4 ¹ BUT DO NOT TRUST any and every spirit, my friends; test the spirits, to see whether they are from God, for among those who have gone out into the world there are many prophets falsely inspired. 4 ² This is how we may recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 4 ³ and every spirit which does not thus acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is what is meant by 'Antichrist'; Or: This is the spirit of Antichrist. you have been told that he was to come, and here he is, in the world already!
4 ⁴ But you, my children, are of God's family, and you have the mastery over these false prophets, because he who inspires you is greater than he who inspires the godless world. 4 ⁵ They are of that world, and so therefore is their teaching; that is why the world listens to them. 4 ⁶ But we belong to God, and a man who knows God listens to us, while he who does not belong to God refuses us a hearing. That is how we distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.