Test the spirits1Dear friends, do not trust in every spiritual power. Test the various spiritual forces that want to influence your life so that you can determine what is truly from God and what is not. Realise that there are many false prophets in the world, inspired by false spirits.2-3There is a sure way to recognise those inspired by God's Spirit: they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God come in human flesh. Every person who does not acknowledge Jesus in this way is not under the influence of God's Spirit but is under the spirit of antichrist. You have heard that this spirit was coming and I tell you that it is already present in the world.4However, dear children, because you belong to God you have overcome these false spirits and those influenced by them. The Spirit of God lives in you and He is far greater than this spirit of antichrist that is at work in the world.5These other spirits that are at work in the world speak from the ungodly viewpoint of the world and those who belong to the world listen to them.6But we belong to God, and so others who also belong to God listen to what we say. Those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. So this is how you can recognise who is motivated by the Spirit of Truth and those under the influence of what is false: whether they listen to you when you speak God's truth, or whether they refuse to listen.Living a life of love7Dear friends, it is essential that we love our fellow believers and receive love from them, for this love comes from God. Yes, this love is in every person who has received the second birth that God alone can give. Putting this love into action demonstrates to the world that you know God in your experience.8Whoever does not put such love into practice does not have personal knowledge of God, for He is love. How did He reveal His love among us?9By sending His one and only Son into the world that we might have God's eternal life through Him.10You see, this is true love: not that we have loved God, but that He has demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to be the sacrifice offered on the cross, to bring us back to unity with God through the forgiveness of all our sins.11Dear friends, I repeat, if this is the extent of God's love for us, then surely we ought to love one another!12No-one has ever seen God as He is. Yet if we truly put our love for one another into action, His love is revealed and fulfilled in us and the world can see that love.13We can be certain that we continue to live in Him and that He continues to live in us, because we have His own Spirit living in us.14We have seen this clearly and tell others that God the Father sent His Son to be the Saviour of the entire world.15So if anyone truly believes that Jesus is God's Son, God truly lives in him and he lives in God.16In fact we can be sure of this, that we are able to depend completely on the love that God has for us. God is love. So if love is your way of life, it is clear that you live in God and that He lives in you.17This is how God's love is revealed among us, and it is this obedience to Him that will give us confidence on the Day of Judgment. Such love shows the world that we are like the One in whom we believe.18There is no fear in this kind of love that comes from God. His love is perfect and it drives fear out of our lives. The one who is afraid fears that he will be punished by God. Such a one does not have this perfect love operating fully in his life.19We love because we are responding to His great love for us.20Listen, if someone says, "I love God", but you see that he does not love his fellow believer, it is obvious that he lies. For anyone who does not love his brother, who is right in front of him, cannot possibly love God, whom he has never seen with the naked eye.21And, anyway, this is the command that God has given us: whoever truly lives in love for God must also live to love his fellow believer. This is a simple matter of obedience.
Scripture quoted by permission. The passage above is taken from THE TRUTH VERSION. Copyright © 2009 by Colin Urquhart. All rights reserved worldwide. (The Truth New Testament)