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.