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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 1 John 4:1 - 4:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Beloved (agapētoi). Three times in this chapter (1Jo 4:1, 1Jo 4:7, 1Jo 4:11) we have this tender address on love.
Believe not every spirit (mē panti pneumati pisteuete). “Stop believing,” as some were clearly carried away by the spirits of error rampant among them, both Docetic and Cerinthian Gnostics. Credulity means gullibility and some believers fall easy victims to the latest fads in spiritualistic humbuggery.
Prove the spirits (dokimazete ta pneumata). Put them to the acid test of truth as the metallurgist does his metals. If it stands the test like a coin, it is acceptable (dokimos, 2Co 10:18), otherwise it is rejected (adokimos, 1Co 9:27; 2Co 13:5-7).
Many false prophets (polloi pseudoprophētai). Jesus had warned people against them (Mat 7:15), even when they as false Christs work portents (Mat 24:11, Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22). It is an old story (Luk 6:26) and recurs again and again (Act 13:6; Rev 16:13; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:10) along with false teachers (2Pe 2:1).
Are gone out (exelēluthasin). Perfect active indicative of exerchomai. Cf. aorist in 1Jo 2:19. They are abroad always.