1 John 4:6 Commentary

Navigator

1 John 4:6

Comments

By contrast those who belong to God recognize the truth in fellow believers. Overlooking all lesser distinctions which preoccupy man’s thinking, John goes to the heart of the matter and again reduces the human race to these two simple categories. This distinction is far more important than any earthly distinction because it will be maintained in the world to come, and even now it is borne out in the characters and lives of men and women. The situation is as if believers have been given a new language in addition to their native language, a new language which is unknown to the world – an illustration used earlier by Christ (John 8:47). These six verses complete what John has to teach about the discernment of spirits.

Application

Those who know God should speak often about the things of God together for they alone are capable of understanding each other and edifying each other.

Questions

Does this approach to discernment sound cliquish - ‘Everyone who agrees with us is of the truth; everyone who does not agree with us is not of the truth’? The important point is not whether they hear us but whether they hear God, for John assumes that what the believer says is consistent with God’s word.

Is it not presumptuous for any to say they know God? The possibility of being certain that we know God is a mystery to the world, for it has never heard his voice nor seen his shape (John 5:37). It is not presumptuous of the believer to accept the testimony of the Spirit that he is a child of God, but it is presumptuous of the world to deny that the Spirit can speak to human hearts.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 John 4:6 Commentary and Bible Study