Verse 6
"We" probably refers to the apostolic eyewitnesses, as in 1 John 1:1-4, but it probably also includes all the faithful. Those believers who "know" God intimately respond positively to the teaching of the apostles. By apostolic doctrine we know whether any teaching is truth or error, namely, having its source in the Holy Spirit or Satan, the motivating spirit of the world. The way to distinguish truth from error is to compare it with what the Scriptures teach.
"When people confess that Jesus came in the flesh, when they hear God speak to them in the gospel of his Son and are obedient to it, then the ’Spirit of truth’ has been present and active. When people deny the gospel, when they will not hear it as God’s Word and will not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, then ’the spirit of falsehood’ has been at work." [Note: Barker, p. 341.]
"Since John issues warnings to his readers against being taken in by the false teachers (1 John 2:24; 2 John 1:7-11), he appears to have reckoned with the possibility of true believers going astray." [Note: Marshall, p. 210.]
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