1 John 4:1-6

Testing the Spirits

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus ^[a] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

4 You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

5 They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them.

6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit ^[b] of truth and the spirit of deception.

Footnotes

• [a] BYZ and TR that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
• [b] Or spirit