--- title: "The Third Test of Fellowship" description: "A practical guide to discerning the truth in a confusing world and understanding why radical love for others is the only way to genuinely connect with the Divine." image: "" book: "1 John" bookId: "1JN" testament: "new" startChapter: 4 startVerse: 1 endChapter: 4 endVerse: 21 coversChapters: [4] aiTitle: "The Ultimate Test: How to Spot What is True and Why Love is the Only Path Forward" aiDescription: "A practical guide to discerning the truth in a confusing world and understanding why radical love for others is the only way to genuinely connect with the Divine." hasAiStory: true location: "" persons: ["God","Jesus","Prophets"] hashtags: ["love","truth","judgment","faith"] genre: "epistle" readingTime: 3 type: "adaptive" slug: "1JN/the-third-test-of-fellowship" canonicalId: "1JN.4.1-4.21" chronologicalOrder: 1755 relatedSlugs: ["ROM/walking-by-the-spirit","1JN/the-first-test-of-fellowship","2TI/pauls-greeting-to-timothy-faithfulness-under-persecution","JHN/on-baptism","JHN/where-i-am-going-you-cannot-come","EPH/alive-with-christ","EPH/the-full-armor-of-god","1CO/spiritual-wisdom","JHN/no-greater-love","LUK/zechariahs-song","1TH/christian-living-final-blessings-and-instructions","2JN/beware-of-deceivers-conclusion","GAL/walking-by-the-spirit","PSA/psalm-86-tried-but-trusting","2PE/deliverance-from-false-prophets","REV/the-woman-and-the-dragon","HEB/an-unshakable-kingdom-brotherly-love","ROM/from-death-to-life","TIT/heirs-of-grace-avoid-divisions-final-remarks-and-greetings","MAT/the-olivet-discourse","1PE/a-call-to-holiness-the-enduring-word","1TI/instructions-concerning-false-teaching","2CO/ambassadors-for-christ","EPH/pauls-prayer-for-the-ephesians","1TH/living-to-please-god","1CO/different-gifts-same-spirit","2CO/the-light-of-the-gospel","COL/rules-for-holy-living","2CO/pauls-exhortation","1PE/suffering-for-righteousness-living-for-gods-glory-suffering-as-christians-instructions-to-elders"] prevSlug: "1JN/the-second-test-of-fellowship" nextSlug: "1JN/the-fourth-test-of-fellowship" --- It feels like everyone has a message these days, and frankly, it is getting harder to tell who is actually being honest. The advice floating around is everywhere, but we need to be careful. Before you buy into a new philosophy or take someone's word as gospel, put it to the test. If someone is telling you that [Jesus](/persons/jesus) didn't actually walk this earth as a real, flesh-and-blood human, they are missing the mark entirely. The good news is that you don't have to be a genius to figure this out. You have something deep inside you that is stronger than any deception currently circulating in the world. People who only care about worldly fame or status are always going to gain an audience, but that doesn't make them right. Real truth-tellers are recognized by those who actually know what [God](/persons/god) is like. This brings us to the core of the issue: love. You hear the word thrown around a lot, but real love isn't just a feeling; it is the source of everything. We know what love looks like because we saw it in action when God sent His Son to bridge the gap for our mistakes. It wasn't about us loving Him first; it was about Him stepping in to save us when we were at our worst. So, here is the reality check for our daily lives: If you claim to have a relationship with the Divine, but you can't be bothered to show kindness to the person standing right in front of you, you are living a contradiction. You can't love a God you can't see while holding onto bitterness toward your neighbor whom you see every single day. Perfect love is supposed to act like a bodyguard for your heart, kicking out fear and replacing it with confidence. There is no reason to be afraid of the future or judgment when you are walking in that kind of love. It is simple, it is demanding, and it is the only way to live. ### Testing the Spirits Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from [God](/persons/god). For many false [prophets](/persons/prophets) have gone out into the world. By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that [Jesus Christ](/persons/jesus) has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time. You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, 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. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. ### Love Comes from God Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.

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