Testing the Spirits

4 ^(A)Beloved, do not believe every ^(B)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(C)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(D)every spirit that ^(E)confesses that ^(F)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that ^(G)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(H)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and ^(I)now it is already in the world.

⁷ For ^(A)many deceivers have ^(B)gone out into the world, those who ^(C)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(D)the deceiver and the ^(E)antichrist.

⁴ For certain people have ^(A)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ^[a](B)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ^(C)the grace of our God into ^(D)indecent behavior and ^(E)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ For such people are ^(A)slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of ^(B)their own ^[a]appetites; and by their ^(C)smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.