1 John 4:5 (LSB)

Passage

They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them.

Nearby Context

1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them.

1 John 4:6 We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "therefore", "speak", and "hears". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "therefore", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "You are from God little children and..." into verse 6's "We are from God The one who...", so "world" and "therefore" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "world" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.