LOVE - RENEW YOUR MIND 1

Welcome back! Let's Pray:  Father, God, thank you for leading and guiding me/us into all of the truth by your precious Holy Spirit, I acknowledge you in all of my ways right now, and thank you for enlightening my eyes and renewing my mind to know You, to know Love, and to never ever fail.  Thank you In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

Well the journey always walks in Love and remember God is Love! Let's check out 1 John 4 - in the 3 versions: KJV, AMP, MSG (and be sure to have your journal handy, for notes and questions - let me know if you have any comments or questions - as this is a 'discussion' :-))

 

King James Version (KJV)   1 John 4

   ¹Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

   ²Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

   ³And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

   ⁴Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

   ⁵They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

   ⁶We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

   ⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

   ⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

   ⁹In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

   ¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

   ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

   ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

   ¹³Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

   ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

   ¹⁵Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

   ¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

   ¹⁷Herein 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.

   ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

   ¹⁹We love him, because he first loved us.

   ²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

   ²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

 

AMPLIFIED BIBLE: 1 John 4
¹BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

    ²By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];

    ³And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would ^[a]annul, destroy, ^[b]sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [^[c]nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.

    ⁴Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.

    ⁵They proceed from the world and are of the world; therefore it is out of the world [its^[d]whole economy morally considered] that they speak, and the world listens (pays attention) to them.

    ⁶We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to ^[e]get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.

    ⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him].

    ⁸He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.

    ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or ^[f]unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him.

    ¹⁰In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

    ¹¹Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another.

    ¹²No man has at any time [yet] seen God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us and His love (that love which is essentially His) is brought to completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in us!

    ¹³By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit.

    ¹⁴And [besides] we ourselves have seen (have deliberately and steadfastly contemplated) and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son [as the] Savior of the world.

    ¹⁵Anyone who confesses (acknowledges, owns) that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides (lives, makes His home) in him and he [abides, lives, makes his home] in God.

    ¹⁶And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.

    ¹⁷In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.

    ¹⁸There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love^[g]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear ^[h]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].

    ¹⁹We love Him, because He first loved us.

    ²⁰If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [^[i]in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.

    ²¹And this command (charge, order, injunction) we have from Him: that he who loves God shall love his brother [^[j]believer] also.

    

Footnotes:

• 1 John 4:3 An ancient reading.
• 1 John 4:3 The Latin Vulgate.
• 1 John 4:3 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• 1 John 4:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• 1 John 4:6 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• 1 John 4:9 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament.
• 1 John 4:18 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• 1 John 4:18 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
• 1 John 4:20 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
• 1 John 4:21 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

 

 

The Message (MSG) 1 John 4

Don't Believe Everything You Hear

   ¹ My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world.

   ^{2 -3}Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

   ^{4 -6}My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.

God Is Love

    ^{7 -10}My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

   ^{11 -12}My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

   ^{13 -16}This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

To Love, to Be Loved

    ^{17 -18}God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

   ¹⁹We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

   ^{20 -21}If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both. 

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