1 John 4 & 5
1 John Chapter 4
1 Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, to see if they are of God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
There is a figure of speech called metonymy: Met-o'-ny-my; or, Change of Noun When one name or noun is used instead of another, to which it stands in a certain relation. The word spirit here the manifestations of holy spirit. In this case the context makes it clear that “spirit” refers specifically to prophecies. The Christian is not to believe every “spirit,” i.e., every prophecy and spiritual utterance, but test them to see if they are from God because many “false prophets” have gone out into the world. The next verse continues the thought: every prophecy that acknowledges that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God, while those prophecies that do not are not from God. The REV
Commentary for: 1 John 4:1
Simply because someone says something is from God does not make it so. There are firmly convinced they are working for God and they are completely deceived they are working for the devil. There are also those who are trying their best to work for God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ but they just get it wrong they fail to understand things from the word because of past teaching that is not correct or they fail to factor in something like administrations, customs, idioms, ect. All mistakes with the word occur through ignorance or wrong teaching.
Here is the verse
translated from Aramaic 1 My dear ones, do not
be trusting unto all spirits, but be distinguishing the spirits; if they are
from Alaha {God}, because of the many false prophets gone out into the world.
We all have the responsibility of rightly dividing (2 Timothy 2:15) the word of God. If someone else makes a mistake that is no excuse for you just accepting it. You are responsible for your walk with God. You can figure out what is true and what isn’t. If you do not know how to figure that out there is a wonderful class on youtube called One Day with the Creator where you get taught all the ways the bible interprets itself. It is a 24-hour class that is free.
2 This is how you know the spirit from God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world.
Remember the devil knows how to do lying signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:1-11). We need to be aware that not every prophecy comes from God. All prophecies must be weighed against what the word. If they do not acknowledge Jesus Christ it is then a false prophecy. If they contradict anything in the word of such as telling you to lie they are a false prophecy. If someone predicts says on such and such a day the lord will return that is a lie and false prophecy.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, therefore they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. Whoever knows God hears us, and whoever is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The ones we have overcome are those who are of the world and the anti-christ the next question would be why or how we overcame these forces and it is set very clearly everyone mentioned and it is set forth in the next chapter:
1 John 5:
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our trust.
5 And who
is the one who is overcoming the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is
the Son of God?
Our victory is clearly set in those 2 verses. Now this victory was a gift of grace given by God because of what his son our brosky accomplished at the time of the resurrection not at his death but when he got up from the dead. It was paid for by his death but the victory comes in the resurrection.
7 Beloved, let us love one another since love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Every time the word love is used it is agape or agapao which is always is talking about God’s Love. Those who have not taken Jesus as their Lord or believe God raised him from the dead cannot really know or understand this love. They can see it demonstrated and know that they want it but there is a spiritual aspect to this love that they are just not capable of understanding.
9This is how the love of God was revealed among us: that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we could live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also are obligated to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us and his love has been perfected in us.
Sounds like a very worthy goal since God lives in us and have that love perfected in us. The only way that can happen is if you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not a suggestion from God but an obligation on our parts.
An obligation is defined as:
ob·li·ga·tion ˌäbləˈɡāSH(ə)n
noun
noun obligation plural
noun obligations
an act or course of
action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.
the condition of being
morally or legally bound to do something.
duty commitment
responsibility moral imperative function task job assignment commission burden
charge onus liability accountability requirement debt trust compulsion duty
indebtedness duress necessity pressure constraint
a debt of gratitude for
a service or favor.
a binding agreement
committing a person to a payment or other action.
If we like it or not, we are bound to each other. We are to be especially good to the household of faith (Gal.6:10) We are members of each other. (Romans 12:5) we are closer than any other bond as far as I can tell. So love your brothers and sisters the way Christ loves the Church of the body.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: because he has given us of his spirit.
14 And we
have seen, and now testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of
the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him,
and he in God.
That is awesome that God lives in us. The power of God resides in us to be used as God determines.
16 And we have known and have believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever is living in love is living in God, and God is living in him. 17 By this, love is brought to its goal with us, so that we will have confidence in the Day of Judgment, because just as he is, even so are we, although still in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother, he is a liar, for whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen is not able to love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this commandment from him, whoever loves God must love his brother also.
