I John 4:1-11
I can hear Bill Gaither singing, “Greater…, greater…, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” (v. 4b) And another oft-quoted verse: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (v. 10)
My Study Bible reported that beginning with verse 7, for the next 18 verses the word “love” is written 32 times!! (And 43 times in the whole letter.) Maybe there’s a lesson there…??!!
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. (vv. 2-3a) John makes it pretty clear! If you are speaking with Mormons or JWs it’s an easy question to ask: “Is Jesus Christ the Son of God?” Done.
Slava Bohu!