4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but atest the spirits, whether they are of God; because bmany false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: cEvery spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess 1that Jesus 2Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than dhe who is in the world. 5 eThey are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and fthe world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. gBy this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love

7 hBeloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who iloves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 jIn this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten kSon into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, lnot that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son mto be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, nif God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.