1 John 4

1 John 4:2

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

Hereby, for the present occasion, ye shall take a trial of the spirits, whether they be of God or no; every one, who confesseth Jesus Christ to have been God from all eternity, and in the fulness of time to have taken our nature upon him, and to be come in the flesh to accomplish the perfect work of man’s redemption, is of God, and speaks from God. So by the contraries verse 3.

1 John 4:3

And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

And this is the spirit of that great and notoriously powerful enemy of Christ, whereof ye have been oft premonished, that he should come in the latter days: and now is this spirit of contradiction to the Son of God already in the world.

1 John 4:7

For love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

For true Christian love and charity is the work of God in the heart; and every one, that doth truly love his brother, out of the true grounds of his interest in God and obedience to him, is the child of God, truly regenerate, and hath known and felt the power of God’s Spirit in him.

1 John 4:15

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

The abridgment of all piety and religion is shortly comprised in this rule: Whosoever shall confess Jesus Christ to be the true and coeternal Son of God, sent by his Father into the world for the perfect redemption of him and mankind, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1 John 4:17

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Herein are we so assured of the perfect love of God to us, as that we may have confidence and boldness to stand before his judgment seat, in that great day of account: for that our hearts tell us, that we desire to be every way conformable to his will, labouring towards that holiness and perfection which is in him.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.

And, when this love of God towards us is ascertained to our hearts, it doth perfectly quiet the conscience, which otherwise is full of tumults, and fear, and unquietness: for, where assurance of love is, there is no fear or anxiety, since perfect love casts out fear; neither can these two stand together, for in love there is joy and contentment, but in fear there is vexation and torment.