By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit.¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.¹⁵ If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.¹⁶ And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

Assurance of the mutual indwelling (believer in God, God in believer) comes through the gift of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13). The Spirit acts as an internal witness.
The apostles provide the external, objective basis for faith: their eyewitness testimony confirms the Father sent the Son as the world's Savior (1 John 4:14).
Confessing Jesus as the "Son of God" (affirming His deity and unique relationship to the Father) is presented as evidence of God abiding in the confessor, and vice versa (1 John 4:15).
Believers possess an experiential knowledge ("come to know") and confident trust ("to believe") in God's love directed towards them (1 John 4:16a).
John emphatically repeats the core truth: "God is love" (1 John 4:16b), underscoring its centrality.
Living within the sphere of God's love ("resides in love") is synonymous with living in fellowship with God ("resides in God"), indicating that love is the environment of the divine-human relationship (1 John 4:16c).
Theological Insight: Christian assurance is built on the convergence of objective apostolic testimony, correct doctrinal confession, and the subjective witness of the Holy Spirit manifesting in love.
Connection: This section integrates the themes of the Spirit (from 1 John 4:13), correct Christology (1 John 4:14-15), and love (1 John 4:16).
Significance: The title "Savior of the world" highlights the universal scope of Christ's saving work, extending beyond Israel.

Confidence in Judgment and the Command to Love Brothers

¹⁷ By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.¹⁹ We love because he loved us first.²⁰ If anyone says "I love God" and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.²¹ And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.

The goal or "perfection" of God's love in believers leads to "confidence" (Greek: *parrhesia*, boldness or assurance) before God on the day of judgment (1 John 4:17a).
This confidence is grounded in the believer's present identity and character reflecting Christ's: "just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:17b).
A key relationship is established: Mature, complete ("perfect") love inherently excludes fear, particularly the tormenting fear of judgment and punishment (1 John 4:18a).
Fear is linked directly to the expectation of punishment; therefore, persistent fear indicates that God's love has not yet fully matured in the believer's life (1 John 4:18b).
The ultimate source and motivation for all genuine Christian love is God's initiating love towards humanity: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
John exposes the hypocrisy of claiming to love God while simultaneously hating a fellow believer, calling such a person a "liar" (1 John 4:20a).
An argument from the visible to the invisible: Failure to love the visible brother/sister demonstrates the impossibility of truly loving the invisible God (1 John 4:20b).
The divine commandment is presented as inseparable: Loving God necessitates loving fellow believers (1 John 4:21).
Theological Insight: True Christian love transforms the believer's relationship with God from one of fear to one of confident assurance, grounded in Christlikeness.
Application: The authenticity of one's vertical relationship with God is directly measured by the quality of one's horizontal relationships within the Christian community.

The Bullet Point Bible

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