Let's remind ourselves that John is being somewhat sarcastic about the various heretical cults around Ephesus and their claims of deep "gnosis" by using juvenile Greek grammar to express the real knowledge of God. The revelation of God in His Son does not require a lot of intellectual depth; it requires a lot of commitment, surrendering to the Cross. This chapter sounds very repetitive in English translations, but it's not hard to grasp the message.
The people in this world are driven by spirits. If you are not driven by the Spirit of Christ, then your spirit is dead and you are driven by the spirits of this fallen realm. When you deal with someone who has a dead spirit, you can tell from the conversation because they don't know God. Their claims to know God mean nothing if they speak poorly about His Son (implying they speak poorly of God's other children, too).
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. God's Spirit is not going to say anything different from that. People who fail to confess that Jesus came as a human Son of God are not driven by the Spirit of God. Those people are driven by a spirit of Antichrist. We were warned about the Antichrist; that spirit is here. It is the same spirit that drives the rest of humanity who don't serve Christ. Their chatter makes sense to this world, but the people who know God would prefer the testimony of John and his associates.
Another signature of spirits is the power to love when there is no human reason to do so. The Spirit of God gives us to power to love His children regardless of all the good human reasons not to care at all. Don't walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit; show His love to His children. Let Jesus live and walk in your flesh. He sacrificed His flesh for us, so we should offer up ours for His use.
Again, if God loved us that much, how can we not express His love for each other? As long as you are in this fleshly existence, you've certainly never seen Him with your eyes. How can you claim to love Whom you have never seen, if you cannot love your fellow believer that you have seen? If His Spirit lives in you, you cannot help but love each other. That's the primary signature of His Presence in your life. John reminds his readers that he speaks from a personal acquaintance with the Messiah, so he knows what he's talking about.
With all the people running around denying that He was a real human and also the Son of God, let's not complicate things. You should assume that someone carries the Spirit God if they confess Jesus as the human Son of God. John notes that his sole source of confidence is the power to love in the way Jesus taught about His Father's love. The sacrificial love of the Cross is our covenant with God. We can stand before Him on the Day of Judgment because we allow His Spirit of love to overwhelm us. Whatever Jesus was in this world, that's what we are. That cannot fail.
His love chases out all our human sorrows and fears. People who worry about the Judgment haven't tapped into that love yet. We are able to love because He loved us first. Honestly folks, His love in us really is that powerful. Give yourself in love to others and your sorrows will evaporate. Your situation might not change, but how you feel about it will be different.
So, anyone who can resent or detest a fellow believer is not operating in the power of God. The only way you can love the invisible God of Creation is to love Him where He lives in His children here where you can see them. That's our law in Christ.
The people in this world are driven by spirits. If you are not driven by the Spirit of Christ, then your spirit is dead and you are driven by the spirits of this fallen realm. When you deal with someone who has a dead spirit, you can tell from the conversation because they don't know God. Their claims to know God mean nothing if they speak poorly about His Son (implying they speak poorly of God's other children, too).
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. God's Spirit is not going to say anything different from that. People who fail to confess that Jesus came as a human Son of God are not driven by the Spirit of God. Those people are driven by a spirit of Antichrist. We were warned about the Antichrist; that spirit is here. It is the same spirit that drives the rest of humanity who don't serve Christ. Their chatter makes sense to this world, but the people who know God would prefer the testimony of John and his associates.
Another signature of spirits is the power to love when there is no human reason to do so. The Spirit of God gives us to power to love His children regardless of all the good human reasons not to care at all. Don't walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit; show His love to His children. Let Jesus live and walk in your flesh. He sacrificed His flesh for us, so we should offer up ours for His use.
Again, if God loved us that much, how can we not express His love for each other? As long as you are in this fleshly existence, you've certainly never seen Him with your eyes. How can you claim to love Whom you have never seen, if you cannot love your fellow believer that you have seen? If His Spirit lives in you, you cannot help but love each other. That's the primary signature of His Presence in your life. John reminds his readers that he speaks from a personal acquaintance with the Messiah, so he knows what he's talking about.
With all the people running around denying that He was a real human and also the Son of God, let's not complicate things. You should assume that someone carries the Spirit God if they confess Jesus as the human Son of God. John notes that his sole source of confidence is the power to love in the way Jesus taught about His Father's love. The sacrificial love of the Cross is our covenant with God. We can stand before Him on the Day of Judgment because we allow His Spirit of love to overwhelm us. Whatever Jesus was in this world, that's what we are. That cannot fail.
His love chases out all our human sorrows and fears. People who worry about the Judgment haven't tapped into that love yet. We are able to love because He loved us first. Honestly folks, His love in us really is that powerful. Give yourself in love to others and your sorrows will evaporate. Your situation might not change, but how you feel about it will be different.
So, anyone who can resent or detest a fellow believer is not operating in the power of God. The only way you can love the invisible God of Creation is to love Him where He lives in His children here where you can see them. That's our law in Christ.