Testing the Spirits. God Is Love. Perfect Love Drives Out Fear.
"We love because he first loved us." — 1 John 4:19
First John 4 begins with a call to discernment. John tells believers not to believe every spirit, but to test what they hear because false teachers are in the world. The central question is what they say about Jesus Christ. Truth matters, and not everything that sounds spiritual comes from God. John then reminds us that believers have confidence because "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Our security does not come from being clever enough to detect every lie. It comes from belonging to Christ and remaining grounded in the truth He has given us.
John then moves to the heart of the chapter: God is love. We know what love is because God showed it to us by sending His Son so that we might live through Him. His love came first. That means Christian love is never simply a feeling or personality trait. It is a response to the love we have already received from God. John says that perfect love drives out fear and then gives us the simple foundation for everything: "We love because he first loved us." First John 4 reminds us to hold tightly to the truth about Jesus and to let the love of God become visible in the way we treat others.
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