Albert Barnes Commentary 1 John 4

ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER IV.

THERE are two principal subjects discussed in this chapter:—

1. The method by which we may determine that we have the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1–6). The apostle had said (1 John 3:24) that it could be determined that God dwells in them by the Spirit which he has given them; but as it is probable that the teachers of error, the persons whom John regarded as "antichrist" (1 John 2:18–19), would lay claim to the same thing, it was important to know how it could be ascertained that the Spirit of God had been really given to them, or how it could be determined that the spirit that was in them was not the spirit of antichrist, the very thing against which he would guard them. In doing this, he:
   1. Cautions them against trusting to every kind of spirit, or supposing that every spirit which animated even the professed friends of religion was the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1); and
   2. Shows them how it might be determined that they had really the Spirit of God, or what would be the effect of the influences of the Spirit on the mind. This evidence consisted of the following things:
      1. They had the Spirit of God who confessed that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh (1 John 4:2);
      2. They who denied that, had not the Spirit of God, and the denial of this was the real spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3);
      3. They who had the Spirit of God had not the spirit of this world (1 John 4:4–5); and
      4. They who had the Spirit of God would hear those who were his apostles, or who were sent by him (1 John 4:6).
2. The duty, power, and influence of love (1 John 4:7–21). This is a favourite subject with John, and he here considers it at length, as a subject that was essential in determining the evidences of piety. The duty and value of love are enforced by the following considerations:
   1. Love has its origin in God, and every one who has true love is born of God (1 John 4:7–8).
   2. God has shown his great love to us by having given his Son to die for us; and as he has so loved us, we ought also to love one another (1 John 4:9–11).
   3. If we love one another, it furnishes the best evidence that God dwells in us (1 John 4:12–15).
   4. God is love, and if we have true love we dwell in him, and he dwells in us (1 John 4:16).
   5. Love will furnish us great advantage in the day of judgment, by giving us confidence when we come before him (1 John 4:17).
   6. Love will cast out all fear, and will make our minds calm in view of the events which are to come (1 John 4:18).
   7. The very fact that he has first manifested his love to us should lead us to the exercise of love (1 John 4:19).
   8. A man cannot truly love God and yet hate his brother (1 John 4:20); and
   9. It is the solemn command of God that he who loves God should love his brother also.

Beloved, believe not every spirit. Do not confide implicitly in every one who professes to be under the influences of the Holy Spirit . The true and the false teachers of religion alike claimed to be under the influence of the Spirit of God, and it was of importance that all such pretensions should be examined.

It was not to be admitted because any one claimed to have been sent from God that therefore he was sent. Every such claim should be subjected to the proper proof before it was conceded. All pretensions to Divine inspiration, or to being authorized teachers of religion, were to be examined by the proper tests, because there were many false and delusive teachers who set up such claims in the world.

But try the spirits whether they are of God. There were those in the early Christian church who had the gift of “discerning Spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10), but it is not certain that the apostle refers here to any such supernatural power.

It is more probable, as he addresses this command to Christians in general, that he refers to the ability of doing this by a comparison of the doctrines which they professed to hold with what was revealed, and by the fruits of their doctrines in their lives. If they taught what God had taught in his word, and if their lives corresponded with his requirements, and if their doctrines agreed with what had been inculcated by those who were admitted to be true apostles (1 John 4:6), they were to receive them as what they professed to be. If not, they were to reject them, and hold them to be impostors.

It may be remarked that it is just as proper and as important now to examine the claims of all who profess to be teachers of religion as it was then. In a matter so momentous as religion, and where there is so much at stake, it is important that all pretensions of this kind should be subjected to a rigid examination. No man should be received as a religious teacher without the clearest evidence that he has come in accordance with the will of God, nor unless he inculcates the very truth which God has revealed (Isaiah 8:20 and Acts 17:11).

Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. The word prophet is often used in the New Testament to denote religious instructors or preachers (Romans 12:6).

Compare to 2 Peter 2:1.

Such false teachers evidently abounded in the times here referred to (1 John 2:18).

The meaning is, that many had gone out into the world pretending to be true teachers of religion, but who inculcated most dangerous doctrines; and it was their duty to be on their guard against them, for they had the very spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3).

By this. Greek, "By this;" that is, by the test which is immediately specified. Know ye the Spirit of God. You may discern who are influenced by the Spirit of God. Every spirit. This refers to everyone professing to be under the influence of the Spirit of God. The apostle uses the word "spirit" here with reference to the person who made the claim, on the supposition that everyone professing to be a religious teacher was animated by some spirit or foreign influence, good or bad. If the Spirit of God influenced them, they would confess that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh; if some other spirit—the spirit of error and deceit—they would deny this.

That confesseth. That is, that makes a proper acknowledgment of this; that teaches this doctrine, and that gives it a due place and prominence in his instructions. It cannot be supposed that a mere statement of this in words would show that they were of God in the sense that they were true Christians; but the sense is, that if this constituted one of the doctrines which they held and taught, it would show that they were advocates of truth, and not apostles of error. If they did not do this (1 John 4:3), it would be decisive in regard to their character and claims.

That Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Benson and some others propose to interpret this as, "That Jesus, who came in the flesh, is the Christ." But this is liable to serious objections.

1. It is not the obvious interpretation.
2. It is unusual to say that "Jesus had come in the flesh," though the expression "the Son of God has come in the flesh," or "God was manifested in the flesh," would be in accordance with the usage of the New Testament.
3. This would not, probably, meet the real point in the case. The thing denied does not appear to have been that Jesus was the Messiah, for their pretending to be Christian teachers at all implied that they admitted this; but that the Son of God was really a man, or that he actually assumed human nature in permanent union with the Divine.

The point of the remark made by the apostle is that the acknowledgment was to be that Christ assumed human nature; that he was really a man as he appeared to be; or that there was a real incarnation, in opposition to the opinion that he came in appearance only, or that he merely seemed to be a man, and to suffer and die.

That this opinion was held by many, see the Introduction & III. 2. It is quite probable that the apostle here refers to such sentiments as those which were held by the Docetae; and that he meant to teach that it was indispensable to proper evidence that anyone who came from God should maintain that Jesus was truly a man, or that there was a real incarnation of the Son of God. John always regarded this as a very important point, and often refers to it (John 19:34–35; John 20:25–27).

1 John 5:6. It is as important to be held now as it was then, for the fact that there was a real incarnation is essential to all just views of the atonement. If he was not truly a man, if he did not literally shed his blood on the cross, of course all that was done was in appearance only, and the whole system of redemption as revealed was merely a splendid illusion.

There is little danger that this opinion will be held now, for those who depart from the doctrine laid down in the New Testament in regard to the person and work of Christ are more disposed to embrace the opinion that he was a mere man. However, it is still important that the truth that he was truly incarnate should be held up constantly before the mind, for in no other way can we obtain just views of the atonement.

Is of God. This does not necessarily mean that everyone who confessed this was personally a true Christian, for it is clear that a doctrine might be acknowledged to be true, and yet the heart might not be changed. Nor does it mean that the acknowledgment of this truth was all that was essential to be believed in order for one to be recognized as a Christian; but it means that it was essential that this truth should be admitted by everyone who truly came from God.

Those who taught this held a truth which he had revealed, and which was essential to be held; and they thus showed that they did not belong to those to whom the name "antichrist" could be properly given. Still, whether they held this doctrine in such a sense, and in such connection with other doctrines, as to show that they were sincere Christians, was quite another question, for it is plain that a man may hold and teach the true doctrines of religion, and yet have no evidence that he is a child of God.

