1 John 4:6

‘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.'

The question here is who are ‘we'?' Does he mean ‘we Apostles' of whom he is now the representative, or does he mean ‘we churches', especially the duly appointed leaders. Either way his message is emphatic. ‘We are of God.' Thus we have the truth. And those who know God hear us, because the anointing within them reveals to them the truth through the word. On the other hand there are some that do not hear us. This demonstrates that they are not of God. That is how the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error can be detected, by whether such men speak in accordance with the true men of the Spirit, with the true Apostolic doctrine.

‘The spirit of error' is probably intended to cover all angles, whether the prophets' own spirits, or possessing spirits, or the Evil One himself. All are part of the ‘spirit of error', the movement and trend in the world towards error.

Having dealt with the question of false prophets, and the importance of establishing the truth about Jesus Christ, John now moves on to deal in much more detail with the question of love within the Christian communities, and its source.