1 John 4:1

Contextual Overview

¹ Dear friends, don't trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ¹ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. ¹ Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ¹ Dear friends, stop believingdo not believe">[fn] every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.Jeremiah 29:8; Matthew 24:4-5,24; Acts 20:30; 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18; 2 John 1:1:7; Revelation 2:2;">[xr] ¹ MY beloved, believe not all spirits, but discern the spirits whether they be from Aloha; because many false prophets have gone forth into the world. ¹ My beloved, believe not all spirits; but discriminate among spirits, whether they are of God: for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ¹ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. ¹ My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world. ¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ¹ Dearely beloued, beleeue not euery spirit, but trie the spirits whether they are of God: for many false prophets are gone out into this worlde.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

believe not: Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Proverbs 14:15, Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 29:8, Jeremiah 29:9, Matthew 7:15, Matthew 7:16, Matthew 24:4, Matthew 24:5, Romans 16:18, 2 Peter 2:1

try: Luke 12:57, Acts 17:11, Romans 16:19, 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Revelation 2:2

many: 1 John 2:18, Matthew 24:5, Matthew 24:23-26, Mark 13:21, Luke 21:8, Acts 20:29, 1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:13, 2 Peter 2:1, 2 John 1:7

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:34 - the seventh Deuteronomy 13:3 - hearken Deuteronomy 18:21 - General 1 Kings 13:18 - But Nehemiah 6:12 - God had Job 26:4 - whose spirit Proverbs 19:27 - General Isaiah 9:15 - the prophet Jeremiah 23:16 - Hearken Jeremiah 27:14 - they Daniel 11:34 - cleave Micah 2:11 - a man Zephaniah 3:4 - light Zechariah 13:2 - cause Matthew 13:47 - and gathered Matthew 24:11 - General Mark 4:24 - Take Mark 13:5 - Take Mark 13:6 - many John 6:45 - Every John 8:47 - General John 10:1 - He John 16:14 - glorify Acts 13:6 - a false 1 Corinthians 2:15 - judgeth 1 Corinthians 12:10 - discerning 1 Corinthians 14:32 - General 2 Corinthians 2:17 - which 2 Corinthians 11:3 - so 2 Corinthians 11:13 - false Galatians 1:7 - pervert Galatians 2:4 - because Ephesians 4:14 - tossed Ephesians 5:6 - no Philippians 1:10 - approve things that are excellent Philippians 4:8 - think Colossians 2:4 - lest Colossians 2:18 - no 2 Thessalonians 2:2 - by spirit 1 Timothy 3:10 - let these 2 Timothy 3:8 - resist Titus 1:10 - there Hebrews 13:9 - carried 1 John 4:6 - Hereby Revelation 16:13 - three

Cross-References

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel.

Genesis 3:15
I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child's foot, but he will crush your head."

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; they shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their heel.'

Genesis 3:15
And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.

Genesis 3:15
I wyll also put enmitie betweene thee & the woman, betweene thy seede and her seede: and it shall treade downe thy head, and thou shalt treade vpon his heele.

Genesis 3:15
I wil also put enimitie betweene thee and the woman, and betweene thy seede & her seede. He shall breake thine head, and thou shalt bruise his heele.

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your posterity and her posterity; her posterity shall tread your head under foot, and you shall strike him in his heel.

Genesis 3:15
I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel."

Genesis 3:15
And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on thy breast and belly thou shalt go, and thou shalt eat earth all the days of thy life.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Beloved, believe not every spirit,.... The apostle having mentioned the word "spirit" in the latter part of the preceding chapter, takes an occasion from thence to return to what he had been suggesting in the "second" chapter, concerning the many antichrists that then were, and whom he points out, and here cautions against. By "every spirit" he means, either every doctrine that is pretended to come from the Spirit of God, or every teacher, who professes to be qualified and sent by him, and to have his light, knowledge, and doctrine from him. Every true minister of the Gospel has the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit, more or less, to qualify him for his work; he is separated, and called to it by him, and receives his spiritual light find knowledge from him; it is he that teaches him sound doctrine, and leads him into all truth, as it is in Jesus, and brings every necessary truth to his remembrance; and who succeeds his ministrations to the good of souls: but there are some who call themselves the ministers of the Gospel, who, though they may have some natural abilities, and a share of human learning, and a notional knowledge of things, yet have never received either grace or gifts from the Spirit; nor have they been ever called by him; nor are their ministrations according to that divine word which is inspired by him, nor attended with his demonstration and power; wherefore, though some professing to have the Spirit of Christ are to be believed, yet not everyone; and though the Spirit is not to be quenched in any, nor prophesying to be despised, yet care should be taken what is heard and received: some persons are so obstinate and incredulous as not to believe anything that is declared, be the evidence what it will; as the Jews would not believe Christ and his apostles, though what they said agreed with Moses and the prophets, and was confirmed by miracles; and others are too credulous; at once receive every teacher, and embrace every upstart doctrine: this they should not do,

