1 John 4

1 Dear friends, many people [who have a false message] are teaching it to people [MTY]. So do not trust every [message that someone claims/says that God’s] Spirit [MTY] [gave to him]. Instead, (test/think carefully about) the teachings that [you hear] in order to know whether they are from God or not.

Geliefden, gelooft niet iedere geest, maar onderzoekt, of de geesten uit God zijn; want vele valse profeten zijn uitgegaan over de wereld.

2 [I will tell] you how to recognize [teachings that come from] the Spirit of God: Those who affirm/say that Jesus Christ came [from God] to become a human [like us] are [teaching a message] that is from God.

Hieraan erkent ge de geest van God: Iedere geest die belijdt, dat Jesus Christus in het Vlees is gekomen, hij is uit God.

3 But those who do not affirm/say [that about] Jesus are not [teaching a message] from God. [They are teachers who] oppose Christ. You have heard that people like that are coming [to be among us]. Even now they are already here!

Maar iedere geest, die Jesus niet belijdt, is niet uit God; dat is er een van den Antichrist, die komt, zoals gij gehoord hebt, en die nu reeds in de wereld is.

4 As for you who are very dear to me, you belong to God, and you have refused [the false messages] that those people [teach], because [God], who enables you [to do what he wants], is (greater/more powerful) than ([Satan/the devil]), who enables (godless people/people who conduct their lives in a way that displeases God) [MTY].

Gij, kinderkens, gij zijt uit God, en hebt ze overwonnen; want Hij die in u woont, is machtiger dan hij die in de wereld is.

5 As for [those who are teaching what is false], they are (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY]. Because of that, they teach what (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY] want to hear. That is why the (godless people/people whose lives displease God) [MTY] listen to them.

Zij zijn uit de wereld; daarom spreken ze naar de wereld, en de wereld luistert naar hen.

6 As for us [(exc)], [because] we belong to God, whoever (knows/has a close relationship with) God listens to us. [But] those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. That is how we can know whether [the things that people are teaching] [MTY] are true or whether they are false, and deceiving [people].

Wij zijn uit God: wie God kent, luistert naar ons; wie niet uit God is, luistert niet naar ons. -Hieraan erkennen we de geest der waarheid en de geest der dwaling.

7 Dear friends, we must love each other, because God [enables us] to love [each other], and because those who love [their fellow believers] have become God’s children and (know/have a close relationship with) him.

Geliefden, laat ons elkander beminnen. Want de liefde is uit God, en wie liefheeft, is uit God geboren en kent God;

8 God’s [nature] is to love [all people]. So those who do not love [their fellow believers] do not (know/have a relationship with) God.

wie niet liefheeft, kent God niet. Want God is liefde!

9 I will tell you how God has shown us [that he] loves us: He sent (his only Son/the only one who was also God) [to live] on the earth to enable us to live [eternally] as a result of [our trusting in what] he [accomplished for us by dying for us].

Hierdoor heeft Gods liefde zich aan ons geopenbaard, dat God zijn eniggeboren Zoon in de wereld heeft gezonden, opdat wij door Hem zouden leven.

10 [And God] has shown [us what it means to] love [another person]: [It does] not [mean] that we loved God, but [it means] that God loved us and sent (his Son/the one who was also God) to sacrifice [his life] in order that [our sins might be forgiven] {[he might forgive] our sins}.

Hierin bestaat de liefde: niet dat wij God hebben liefgehad, maar dat Hij ons heeft bemind en zijn Zoon heeft gezonden tot verzoening voor onze zonden.

11 Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!

Geliefden, als God ons zó heeft liefgehad, dan moeten ook wij elkander beminnen.

12 No one has ever seen God. [Nevertheless], if we love each other, [it is evident that] God lives within us and that we love others just like he [intends/wants us to do].

Nooit heeft iemand God aanschouwd; maar wanneer wij elkander beminnen, dan blijft God in ons, en is in ons de volmaakte liefde tot Hem.

13 [I will tell you] how we can be sure that we have a close relationship with God and that God is within us: He has put his Spirit within us.

Hieraan erkennen wij, dat wij in Hem blijven, en Hij in ons: dat Hij ons van zijn Geest heeft meegedeeld.

14 We [apostles] have seen (God’s Son/the one who is also God), and [we tell people] that the Father sent him to save [the people in] the world [MTY] [from being punished for their sins].

En we hebben aanschouwd en getuigen, dat de Vader den Zoon heeft gezonden als Verlosser der wereld;

15 [So] those who affirm/say that Jesus is the (Son of/one who is also) God, God is within them, and they have a close relationship with God.

wie dus belijdt, dat Jesus de Zoon is van God, in hem blijft God, en hij blijft in God;

16 We have experienced how God loves us and we believe that he loves us. [As a result, we love others. Because] God’s [nature] is to love people, those who continue to love [others] have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them.

dan hebben we ook de liefde erkend en geloofd, die God voor ons heeft. God is liefde; en wie in de liefde blijft, blijft in God en God in hem.

17 We [should] love others completely. And if we do that, when the time comes for [him to] judge us, we will be confident [that he will not condemn us] (OR, [that we have a close relationship with him]). [We will be confident of that] because of our [conducting our lives] in this world as Christ did.

Hiertoe juist is bij ons de liefde tot volmaaktheid gebracht, dat we vertrouwen mogen hebben op de dag van het Oordeel; want dan zijn we op de wereld, gelijk Hijzelf is.

18 We will not be afraid [of God] if we [truly] love [him], because those who love [God] completely cannot possibly be afraid [of him]. [We would be] afraid only [if we thought that he would] punish us. So those who are afraid [of God certainly] are not loving [God] completely.

In de liefde bestaat er geen vrees, maar de volmaakte liefde bant de vrees; want de vrees onderstelt straf. Wie vreest, heeft dus de volmaakte liefde niet.

19 We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.

Wij hebben lief, omdat Hij ons het eerst heeft liefgehad.

20 [So] those who say “I love God” but hate a fellow believer are lying. Those who do not love one of their fellow believers, whom they have seen, certainly cannot be loving God, whom they have not seen.

Zo iemand zegt: "Ik heb God lief," maar toch zijn broeder haat, hij is een leugenaar; wie immers zijn broeder, dien hij gezien heeft, niet bemint, kan God niet beminnen, dien hij niet heeft gezien.

21 Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.

Want dit gebod hebben we van Hem ontvangen: wie God bemint, moet ook zijn broeder beminnen.