So, if you want to hate your brother then you cannot love God.
1 John 5
1 John
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and
everyone loving the one who gave birth also loves the one who has been born of
him.
Here is how the Aramaic
translates this verse:
1 All the
ones who believe that Yeshua {Yeshua} is M’shikha {The Anointed One}, are born
from Alaha {God}. And all who are loving unto The Parent, are loving also unto
that One who was born from Him.
Jesus is called the
anointed one in the Aramaic the word Alaha simply means god but it is not the
god that the muslims worship but
God the father of our
Lord Jesus in this case.
“Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Calvinists use this verse to
prove that “regeneration” precedes a person believing. They teach that the
person who believes (now) has already been born again, and that it would be
impossible to believe now unless one had been born again. But the verse does
not say what the Calvinist’s teach. At the very instant a person believes in
Jesus, he or she is born again. The people John is addressing in 1 John (still)
believed at that time (thus the present tense of “believes”) but were born
again when they believed for the first time.
2 This is
how we know that we are loving the children of God: when we are loving God and
doing his commandments.
This is talking about
the commandment given in chapter 1 John 1:5 - 7. That sets the theme for the
entire book. Of course the theme is expanded upon in the church epistles in For
this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments
are not grievous. It is not speaking specifically to the 10
commandments. I am in no way putting them down just that they are not what is
being talked about in this section. Most of the 10 Commandments are reiterated in the church epistles. The Sabbath day is not.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
Bullinger notes that
this is a result of his love being shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5).
Burdensome is the Greek word barys it is mostly translated grievous that is how
the KJV handles it
1 John
5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous.
It says they are not
grievous it never says they will always be easy. Change is one of the hardest
things to face. It’s comfortable to go along believing what you have always
believed. To find out you have been wrong and to change your thinking can be
difficult. If you believe the moon is made out of cheese and someone presents
you with the truth that it is a huge rock orbiting the earth that takes effort
to change your thinking. When I was younger there were certain things that I
was taught that were incorrect When Jesus Christ was being crucified he cried
out “ Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?” (Math. 27:46) we were taught it was not a good translation that
it should be translated “My God My God for this purpose was I kept”. Now when
you have a chance go read Psalms 22 you will find that it says my God my God
why hast thou forsaken me. It is a direct quote and the subject of the psalm
was what would happen to Jesus Christ on the cross. I had to change my thinking
to what the word of God says.
Why should we change
our thinking? A good question. In Romans 12 has an answer to the question.
Romans
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In verse 2 the word
conformed is the Greek word suschématizó we get our english word scheme from
this word. We are not to fall prey to the schemes of this world. We are to
change from a caterpillar to a butterfly, that’s the word transformed.
4 For
everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory
that has overcome the world—our trust.
This is the same word
used in this verse.
“have overcome.” This
verb, nikaō (#3528 νικάω), is in the perfect tense, portraying the action as
completed, we have overcome them (those who are of the spirit of error, of the
world, and of antichrist [1 John 4:3, 5-6]). The key to this victory is laid
out in 1 John 5:4-5; an examination of the tenses used in these verses is very
revealing: The one who has been born of God (past tense) overcomes (present
tense) the world; and our saving faith is the victory that has overcome (past
tense) the world. The one overcoming the world (present tense) is he who
believes (present tense) in Jesus as the Son of God. Hence, our faith in Jesus,
by which we were born of God, secured the victory that has overcome the world.
In this sense the victory is past. It is portrayed as finished, the victory is
won for us once we have this faith and are born of God. On the other hand, the
overcoming is also presently unfolding, after our new birth and our believing
in Christ as the Son of God. In essence, our saving faith has secured for us
the victory that is being lived out until its fruition. We have been
transferred to the winning team, and it is impossible for the losers to catch
up—though they may score some points against us. Victory is ours but the game
is nevertheless still being played until the clock runs out. In a like manner,
our overcoming the world is both a past reality and a present progression.
5 And who
is the one who is overcoming the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is
the Son of God?
Again the word overcome
the same would apply in verse 5.
6 This is
the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but
by the water and the blood. And the spirit is what testifies to this, because
the spirit is truth.
7 Indeed, there are three testifying:
“there are three
testifying.” Some English versions have a shorter rendition of 1 John 5:7-8
than the King James Version does. The reason that there are different
translations of these verses is that some Greek texts contain an addition that
was not original, and that addition was placed into some English versions, such
as the KJV. The note in the NIV Study Bible, which is well known for its ardent
belief in the Trinity, says, “The addition is not found in any Greek manuscript
or NT translation prior to the 16th century.”
Most modern versions
are translated from Greek texts without the addition. We will quote the NIV84:
“For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the
three are in agreement.” We agree with the textual scholars, and conclude from
the evidence of the Greek texts that the statement that the Father, the Word
and the Holy Spirit are “one” was added to the Word of God by men and should
not be in the Bible.
There are many Trinitarian
scholars who freely admit that the Greek text from which the KJV is translated
was adjusted in this verse to support the Trinity. The Greek scholar A. T.
Robertson, author of A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of
Historical Research, and the multi-volume Word Pictures in the New Testament,
writes:
At this point [1 John
5:7] the Latin Vulgate gives the words in the Textus Receptus, found in no
Greek MS. save two late cursives (162 in the Vatican Library of the fifteenth
century, [No.] 34 of the sixteenth century in Trinity College, Dublin). Jerome
did not have it. Erasmus did not have it in his first edition, but rashly
offered to insert it if a single Greek MS. had it, and [manuscript number] 34
was produced with the insertion, as if made to order. Some Latin scribe caught
up Cyprian’s exegesis and wrote it on the margin of his text, and so it got
into the Vulgate and finally into the Textus Receptus by the stupidity of
Erasmus” (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Baker Books,
Grand Rapids, 1933, reprinted 1960, Vol. 6, pp. 240 and 241).
Robertson shows how
this addition entered the text. It was a marginal note. Since all texts were
hand-copied, when a scribe, copying a text, accidentally left a word or
sentence out of his copy, he would place it in the margin in hopes that the
next scribe would copy it back into the text. Unfortunately, scribes
occasionally did not make the distinction between what a previous scribe had
left out of the last copy and wrote in the margin, and marginal notes that
another scribe had written in the margin to help him understand the text.
Therefore, some marginal notes got copied into the text as Scripture.
Usually textual
additions are easy to spot because the “new” text will differ from all the
other texts. However, there are times when people adore their theology more
than the God-breathed original, and they fight for the man-made addition as if
it were the original words of God. This has been the case with 1 John 5:7-8,
and we applaud the honesty of the translators of modern versions who have left
it out of their translations. The famous textual scholar, F. F. Bruce, does not
even mention the addition in his commentary on 1 John (The Epistles of John).
The International Critical Commentary does not mention it either. The
conservative commentator R. C. H. Lenski, in his 12 volume commentary on the
New Testament, only mentions that it is proper to leave the addition out. He
writes: “The R. V. [Revised Version] is right in not even noting in the margin
the interpolation found in the A.V. [KJV].” Henry Alford, author of the The
Greek Testament, a Greek New Testament with extensive critical notes and
commentary, writes:
…OMITTED BY ALL GREEK
MANUSCRIPTS previous to the beginning of the 16th century;
ALL the GREEK FATHERS
(even when producing texts in support of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity: as
e.g., by [abbreviated names of Church “fathers”] Clem Iren Hipp Dion Ath Did
Bas Naz Nys Ephih Caes Chr Procl Andr Damasc (EC Thl Euthym);
ALL THE ANCIENT
VERSIONS (including the Vulgate (as it came from Jerome, see below) and (though
interpolated in the modern editions, the Syriac;
AND MANY LATIN FATHERS
(viz. Novat Hil Lucif Ambr Faustin Leo Jer Aug Hesych Bede). [Emphasis his]
(Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, Moody Press, Chicago, 1968, Vol. 4, p.
503).
With the spurious
addition gone, it is clear that there is no reference to the Trinity in 1 John
5:7-8. The context is speaking of believing that Jesus is the Son of God (1
John 5:5 and 5:10). There are three that testify that Jesus is the Son of God:
the spirit that Jesus received at his baptism, the water of his baptism and the
blood that he shed.