And every spirit that confesseth not, etc. That is, this doctrine is essential to the Christian system, and anyone who does not hold it cannot be regarded as a Christian or recognized as a Christian teacher. If he was not a man, then everything that occurred in his life—in Gethsemane and on the cross—was in appearance only and was assumed merely to delude the senses.

There were no real sufferings; there was no shedding of blood; there was no death on the cross; and, consequently, there was no atonement. A mere show, an assumed appearance, a vision, could not make atonement for sin. Therefore, a denial of the doctrine that the Son of God had come in the flesh was, in fact, a denial of the doctrine of expiation for sin.

The Latin Vulgate here reads qui solvit Jesure, "who dissolves or divides Jesus." Socrates (H. E. vii. 32) says that in the old copies of the New Testament it is written, o liei ton ihsoun, "who dissolves or divides Jesus"—that is, who separates his true nature or person, or who supposes that there were two Christs, one in appearance and one in reality.

This reading was found early in some manuscripts and is referred to by many of the Fathers (see Wetstein), but it has no real authority and was evidently introduced, perhaps at first from a marginal note, to oppose the prevailing errors of the times. The common reading, who confesseth not, is found in all the Greek manuscripts, in the Syriac versions, and in the Arabic. As Lucke says, the other reading is manifestly of Latin origin. The common reading in the text is that which is supported by authority and is entirely in accordance with John's manner.

And this is that spirit of anti-christ. This is one of the things that characterize antichrist. John here refers not to an individual who should be known as antichrist, but to a class of persons. This does not, however, forbid the idea that there might be some one individual, or a succession of persons in the church, to whom the name might be applied preeminently (see Barnes on 1 John 2:18).

Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and following (see Barnes).

Therefore you have heard that it should come (see Barnes on 1 John 2:18).

Ye are of God. You are of his family; you have embraced his truth, and imbibed his Spirit.

Little children. See Barnes on 2 John 2:1.

And have overcome them. Have triumphed over their arts and temptations; their endeavors to draw you into error and sin. The word "them" in this place seems to refer to the False prophets or teachers who collectively constituted antichrist. The meaning is that they had frustrated or thwarted all their attempts to turn them away from the truth.

Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. God, who dwells in your hearts, and by whose strength and grace alone you have been enabled to achieve this victory, is more mighty than Satan, who rules in the hearts of the people of this world, and whose seductive arts are seen in the efforts of these false teachers.

The apostle meant to say that it was by no power of their own that they achieved this victory, but it was to be traced solely to the fact that God dwelt among them and had preserved them by his grace. What was true then is true now. He who dwells in the hearts of Christians by his Spirit is infinitely more mighty than Satan, "the ruler of the darkness of this world," and victory, therefore, over all his arts and temptations may be sure. In his conflicts with sin, temptation, and error, the Christian should never despair, for his God will ensure him the victory.

(*) Note: The term "children" may also be understood as "My children."

They are of the world. This was one of the marks by which those who had the spirit of antichrist might be known. They did not belong to the church of God, but to the world. They had its spirit; they acted on its principles; they lived for it. (Compare to 2 John 2:15).

Therefore speak they of the world. .

This may mean either that their conversation pertained to the things of this world, or that they were wholly influenced by the love of the world, and not by the Spirit of God, in the doctrines which they taught. The general sense is that they had no higher ends and aims than those who are influenced only by worldly plans and expectations. It is not difficult to distinguish, even among professed Christians and Christian teachers, those who are heavenly in their conversation from those who are influenced solely by the spirit of the world. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and the general turn of a person's conversation will show what "spirit is within him."

And the world heareth them. The people of the world—the gay, the rich, the proud, the ambitious, the sensual—receive their instructions, and recognize them as teachers and guides, for their views accord with their own. .

A professedly religious teacher may always determine much about himself by knowing what class of people are pleased with him. A professed Christian of any station in life may determine much about his evidences of piety by asking himself what kind of people desire his friendship and wish him for a companion.