1–6. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE SPIRIT OF ERROR

1–6. This section is an amplification of the sentence with which the preceding chapter ends. We certainly have the Holy Spirit as an abiding gift from God, for otherwise we could not believe and confess the truth of the Incarnation. As usual, S. John thinks and teaches in antitheses. The test which proves that we have the Spirit of God proves that the antichrists have not this gift but its very opposite. In chap. 2. the antichrists were introduced as evidence of the transitoriness of the world (1 John 2:18): here they are introduced as the crucial negative instance which proves that every true believer has the Spirit of God.

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Old Testament