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1 John 4:4–6
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
The believers in Ephesus had been greatly troubled by the disturbance caused by the false teachers. In today’s passage, the Apostle reassures his readers that they have already overcome the spirits of error and that they need not fear the false teachers whose departure had so unsettled them.
The reason for this confidence is not their own strength but the indwelling presence of the Spirit of truth: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The “them” refers to the false teachers and the spirits behind them. John assures his readers that the victory has already been secured. The Christians of Ephesus might have felt embattled, surrounded by heretical pressure, troubled in their assurance. Yet John tells them that they have already overcome. The decisive battle was waged not by them but by the One who indwells them, and His power exceeds that of every opposing spirit.
The contrast that follows describes two communities and two voices. “They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us” (vv. 5–6). The false teachers spoke from the world, and the world recognized its own voice in them. The Apostles spoke from God, and those who knew God recognized the voice of their Father in their teaching.
This observation has profound implications. Why do some find the gospel compelling while others dismiss it? The reception of the message reveals the nature of the hearer. Those who are from God hear the voice of God in the Apostolic message; those who are from the world cannot. This is a sober observation about the spiritual condition of the human heart. It is also a comfort to those who labor in evangelism without seeing the fruit they long for, since the faithful proclamation of the gospel is never wasted but always finds those whom the Father has given to the Son.
John sums up the matter at the end of verse 6: “By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” There are only two spirits operative in the world: the Spirit of truth, by whom the Apostolic gospel is heard and embraced, and the spirit of error, by which that same gospel is rejected. The line between them runs through every human heart, and where it falls is determined not by intellect or sophistication but by the work of God Himself.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The Christian who finds the gospel compelling and the false teachers’ alternatives hollow may take this very response as evidence of the Spirit at work within him. The voice that we recognize and pay heed to reveals to whom we belong. Let us continue to listen for the voice of our Father in the Apostolic Word.
For further study
- John 8:42–47
- John 10:27–28
The bible in a year
- Jeremiah 29–30
- Titus 3
- Jeremiah 31–36
- Philemon 1–Hebrews 1