but try the spirits whether they are of God; not by human reason, especially as carnal and unsanctified; for though the doctrines of the Gospel are not contrary to true reason, they are above it, and not to be judged of by it, and are disapproved of and rejected by carnal reason; but by the word of God, which is the standard of all doctrine; and whatever agrees with that is to be received, and what does not should be rejected. And so to do is very commendable, as appears from the instance of the Beraeans, who on this account are said to be more noble than those of Thessalonica, Acts 17:11; and from the commendation of the church at Ephesus, Revelation 2:2. And this is what every believer, every private Christian should do; to them it belongs to read and search the Scriptures, and prove all things, and judge for themselves of the truth of doctrine; and to such a probation or trial of the spirits, spiritual light, knowledge, judgment, sense, experience, and divine guidance are necessary, which should be asked of God, and an increase thereof; and all such diligent searchers, and humble inquirers, are capable of making judgment of persons and doctrines, whether they are from the Spirit of God or not, for the Spirit of God never speaks contrary to his word: and the reason why such a trial should be made is,

because many false prophets are gone out into the world: such who pretended either to a revelation of future things, and to foretell things to come; or rather to a gift of prophesying, or preaching in Christ's name, to be "prophets" and spiritual men, and ministers of the word, but were "false" ones; who either predicted what did not come to pass, or rather preached false doctrine, by corrupting the word, and handling it deceitfully, and so imposed upon and ruined the souls of others, as well as deceived their own: and there were not only one, or two, or a few of these, but "many", as our Lord had foretold, Matthew 24:11; and which makes the reason the stronger for not believing every spirit, but trying them; and the rather, since they were not sent of God, hot called out by his churches, but were "gone out" of themselves; of their own heads, and without any mission from God or man: and "into the world" too; they were in every part of it, and especially where there were any churches of Christ; into which they first crept in privily, and at unawares, but afterwards became public preachers of the word, and then separating from them, set up openly in the world for themselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Beloved, believe not every spirit - Do not confide implicitly in everyone who professes to be under the influences of the Holy Spirit. Compare Matthew 24:4-5. 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 anyone 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 authorised 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,” (see the notes at 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 one 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. See the Isaiah 8:20 note, and Acts 17:11 note.

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. See the notes at Romans 12:6. Compare the notes at 2 Peter 2:1. Such false teachers evidently abounded in the times here referred to. See the notes at 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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER IV.

We must not believe every teacher who professes to have a

Divine commission to preach, but try such, whether they be of

God; and the more so because many false prophets are gone out

into the world, 1.

Those who deny that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh have the

spirit of antichrist, 2, 3.

The followers of God have been enabled to discern and overcome

them, 4-6.

The necessity of love to God and one another shown, from God's

love to us, 7-11.

Though no man hath seen God, yet every genuine Christian knows

him by the spirit which God has given him, 12, 13.

The apostles testified that God sent his Son to be the Saviour

of the world; and God dwelt in those who confessed this truth,

14, 15.

God is love, 16.

The nature and properties of perfect love, 17, 18.

We love him because he first loved us, 19.

The wickedness of pretending to love God while we hate one

another, 20, 21.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.

Verse 1 John 4:1. Beloved, believe not every spirit — Do not be forward to believe every teacher to be a man sent of God. As in those early times every teacher professed to be inspired by the Spirit of God, because all the prophets had come thus accredited, the term spirit was used to express the man who pretended to be and teach under the Spirit's influence. See 1 Corinthians 12:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:1.

Try the Spirits — δοκιμαζετε τα πνευματα. Put these teachers to the proof. Try them by that testimony which is known to have come from the Spirit of God, the word of revelation already given.

Many false prophets — Teachers not inspired by the Spirit of God, are gone out into the world-among the Jewish people particularly, and among them who are carnal and have not the Spirit.