I John
Chapter
4
{Verses
1:6: Challenge of Thought Testing}
1~~
Beloved ones/ Royal family of God
stop
believing
every
{persuasive} spirit/'spiritual speaker' {pneuma},
but
keep analyzing/'testing for purity' {dokimazo}
those
spirits/'spiritual speakers'
whether
he
{analyze ONE eloquent speaker at a time}
is
from God,
because
many false teachers/prophets
have
gone out
{to evangelize for Satan}
for
the 'cosmic system'/world.
{Note: RBT says that pneuma here - which is usually translated 'spirit' or even breath of life' is here referring to negatively influential speakers - who are discussing supposedly spiritual matters. John is warning against being taken in by false teaching BECAUSE OF the eloquence of the speaker. Great or not so great eloquence makes no difference. It is the CONTENT of the message that matters! }
{Note: Dokimazo is the Greek assayer's term for testing ore for its mineral content. It is used to analyze the doctrine being taught for its 'divine gold' or purity of content.}
2-3~~By
this, learn to recognize
the
{influential} spirit/'spiritual speaker' {pneuma}
who
is from God.
Every
spirit/'spiritual speaker' {pneuma}
{referring to honorable ministers here}
who
'states the case'/communicates/teaches {homologeo}
that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is
from God.
{Note: John is warning against the 'Gnostic' false teachers/prophets. They taught that Christ was an optical illusion and God never came in the flesh. These false teachers were very intelligent and eloquent teachers. They were leading many of John's congregation astray! And, John is warning us that most false teachers emphasize some form of false prophecy, so he calls them 'false prophets'.}
3~~In
fact, every {persuasive} spirit/'spiritual speaker'
who
does not teach/acknowledge this Jesus
{Jesus of Orthodox Christianity}
{then
that false teacher}
is
not from God.
Furthermore,
this {false teaching} is the
spirit/'persuasive
influence' of the antichrist,
about
whom {the antichrist}
you
have heard that he is coming {in Tribulation}
and
even now {Church Age}
{the
antichrist}
is
already in the world.
{Note: RBT says in the Church Age, all false teachers and false 'persuasive speakers' who preach usually eschatology (prophecy), but leave out soteriology (salvation) and Christology are representatives of Satan on earth. This also includes all believers who consistently reside in the cosmic system.}
4~~You
and only you are from God,
dear
children
{John's congregation},
and
you have overcome them
{momentum tests},
because
greater is He
{God the Holy Spirit}
Who
is in you
than
he {Satan}
who
is in the world/'cosmic system'.
5~~They
{false teachers and Gnostics here},
and
only they,
are
from the world/'cosmic system';
therefore,
they teach
from
the source of the world/'cosmic system',
and
the world/'cosmic system'
hears/understands/'listens
to' them.
6~~We
and only we
{orthodox pastors - faithfully teach the Word}
are
from God,
and
he who has come to know God
{student positive to faithful bible teaching}
keeps
listening to us.
But he who is not from God does not listen to us.
For
this reason, we have come to know
the
spirit/'spiritual significance' of the truth/'bible doctrine'
and
the spirit/'persuading influence' of deceit/error.
{Verses
7-12: Dynamics of Impersonal Love}
7~~Beloved
ones
{fellow members of the Royal Family},
let
us love {agapao} one another,
because
{agape type} love
{as a functioning virtue}
comes
from God.
Everyone
who loves
{agapao - comes only from believers}
has
been born from the source of God
and
has come to know God.
{Note: Agapao is the function of unconditional impersonal love. It is based on the integrity of the subject, not the object of love. It only occurs in believers who are in fellowship and filled with God the Holy Spirit. There are two requirements for agape type love - 1) salvation 2) learning about God by studying the Mind of Christ. You can not love who or what you do not know - THAT is pseudo-love.}
8~~When
anyone
{believer out of fellowship and in the cosmic system}
does
not love
{unconditional impersonal love toward all mankind}
he
has not come to know God
{a believer without doctrine resident in his soul},
because
God is {agape type} love.
9~~By
this,
the
love of God was manifest in our case
because
the God
{God the Father}
has
sent
His
unique/'one and only' Son into the world
in
order that we might live through Him.
10~~By
this . . . the love
{as a virtue}
exists.
Not
because we have loved God,
but
because He {God the Father}
has
loved us
and
sent His Son . . . {as}
a
propitiation/'atoning sacrifice'
for
our sins.
11~~Beloved
{Royal Family of God},
if
God so loved us
-
and He did and does -
we
also have become obligated
to
keep loving each other.
12~~About
God,
no
one has ever seen God
{God the Father};
but
if we love each other,
the
God
{God the Holy Spirit}
resides
in us
and
His love
{divine impersonal unconditional agape love}
have
been fulfilled/accomplished
in
us.
{Verses
13-21: Dynamics of the Divine Dynasphere as Power System}
13~~We
have come to realize
{by this function of unconditional impersonal love}
that
we are residing in it
{Divine Dynasphere (DD)/in fellowship}
and
He
{God the Holy Spirit as the power system in the DD}
resides
in us,
because,
by means of His Spirit,
He
has given it {the DD} to us.
14~~In
deed, we have perceived
and
keep confirming
that
the Father has sent His Son
to
be the Savior of the world.
15~~If
anyone confesses/acknowledges {homologeo}
that
Jesus is the Son of God . . .
the
God resides in him
and
he . . . {resides} in God.
16~~Furthermore,
we have come to know
and
have come to believe
this
love
{unconditional impersonal agape divine virtue}
that
God keeps having toward us.
In
fact, the one who resides in that love
{love complex - the DD}
remains
in 'association with God'/'the plan of God'
and
God
{God the Holy Spirit}
'stands
fast in him'/'remains in association with him'.
17-18~~By
this
{living in the DD},
{virtue
unconditional agape} love
has
been 'brought to completion with us'/'achieved in us' . . .
that
we might have confidence
in
the day of evaluation/judgment . . .
because
just as He is
{the incarnate Christ in the prototype DD},
so
also we are in this world. 18~~
Fear
does not exist in love!
{in the love complex of the DD}
But
mature/perfect love
{unconditional impersonal virtue agape}
'drives
out'/banishes this fear,
because
fear includes/involves punishment.
In
fact, the one {believer}
who
is afraid
has
not been matured/perfected
in
the love {complex}.
{virtue unconditional agape}
{Description
of a SuperGrace believer/ pivot of a client nation}
19~~We
love
{virtue of unconditional impersonal love toward all mankind} . . .
because
He has first loved us.
20~~
If someone
{a believer out of fellowship}
should
allege,
"I
love God,"
-
yet he hates his brother/'fellow believer' -
he
is a liar.
For
he who does not love his brother/'fellow believer'
-
whom he has seen -
is
not able to be loving God . . .
Whom
he has not seen.
21~~Furthermore,
we
have this mandate from God,
"That
he who loves God
{motivating virtue}
should
also love his brother/'fellow believer."
{Note: Personal love for God is our motivating virtue.}
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