1 John 4:6 ⁶You yourselves are from God, the one who knows God hears us, whoever is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

This verse echoes verses 4-5 by giving the identity markers of true believers and those who align with the world. Once again, John stresses the identity with the emphatic subject pronoun you yourselves (hēmeis), which engages the readers and calls them to consider the following words closely. The Johannine community or churches had their identity in the one and only God. They had come to believe the truth of the gospel, but their faith was being threatened by false teachings. John helps them in this verse to distinguish between the truth and falsehood.

The key identifier in this verse is that those who know God recognize and listen to the truth that John and those who agree with him (us) proclaim. John has clearly laid out the gospel once again to his readers in this letter. They had been reminded of the atonement through Jesus, the need to repent and believe, and the call to holiness and love in imitation of Jesus. The identity of Jesus as the true and full revelation of God, the divine in human flesh, has been made clear. Any deviation from the core Christian doctrines was heresy and to be rejected.

John emphasizes once again the importance of obedience and of listening to the truth about God. The emphasis in this verse is on discernment of the truth. Some people and situations compromise the truth and may even claim to be the truth. Knowledge of God will help us distinguish the difference between truth and deception. This knowledge is more than intellectual understanding about stories and facts, but about personal relationship through communion and faith.