5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
5 These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 John 4:5
Commentary on 1 John 4:1-6
(Read 1 John 4:1-6)
Christians who are well acquainted with the Scriptures, may, in humble dependence on Divine teaching, discern those who set forth doctrines according to the apostles, and those who contradict them. The sum of revealed religion is in the doctrine concerning Christ, his person and office. The false teachers spake of the world according to its maxims and tastes, so as not to offend carnal men. The world approved them, they made rapid progress, and had many followers such as themselves; the world will love its own, and its own will love it. The true doctrine as to the Saviour's person, as leading men from the world to God, is a mark of the spirit of truth in opposition to the spirit of error. The more pure and holy any doctrine is, the more likely to be of God; nor can we by any other rules try the spirits whether they are of God or not. And what wonder is it, that people of a worldly spirit should cleave to those who are like themselves, and suit their schemes and discourses to their corrupt taste?