1 Juan 4

1 Amados, no creáis a todo espíritu; sino probád los espíritus si son de Dios. Porque muchos falsos profetas son salidos en el mundo.

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.

2 En esto se conoce el Espíritu de Dios: Todo espíritu que confiesa que Jesu Cristo es venido en carne, es de Dios;

[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.

3 Y todo espíritu que no confiesa que Jesu Cristo es venido en carne, no es de Dios; y este tal espíritu es espíritu del anticristo, del cual vosotros habéis oído que ha de venir, y que ahora ya está en el mundo.

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!

4 Hijitos, vosotros sois de Dios, y los habéis vencido; porque el que en vosotros está, es mayor que el que está en el mundo.

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].

5 Ellos son del mundo, por eso hablan del mundo, y el mundo los oye.

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.

6 Nosotros somos de Dios: el que conoce a Dios, es nuestro escuchador: el que no es de Dios, no nos presta oídos. Por esto conocemos el espíritu de verdad, y el espíritu de error.

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].

7 Carísimos, amémonos unos a otros; porque el amor es de Dios. Y cualquiera que ama, es nacido de Dios, y conoce a Dios.

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.

8 El que no ama, no conoce a Dios; porque Dios es amor.

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.

9 En esto se mostró el amor de Dios en nosotros, en que Dios envió su Hijo unigénito al mundo, para que vivamos por él.

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].

10 En esto consiste el amor, no que nosotros hayamos amado a Dios, sino que él nos amó a nosotros, y envió a su Hijo para ser propiciación por nuestros pecados.

[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}.

11 Amados, si Dios nos ha así amado, debemos también nosotros amarnos los unos a los otros.

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

12 Ninguno vio jamás a Dios. Si nos amamos los unos a los otros, Dios está en nosotros, y su amor es perfecto en nosotros.

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].

13 En esto conocemos que moramos en él, y él en nosotros, en que nos ha dado de su Espíritu.

[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.

14 Y nosotros hemos visto, y testificamos que el Padre ha enviado a su Hijo para ser Salvador del mundo.

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].

15 Cualquiera que confesare que Jesús es el Hijo de Dios, Dios está en él, y él en Dios.

[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.

16 Y nosotros hemos conocido, y creído el amor que Dios tiene por nosotros. Dios es amor; y el que mora en amor mora en Dios, y Dios en él.

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.

17 En esto es perfecto el amor con nosotros, para que tengamos confianza en el día del juicio, que cual él es, tales somos nosotros en este mundo.

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.

18 En el amor no hay temor; mas el perfecto amor echa fuera el temor; porque el temor tiene castigo. De donde el que teme, no es perfecto en el amor.

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.

19 Nosotros le amamos a él, porque él primero nos amó.

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

20 Si alguno dice: Yo amo a Dios, y aborrece a su hermano, es mentiroso. Porque el que no ama a su hermano, al cual ha visto, ¿cómo puede amar a Dios, que no ha visto?

[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.

21 Y nosotros tenemos este mandamiento de él: Que el que ama a Dios, ame también a su hermano.

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