Men read the Letters of John and turn them into spiritual junk food. They extract the phrase "God is love," print it on coffee mugs, and feel warm inside. They use the warnings against "antichrists" to build doctrinal walls and hunt heretics. They have taken a razor-sharp diagnostic tool and turned it into a sentimental greeting card and a witch-hunter's manual.
The Letters of John are not a source of comfort for the ego. They are a spiritual CAT scan. They are a series of brutally simple, binary tests designed to give you an unvarnished diagnosis: are you living in reality (God), or are you living in the illusion of your own mind? There is no middle ground.
1. The Light vs. Darkness Test (The Consciousness Test)
The first test is absolute. "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth." (1 John 1:5-6).
This has nothing to do with being a "good person." The "light" is pure, undivided consciousness—the silent, aware presence of the now. The "darkness" is the realm of the ego, the world of compulsive, unconscious thought, where you are a slave to your past, your future, your fears, and your opinions.
If you claim to know God but your mind is a chaotic storm of reactivity, you are walking in darkness. You are a liar. The test is not what you believe; the test is the actual state of your consciousness moment to moment.
2. The Love vs. Hate Test (The Reality Test)
This is the test that condemns the entire religious world. John equates hate with anger and murder, and makes it the definitive proof of your spiritual state.
"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20).
"Love" is not an emotion. It is the very nature of God, the state of being empty of self. "Hate" is its absolute opposite. It is any form of anger, resentment, or judgment. Anger is the ego playing God, claiming the right to condemn. Therefore, if there is any anger in you, God is not in you. It is a binary switch. You cannot be "a little bit" angry and filled with the Spirit. The presence of one proves the absence of the other. The religious man who gets angry about his doctrines is a liar by this test.
3. The Spirit vs. The Ego Test (The Antichrist Test)
John warns about "antichrists." The religious mind immediately looks outward for figures to label. This is a fatal mistake. The antichrist is an internal principle.
"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ." (1 John 2:22). This isn't about denying a historical fact. The "Christ" is the anointed Son of God consciousness. The "antichrist" is any thought, voice, or doctrine that denies that this Christ-consciousness is your true identity. It's the voice of the ego that tells you that you are just a sinner, that you are separate, that you need something outside of yourself.
The letters of 2nd and 3rd John show us what this antichrist principle looks like when it manifests physically:
The False Teachers (2 John): They peddle a doctrine that denies the reality of the Christ-Spirit being fully present. They are messengers of the ego. To "welcome" them is to entertain the ego's lies in your own mind.
Diotrephes (3 John): This is the ultimate portrait of the spiritual ego. He "loves to be first." He is the man who builds a religious kingdom around himself, rejecting anyone who doesn't submit to his authority. He is the perfect embodiment of the antichrist principle on earth: the ego sitting on the throne where God should be.
John's letters are not meant to be studied. They are meant to be used. They are a mirror. Look in it. Do you walk in the light of the now, or the darkness of thought? Do you live in love, or do you have anger? Is the Spirit of Christ your reality, or is the antichrist of the ego still running your life? The answer is not in your beliefs. It is in your being.