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.
Love One Another
7 Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. 9 By 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. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
As John grew old and spoke to various churches, his theme became “Love the Lord Jesus, who is God in the flesh, and love one another as you love yourselves.” There it is, The Great Commandment”. He urges us again, “Let us love one another.” All who love in an agape sort of way (unselfish and unmotivated by what we can get out of it) love one another uniquely because we know God, and we are born of God. If you want to bring the unsaved to Jesus, then start loving in a radical, unselfish way. Love is compelling. We are born again in Him, by Him, and of Him. I don’t really understand how God is love, but Scripture tells us that He is. He is pure love. This was shown when He came in the form of man as Jesus. Through the incarnation, God had experiential knowledge of what we go through as human beings.
And why did He do this? He did this to give us life in Him and through Him so THAT WE MIGHT LIVE OUT OUR LIVES AS WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO THROUGH HIM. John finishes this part by telling us that this was true love. He loved us before we ever knew Him or loved Him. As we will read in a minute in verse 19, “We love Him because He first loved us.”And God sent Jesus to be the satisfaction for any wrong we might have done. He reconciled us to Himself through Jesus and His work on the cross. God solved the problem of our distance from Him. We just need to choose to walk into the heart of God by believing and trusting in Him.
I am not sure we can ever understand how or why the Creator of the Universe loves us. I’m not even sure how He can love us. We are close to 7 billion people on the planet, and many know Him. How can He love each one of us in such a personal way? I do not know, but He does. Interestingly, it says that we might live “through Him.” Living through Him means we’re no longer living through ourselves. Ours is not a “white knuckle” faith where we just need to “try harder”. Stop trying, and let Him do the work. I think that means that we’re living life abundantly and living it in and through Him when we’re walking in the Spirit. This is NOT doing a laundry list of things to check off. It is submitting your life and your will moment by moment and day by day to the operation of the Holy Spirit. He is waiting. Do this, and love will come out of you that comes only from God. You truly will begin to love yourself as God loves you, and you will love your neighbor as yourself.