4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, 1 but test 2 the spirits 3 to determine 4 if they are from God, because many false prophets 5 have gone out into the world. 4:2 By this 6 you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses 7 Jesus as the Christ 8 who has come in the flesh is from God, 4:3 but 9 every spirit that does not confess 10 Jesus 11 is not from God, and this is the spirit 12 of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
4:4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, 13 because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. 4:6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but 14 whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this 15 we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. 16
4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because 17 love is from God, and everyone who loves 18 has been fathered 19 by God and knows God.