There are a lot of voices competing for our attention. Some of them sound spiritual. Some of them even sound like truth. But how do we know which ones to trust? First John chapter four gives us two practical tests that help us cut through the noise and anchor ourselves to what actually matters.
What Does It Mean to “Test the Spirits”?
In First John 4:1, the apostle John writes with urgency to believers who were surrounded by confusing and competing spiritual voices. His instruction is direct: “Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
This was not abstract theology. People within the early church were teaching ideas that chipped away at who Jesus actually is. They were blending the gospel with other ideologies and minimizing the truth of Christ’s identity.
That same challenge exists today.
The First Test: What Does It Say About Jesus?
John gives a clear standard for evaluating any spiritual voice or teaching. The test is simple: what does it say about Jesus?
“Every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every Spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:2-3)
What John is defending here is the incarnation. The theological truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man. This is not a minor doctrinal detail. It is the foundation of the gospel itself.
Why Does the Incarnation Matter So Much?
Only God can reveal who God is. Only God can accomplish the kind of salvation humanity needs. And only someone fully human could stand in our place as our substitute. The incarnation is what makes the cross possible and what makes salvation real.
When any teaching waters down the deity or humanity of Jesus, it is not just a theological disagreement. It is an attack on the very heart of the gospel.
John’s encouragement to believers then and now is this: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
We live in a time when Christianity has become a big tent. Many voices are mixing the truth of Jesus with politics, sexuality, humanitarian causes, and cultural ideologies. John calls us back to one voice. The voice of Jesus, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Why Does John Keep Repeating Himself?
If you have been reading through First John, you may have noticed that John circles back to the same themes over and over. Love. Obedience. Knowing God. Loving one another. It can feel repetitive.
But repetition is not a sign of confusion. It is a sign of love.
Any parent knows this. You do not tell your child to brush their teeth once and assume they have it for life. You repeat it because you want them to actually live it. John repeats himself because he knows we forget. He knows we drift. He knows that without constant reminders, we lose our footing.
He is not rambling. He is parenting.
The Second Test: Do You Really Know You Are Loved?
The second test John gives us is deeply personal. It is not a theological exam. It is a heart check. The question is whether we truly know, not just intellectually but experientially, that we are loved by God.
John writes the word “love” nearly twenty times in this passage alone. That is not an accident.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
God Does Not Just Have Love. He Is Love.
There is a difference between someone who expresses love and someone who is love at their very core. God is not simply a being who occasionally feels affectionate toward us. Love is His essence. His character. His nature.
That means when you are in relationship with God, you are not just receiving something He gives. You are abiding in who He is.
And here is something worth sitting with: God does not just love you. He likes you. He enjoys you. The image of a little girl dancing through the house in a princess dress, completely adored by her parents, is a small glimpse of how God sees you. He is not reluctantly committed to you. He delights in you.
What Does It Look Like to Know You Are Loved?
When you truly know you are loved by God, you stop needing other people to validate you. You do not need approval from your coworkers, your family, or your social media followers to feel like you are enough. You have already been affirmed by the God of the universe.
And on the other side, you stop disqualifying yourself because of your past. Many people carry the weight of shame and think, “If you only knew what I’ve done.” But God does know. He sees it all. And He still says you are loved.
Standing in the shadow of the cross is not about feeling less than or more than. It is about walking humbly with a God who has met you exactly where you are.
As the prophet Micah wrote: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
The Woman at the Well: A Picture of What God’s Love Can Do
In John chapter four, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well in the middle of the day. She is there at that hour specifically to avoid people. Shame has been the defining theme of her life. Five failed marriages. A current relationship that carried its own weight of judgment.
Jesus sees all of it. And He does not turn away.
He offers her living water. He tells her everything about her life. And instead of condemnation, He offers her the truth that He is the Messiah she has been waiting for.
She goes back to town, the very town she had been hiding from, and tells everyone to come meet a man who told her everything she had ever done. And they believe.
The line that is worth carrying with you is what Jesus said at the beginning of that encounter: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)
If you only knew. That question is still being asked today.
How Does God’s Love Change the Way We Live?
John makes it clear that knowing God’s love is not just a feeling. It produces something. It changes how we treat other people.
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love His brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom He has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
The way we love others is a direct reflection of how deeply we have received God’s love for ourselves. And our obedience to God is not about earning anything. We cannot earn what has already been freely given. Instead, obedience becomes an act of worship. A natural response to being so overwhelmed by grace that following Him is no longer a burden but a joy.
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.” (1 John 5:4)
How Can We Know God More Deeply?
There is no shortcut to knowing God apart from His Word. The Bible is not just a book to bring to church on weekends. It is the living truth that the Spirit of God uses to speak directly into our lives. Being rooted in Scripture is what keeps us from drifting when the voices get loud.
Paul’s prayer in Ephesians captures it well: “That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Life Application
This week, take time to sit quietly and ask yourself where in your life Jesus might be saying, “If you only knew how much I love you in this area.” Identify one specific space, whether it is a relationship, a struggle, a source of shame, or a place where you are still looking to others for validation, and bring it before God. Let His love speak into that place.
Ask yourself these questions as you go through the week:
– What voices am I listening to most, and do they align with who Jesus says He is?
– Is there an area of my life where I am still trying to earn God’s love rather than receive it?
– How am I loving the people around me, and does that love reflect what I actually believe about God’s love for me?
– Am I spending time in God’s Word consistently enough to know His voice when I hear it?
The love of God is not a concept to agree with. It is a reality to live inside of. Let it reach into every corner of your life this week.
