1 John 4:6

1 John 4:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)We 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.
• New International Version (NIV)We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Context of 1 John 4:6

4Dear children, you belong to God. So you have won the victory over these people, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5These people belong to the world. That’s why they speak the thoughts of the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever doesn’t belong to God doesn’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the Spirit of truth from the spirit of lies. 7Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. 8The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:6 word by word

ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσμεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν· ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν. ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Weἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• he that knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• hearethἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• he thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• notοὐou · noG3756
• ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• the spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• of truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• of errorπλάνηplanē · errorG4106

Cross-references for 1 John 4:6

• 1 John 4:4Dear children, you belong to God. So you have won the victory over these people, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
• Micah 3:8But I am filled with the power of the Lord’s Spirit, with justice, and with strength. So I will tell ⌞the descendants of⌟ Jacob about their crimes and ⌞the nation of⌟ Israel about its sins.
• Romans 1:1From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and appointed to spread the Good News of God.
• 1 Corinthians 2:12Now, we didn’t receive the spirit that belongs to the world. Instead, we received the Spirit who comes from God so that we could know the things which God has freely given us.
• 2 Peter 3:2I want you to remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and what the Lord and Savior commanded you through your apostles.
• Jude 1:17Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you to expect:
• 1 John 4:8The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.
• Luke 10:22“My Father has turned everything over to me. Only the Father knows who the Son is. And no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.”
• John 8:19The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?” Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
• John 10:27My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me,
• John 13:20“I can guarantee this truth: Whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
• John 18:37Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus replied, “You’re correct in saying that I’m a king. I have been born and have come into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me.”
• John 20:21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:37Whoever thinks that he speaks for God or that he is spiritually gifted must acknowledge that what I write to you is what the Lord commands.
• 2 Corinthians 10:7Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident he belongs to Christ, he should take note that we also belong to Christ.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge God and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our Lord Jesus.

Commentaries on 1 John 4:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6We are of God - We, apostles, have the Spirit of God, and speak and teach by that Spirit. He that knoweth God - who has a truly spiritual discernment, heareth us - acknowledges that our doctrine is from God; that it is spiritual, and leads from earth to heaven. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth - The doctrine and teacher most prized and followed by worldly men, and by the gay, giddy, and garish multitude, are not from God; they savor of the flesh, lay on…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6We are of God - John here, doubtless, refers to himself, and to those who taught the same doctrines which he did. He takes it for granted that those to whom he wrote would admit this, and argues from it as an indisputable truth. He had given them such evidence of this, as to establish his character and claims beyond a doubt; and he often refers to the fact that he was what he claimed to be, as a point which was so well established that no one would call…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6We are from God: John tests whether a person truly belongs to Christ by seeing if that person listens to the teachings of the apostles and agrees with them. The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13–15). The Holy Spirit teaches the truth about Christ (1 John 2:20, 27). False prophets have a spirit of deception. This is the spirit of antichrist, which leads people away from Christ (see study note on 2:22). For this reason…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. We--true teachers of Christ: in contrast to them. are of God--and therefore speak of God: in contrast to "speak they of the world," 1Jo 4:5. knoweth God--as his Father, being a child "of God" (1Jo 2:13, 14). heareth us--Compare Joh 18:37, "Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice." Hereby--(1Jo 4:2-6); by their confessing, or not confessing, Jesus; by the kind of reception given them respectively by those who know God, and by those who are of…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 4:6

• Righteousness
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Benevolence
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• Err; Error
• Hereby
• John, the Epistles of

Commentaries on 1 John 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings