Love Each Other 1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. Here is the attitude of one who has a clear conscience before God. It is not that this person has been living sinlessly, but rather that he has been quick to confess and forsake his sins. By doing this, he has confidence before God and boldness in prayer. Thus, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. To keep His commandments is to abide in Him. It is to live in close, vital intimacy with the Savior. When we are thus in fellowship with Him, we make His will our own will. Give examples: By the Holy Spirit, He fills us with the knowledge of His will. In such a condition, we would not ask for anything outside the will of God. When we ask according to His will, we receive from Him the things we ask for. 1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. God’s commandment is that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. This seems to summarize all the commandments of the NT. It speaks of our duty to God and to our fellow Christians. Our first duty is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then because true faith is expressed in right conduct, we should love one another. This is an evidence of saving faith. Notice in this and other verses that John uses the personal pronouns He and Him to refer to both God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ without stopping to explain which one is intended. He dares to do this because the Son is as truly God as the Father, and it is no presumption to speak of Them in the same breath. 1 John 3:24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. The first part of verse 24 ends the section on love as a test of the children of God: Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. To obey Him is to abide in Him, and those who abide in Him are assured of His abiding presence also. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. The subject of confidence is introduced by the statement that assurance of God’s abiding in us comes by the Holy Spirit. All believers have the Holy Spirit. He is the one who guides them into all truth and enables them to discern error. God is Love 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Having mentioned the Holy Spirit, John is reminded that there are other spirits abroad in the world today, and that the children of God need to be warned against them. Thus he cautions the believer not to trust every spirit. The word spirit here probably refers primarily to teachers but not exclusively so. Just because a man speaks about the Bible, God, and Jesus does not mean that he is a true child of God. We are to test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. These are people who profess to accept Christianity, but teach another gospel altogether. 1 John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, John gives the actual tests by which these men are to be proven. The great test of a teacher is, “What do you think of Christ?” Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. It is not so much the confession of the historical fact, namely that Jesus was born into the world in a human body, but rather it is the confession of a living Person, Jesus Christ come in the flesh. It is the confession that acknowledges Jesus as the Christ Incarnate. And confessing Him means bowing to Him as Lord of one’s life. Now if you ever hear a person presenting the Lord Jesus as the true Christ of God, you will know that he is speaking by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God calls on men to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and to commit their lives to Him. The Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus. 1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ 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. *** MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) . Nashville: Thomas Nelson.***