Various instructions
4
Test the spirits
1 Ἀγαπητοί, μὴ παντὶ πνεύματι πιστεύετε, ἀλλὰ δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα, εἰ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐξεληλύθασιν εἰς τὸν κόσμον. 2 Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκεται* τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ· πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ ὁμολογεῖ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν, 3 καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ μὴ ὁμολογεῖ† Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν‡ ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα§ ἐκ* τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν· καί, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου, ὃ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται—καί, νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστὶν ἤδη.
4 Ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστε, τεκνία, καὶ νενικήκατε αὐτούς, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ ἐν ὑμῖν ἢ ὁ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. 5 Αὐτοὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἰσίν· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου λαλοῦσιν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτῶν ἀκούει. 6 Ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν Θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν· ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν—ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.
Love one another
7 Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν Θεόν. 8 Ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν Θεόν, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν. 9 Ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν· ὅτι τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Θεὸς† εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ. 10 Ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήσαμεν‡ τὸν Θεὸν ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς—καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν. 11 Ἀγαπητοί, εἰ οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν.
As He is so are we in this world
12 Θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται. Ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μένει καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ τετελειωμένη ἐστὶν ἐν ἡμῖν.§ 13 Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν. 14 Καί, ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ Πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν Υἱὸν Σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου. 15 Ὃς ἂν* ὁμολογήσῃ† ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ Θεῷ. 16 Καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγνώκαμεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ Θεῷ μένει, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ.‡ 17 Ἐν τούτῳ τετελείωται ἡ ἀγάπη μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν· ἵνα παρρησίαν ἔχωμεν§ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, ὅτι καθὼς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ.
There is no fear in love
18 Φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ· ἀλλ᾿ ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει· ὁ δὲ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ. 19 Ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν αὐτὸν* ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος† ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.
20 Ἐάν τις εἴπῃ ὅτι «Ἀγαπῶ τὸν Θεόν,» καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισεῖ,‡ ψεύστης ἐστίν. Ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ§ ὃν ἑώρακεν, τὸν Θεὸν ὃν οὐχ ἑώρακεν πῶς* δύναται ἀγαπᾶν; 21 Καί, ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ· ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.
* 4:2 γινωσκεται f35 [67%] RP,HF,CP ¦ γινωσκετε A,B,C [25%] OC,TR,NU ¦ γινωσκομεν ℵ [8%] (Since most versions are based on TR or NU, we are used to the 2nd person, which may have contributed to the use of this passage as a ‘litmus’ test for demonization.) † 4:3 ομολογει f35 ℵ (73.5%) RP,HF,CP ¦ 1 τον A,B (24.2%) OC,TR,NU ¦ omit sentence [homoioteleuton] (2%) ¦ one other variant (0.2%) ‡ 4:3 χριστον f35 (91.4%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ — A,B (6%) NU ¦ κυριον ℵ (alone) ¦ omit sentence [homoioteleuton] (2%) ¦ two other variants (0.4%) § 4:3 εν σαρκι εληλυθοτα f35 ℵ (94.8%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ — A,B (2.6%) NU ¦ omit sentence [homoioteleuton] (2%) ¦ three other variants (0.6%) * 4:3 εκ rell ¦ — [30%] † 4:9 ο θεος rell ¦ — [15%] ‡ 4:10 ηγαπησαμεν f35 A [98.2%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ ηγαπηκαμεν B [1.6%] NU ¦ ηγαπησεν ℵ § 4:12 τετελειωμενη εστιν εν ημιν f35 (90.7%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ ~ 3412 A (7.9%) NU ¦ ~ 1342 ℵB (0.8%) ¦ three other variants (0.6%) * 4:15 αν f35 ℵ,A [92.5%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ εαν B [7.5%] NU † 4:15 ομολογηση rell ¦ ομολογησει [16%] ¦ ολολογη A [1%] ¦ ομολογει [1%] ‡ 4:16 αυτω f35 A [37%] OC,TR ¦ 1 μενει ℵB [63%] RP,HF,CP,NU (Since the repetition of the verb is unnecessary, does it become the harder reading?) § 4:17 εχωμεν rell ¦ εχομεν ℵ [12%] ¦ σχωμεν [1%] * 4:19 αυτον f35 [84%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ — A,B [2.6%] NU ¦ τον θεον ℵ048 [13.4%] † 4:19 πρωτος rell ¦ πρωτον [15%] ‡ 4:20 μισει f35 048 [74%] ¦ μιση ℵA,B [26%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP,NU (The point of the argument hinges on the hating being fact, so the Indicative is correct.) § 4:20 αυτου rell ¦ — [1%] OC * 4:20 πως f35 A,048 (95.8%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ ου ℵB (4.2%) NU