Scripture says, “We
accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the
testimony of God which He has given about his Son” (1 John 5:9). This verse is
so true! How often people accept man’s testimony and believe what men say, but
do not believe what God says. We need to accept the testimony of God that He
has given about His Son, and agree with the testimony of the spirit, the water
and the blood, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. [For more information about
this verse, see, B. F. Westcott, The Epistles of St. John: The Greek Text with
Notes (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1966, pp. 202-209. Sir Isaac Newton, An Historical
Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture, reprinted in 1841 (John Green,
121 Newgate Street, London), pp. 1-58. Don Snedeker, Our Heavenly Father Has No
Equals (International Scholars Publications, San Francisco, 1998, pp.
118-120)]. Commentary for: 1 John 5:7
8 the
spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. 9 If we
receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater, for this is
the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. 10 Whoever
believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not
believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony
that God has testified concerning his Son.
There is a figure in
this verse polyptoton, the repetition
caused by using both the noun and verb forms for the same word.
11And
this is the testimony: that God gave to us life in the Age to come, and this
life is in his Son.
Verse 11 is talking
about the Millennial Kingdom. We will not see the full benefit of many promises
till the Millennial Kingdom arrives such as what is talked about in 1 Peter
2:24. By his stripes we were healed. If
you’ll look around you will notice there are Christians getting sick. They are
also dying which is the ultimate end of sickness. This is a figure of speech
when God talks about the future as if it has already happened.Prolepsis
(ampliatio) An Anticipation of some future Time which cannot yet be enjoyed:
but has to be deferred.
12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not
have life.
13 I have
written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that
you can know that you have life in the Age to come.
Most version translate
you have life as eternal life, it is the Greek word aiōnios it is translated
eternal (42x), everlasting (25x), the world began (with G5550) (2x), since the
world began (with G5550) (1x), for ever (1x) from what I saw it should be
translated everlasting life. We do not have eternal life! Were were not
floating around someplace during the setup of the cosmos we were not there when
God made Adam and Eve we were not floating around during the gospel period no.
I came into being in 1953. What I have is everlasting life. If the lord was to
come back tonight I would never taste death. If he tarries for another thousand
years I probably won’t last. So if I fall asleep (Die) Then when I am aroused I
won’t know about the thousand years it will seem instantaneous. Then I will no
longer get sick but I will be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever.
14 And
this is the confidence that we have toward him: that if we ask anything
according to his will he hears us.
Many people pray for
things that are not according to God’s will. To get to know God's will you will
have to crack the book or open the app at bare minimum. There are going to be
times where you have to use a tool. We have an excellent video called Bible
Tools that explains the how of using the various bible tools you can find
online.
If we are praying for
God to take smoking away from you it won’t happen you're the one who smokes
you're the one who has to quit. Can God help you in your effort? I believe he
can and will if you ask him for his help but you're the one who has to do the
quilting.
15 And if
we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have the requests that
we have asked of him.
Now Praying is not
magic. You can pray all you want for a red Lamborghini one will not suddenly
appear in your driveway. You will have to pay for it if you want one.
16 If
anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not resulting in death, he will ask God,
and he will give him life for those who commit sins not resulting in death.
There is a sin resulting in death; I do not say that he should ask concerning
this.
We used to call this
born of the seed of the serpent. If you look at John 8 in verse 44 Jesus tells
the heads of the temple you are of your father the devil. My understanding of
the last part of this verse is talking about.
17 All
unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not resulting in death.
This would be the kind
of sins we can commit. Remember in Ephesians says we are sealed we can’t lose
what has been sealed in. Look at Acts 2:28
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
The word gift is the
Greek word dórea
dórea: a gift
Original Word: δωρεά, ᾶς,
ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun,
Feminine
Transliteration: dórea
Phonetic Spelling:
(do-reh-ah')
Short Definition: a
free gift
Definition: a (free)
gift, a gift (without repayment).
Here is how the word
gift is defined:
gift ɡift
noun
noun gift plural noun
gifts
a thing given willingly
to someone without payment; a present.
an act of giving
something as a present.
present handout
donation offeringbestowal bonus award endowment tip gratuitylargesse care
package goody bag freebie perkbenefaction
a very easy task or
unmissable opportunity.
a natural ability or
talent.
talent flair aptitude
facility knack bentability expertise capacity capability facultyendowment
strength genius brilliance skill artistry
verb
verb gift 3rd person
present gifts past tense gifted past participle gifted gerund or present
participle gifting
give (something) as a
gift, especially formally or as a donation or bequest.
present (someone) with
a gift or gifts.
present give bestow
confer donateendow award accord grant hand over make over
endow someone with
(something).
