Scripture Reference Window
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These Bible verses explain how we can know what truth is. Those who listen to the word of God (the Bible) are of truth and are the true followers of Christ. Those who are listening to and teaching their own doctrine and philosophy are of the world apart from God. You can know the truth by reading the four short Bible books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for yourself. The Bible is the only trustworthy source of truth. It is easy to understand if you just realize what it is. It comprises God's promises to produce a Messiah who would save the world, and the record of the appearance of that Messiah (and his teachings) in those four short Gospel Books.
1 John 4:1-6 GW
(1) Dear friends, don't believe all people who say that they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world.
(2) This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every person who declares that Jesus Christ has come as a human has the Spirit that is from God.
(3) But every person who doesn't declare that Jesus Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn't from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that you have heard is coming. That spirit is already in the world.
(4) Dear 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.
(5) These people belong to the world. That's why they speak the thoughts of the world, and the world listens to them.
(6) We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us [to Jesus and those who were inspired to write what he taught them - the Bible]. 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.
1 John 4:1-6 GNB
(1) My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere.
(2) This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit who comes from God.
(3) But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.
(4) But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.
(5) Those false prophets speak about matters of the world, and the world listens to them because they belong to the world.
(6) But we belong to God [inspired Bible writers]. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This, then, is how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:1-6 NWT
4 Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world. 2 You gain the knowledge of the inspired expression from God by this: Every inspired expression that confesses Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh originates with God, 3 but every inspired expression that does not confess Jesus does not originate with God. Furthermore, this is the antichrist’s inspired expression which you have heard was coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You originate with God, little children, and you have conquered those persons, because he that is in union with you is greater than he that is in union with the world. 5 They originate with the world; that is why they speak what proceeds from the world and the world listens to them. 6 We originate with God. He that gains the knowledge of God listens to us [the inspired Bible writers]; he that does not originate with God does not listen to us. This is how we take note of the inspired expression of truth and the inspired expression of error.
1 John 4:1-6 CEV
(1) Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world,
(2) and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body.
(3) But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know that person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew that this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here.
(4) Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God's Spirit is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.
(5) These enemies belong to this world, and the world listens to them, because they speak its language.
(6) We [the inspired Bible writers] belong to God, and everyone who knows God will listen to us. But the people who don't know God won't listen to us. That is how we can tell the Spirit that speaks the truth from the one that tells lies.
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You will note the reference windows often include more than one translation of the Bible. The reason is to strive to gain the best possible understanding of the original Hebrew and Greek. Since we don't speak those languages, we rely on those who have come before and made the effort to translate those texts into English for us. Considering several translations gives the benefit of the understanding of several translation committees or individuals.
The Translations we quote are:
ALT - Analytical Literal Translation
ASV - American Standard Version (by the American revision committee in 1897).
Darby - 1889 Darby Bible
DRB - 1899 Douay-Rheims Bible
BBE - 1965 Bible in Basic English
LITV - Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
KJV - King James Version
MKJV - Modern King James Version
NWT - New World Translation
Webster - 1833 Webster Bible
RV - Revised Version
YLT - Young's Literal Translation