Let’s face it – lots of people claim to be filled with the Spirit of Christ, but their words don’t really match up with what Jesus said. Some who claim to follow Christ insist that He wasn’t really the Son of God – He was just a wise teacher who was killed by the Romans. Over the years, these so-called liberal theologians say, the myth about Him grew to the point where people believed He had risen bodily from the dead, and that He was divine. But even though they claim to be Christians, they insist that none of that is really true.

Well, in verse 9 John insists that Jesus was in fact the only begotten Son of God. And in verse 15 he makes it clear that it is only those who believe in Jesus’ divine nature who have the Spirit of God living within them. In short, believing the right things about Jesus always goes along with having Jesus living inside of you.

But right belief is not sufficient, for John makes it clear that those who have the Spirit of Christ in them will also love the way that Jesus loves. And again, there are lots of people who call themselves Christians who don’t act very much like Him. Think of all those Roman Catholic priests who abused so many young boys, not to mention the similar scandal now being revealed in the Southern Baptist Church. Think of the so-called Christians at Westboro Baptist Church who profess their hatred for people who engage in same-sex relationships. And think of all the Christians all over the world who approve of or even make it possible for mothers and fathers to kill their unborn children. No, if we don’t practice love for the least of these, it’s hard to imagine that Christ’s Spirit is directing our steps.

So, what do we do if we realize that either our beliefs or our actions don’t line up with John’s teaching, or with the rest of God’s Word? What do we do when we catch ourselves hating other people (v. 20) or being afraid of God’s punishment (v. 18)?

Well, no matter what makes sense to us, we need to remember what John says in verse 14 – it is Christ alone Who is the Savior of the world. We need to remember what John says in verse 9 – God sent Christ into the world so that we might live through Him. In other words, we need to turn from our godless thoughts and trust in Christ as our Savior, no matter how unbelievable the gospel may seem to be.

But we also need to bow the knee to Christ as Lord. That means doing what He commands, which includes loving even those who profoundly disagree with us, even those who have hurt us so deeply. After all, Jesus didn’t just come to teach His disciples – He came to die for them, even though they all abandoned Him, denied Him and betrayed Him in different ways. And if we want to follow Him, He says we must take up our own crosses, dying to ourselves for the good of others.

So, no matter how we feel about it, let us love another, no matter what it costs. And no matter how little sense it may make to us, let us believe and teach the truth about Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. That’s when we know we’re really in step with the Spirit of Christ.

I John 4:7-21 (NAS)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.