1 John 4:1-6

Test the Spirits

1 Beloved, ¹do not believe every spirit, but ²test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ³many ⁴false prophets ⁵have gone out into the world.

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: ⁶every spirit that confesses that ⁷Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

3 and every spirit ⁸that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ⁹now is in the world already.

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ¹⁰he who is in you is greater than ¹¹he who is in the world.

5 ¹²They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ¹³the world listens to them.

6 We are from God. ¹⁴Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ¹⁵the Spirit of truth and ¹⁶the spirit of error.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 29:8
• 2. 1 Thessalonians 5:21; [1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 14:29; Revelation 2:2]
• 3. See 1 John 2:18
• 4. 2 Peter 2:1
• 5. 2 John 7
• 6. [1 Corinthians 12:3]
• 7. 2 John 7
• 8. 1 John 2:22; 2 John 7
• 9. 1 John 2:18; [2 Thessalonians 2:3-7]
• 10. See Romans 8:31
• 11. [1 Corinthians 2:12]; See John 12:31
• 12. John 3:31; John 8:23
• 13. John 15:19
• 14. [John 8:47; John 10:16; John 18:37; 1 Corinthians 14:37]
• 15. John 14:17; John 15:26; John 16:13
• 16. [1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Timothy 4:1]