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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>1 John 4 New American Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_john/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcc/1_john/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NABRE</a> > 1 John 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_john/3.htm" title="1 John 3">◄</a> 1 John 4 <a href="../1_john/5.htm" title="1 John 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New American Bible Revised Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><section id="ch69004" class="chapter"> <h1 id="cn69004" class="cn"></h1> <p class="pf"><span class="hemb">Testing the Spirits.<a id="rfn69004001-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn69004001-1">*</a></span> <span id="v69004001" class="ver">1</span>Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.<a id="ren69004001-a" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004001-a">a</a> <span id="v69004002" class="ver">2</span>This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God,<a id="ren69004002-b" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004002-b">b</a> <span id="v69004003" class="ver">3</span>and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus<a id="rfn69004003-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn69004003-1">*</a> does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.<a id="ren69004003-c" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004003-c">c</a> <span id="v69004004" class="ver">4</span>You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. <span id="v69004005" class="ver">5</span>They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.<a id="ren69004005-d" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004005-d">d</a> <span id="v69004006" class="ver">6</span>We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.<a id="ren69004006-e" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004006-e">e</a></p> <p class="psec"><span class="hemb">God’s Love and Christian Life.</span> <span id="v69004007" class="ver">7</span><a id="rfn69004007-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn69004007-1">*</a> Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. <span id="v69004008" class="ver">8</span>Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. <span id="v69004009" class="ver">9</span>In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.<a id="ren69004009-f" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004009-f">f</a> <span id="v69004010" class="ver">10</span>In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.<a id="ren69004010-g" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004010-g">g</a> <span id="v69004011" class="ver">11</span>Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. <span id="v69004012" class="ver">12</span>No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.<a id="ren69004012-h" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004012-h">h</a></p> <p><span id="v69004013" class="ver">13</span><a id="rfn69004013-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn69004013-1">*</a> This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. <span id="v69004014" class="ver">14</span>Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. <span id="v69004015" class="ver">15</span>Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. <span id="v69004016" class="ver">16</span>We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.</p> <p>God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. <span id="v69004017" class="ver">17</span>In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.<a id="ren69004017-i" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004017-i">i</a> <span id="v69004018" class="ver">18</span>There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. <span id="v69004019" class="ver">19</span>We love because he first loved us. <span id="v69004020" class="ver">20</span>If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God<a id="rfn69004020-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn69004020-1">*</a> whom he has not seen.<a id="ren69004020-j" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004020-j">j</a> <span id="v69004021" class="ver">21</span>This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.<a id="ren69004021-k" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en69004021-k">k</a></p> </section> <br /><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="intro.htm"><span class="ac">Book Introduction</span></a></h1><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="footnotes.htm"><span class="ac">Footnotes</span></a></h1></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the <i>New American Bible, revised edition</i> © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. 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