Web definitions
endow: give qualities
or abilities to
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=gift
A gift is something
given to you by someone. If I gave you a pen then it is your pen I have no claim on
it. If you use it as a garden hoe that is your choice I no longer have claim on
it you can hoe away with you pen and it’s still your pen.
18 We
know that everyone who has been born of God does not continue sinning, but the
One who was born of God keeps him, and the Wicked One does not touch him.
“everyone who has been
born of God.” This phrase refers to Christians, who are born of God. The next
phrase, “but the One who has been born of God,” refers to Jesus Christ. Thus,
the sentence reads, “We know that everyone who has been born [gegenēmenos] of
God [i.e., the Christian] does not continue sinning, but the One who was born
[gennētheis] of God [i.e., Christ] keeps him.” Twice this verse uses the word
for “born of God,” gennaō (#1080 γεννάω). Both instances are past tense, but
the first occurrence is the perfect tense (gegenēmenos), equivalent to our
English past tense, while the second is in the aorist tense (gennētheis), a
snapshot of a one time past event. This verse clearly makes a difference
between two people who were born of God. Elsewhere John always uses the perfect
(past tense) to refer to Christians born of God; it would be strange to switch
to the aorist in this verse. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that there is no
usage of this aorist form for the new birth, but all refer to natural birth
(Gal. 4:29; Heb. 11:23), like Christ’s natural birth having been fathered of
God (1 John 5:1). Hence, Jesus uses this word with regard to himself in John
18:37 (See, Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament). John uses the
aorist and perfect to distinguish two different parties in 1 John 5:1, the
general Christian born of God (perfect tense) and the Father who begets (aorist
tense), showing that he thinks in distinction between the two tenses.
The first person spoken
of in the perfect is the general believer, as seen by this same usage in 1 John
2:29; 3:9; 4:7 and 5:1, 4; the second person in this verse spoken of as “born
of God” is Christ. Since we have established there are two different people
spoken of as born of God, it makes sense that the second, aorist usage would
not be another Christian, partly because Christians are always spoken of in the
perfect tense by John. There is, however, a variant Greek reading which reads,
“He who is born of God keeps himself,” placing the duty of keeping on the
believer himself. Nevertheless, this reading is highly unlikely to be original
(Metzger, Textual Commentary). Further, as Bart Ehrman has pointed out, “if the
aorist were taken to refer to the believer, the point of the verse would be
considerably muddied; no longer would it present a clear contrast between the
believer who is liable to sin and Christ who keeps from sin. Now it contrasts
the believer who is born of God and yet liable to sin and, presumably, the same
believer who was born of God and who protects himself from sin” (Bart Ehrman,
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, p. 71). Ehrman also points out why early
scribes would alter the text from “him” to “himself.” For some of the early
Trinitarians saying that Jesus was born of God was a problem, and it was much
easier to have the birth refer to Christians.
19 We
know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the Wicked
One.
To understand verse 19
you need to read Luke 4:6 where the devil says to Christ that he was given the
power of this world. Jesus did not say oh no you don’t the power belongs to
God. Every other place the devil spouted his lies Christ called him on it. The
devil must have been right then.
20 And we
know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we can
know the True One, and we are in the True One by means of his Son Jesus Christ.
This one is the true God, and life in the Age to come.
The life in the age to
come is again talking Millennial Kingdom.
21 Little
children, guard yourselves from idols.
We are told to avoid
idols. That is not just statues it is anything we put ahead of God. It can look
and sound so right but it can be so wrong. Currently many have decided that
they must use God’s and Jesus Christs Hebrew names. Here is a question did you need
that to get born again? NO! You didn’t. It was many years from the time I got
born again till I first heard those names. It really is just an attempt to put
you under law. Maybe you should read the book of Galatians. The law was a great
schoolmaster but we now have the spirit and we have been born again. We no longer need the schoolmaster we have holy spirit.
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