<p>5:19 <i>We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one</i>- We know that we are born of God because that begettal was of the Spirit (Jn. 3:3-5). The Spirit abiding within us is the proof that we are His. The whole Jewish world not just the more visible or aggressive parts of it were in the power of &quot;the evil one&quot;, a phrase earlier used about the 'satan' / adversary of the Judaist system of opposition to Christianity (see on 2:13,14; 3:12; 5:18). In the wider application of these words after the first century, we take from this the impression that there are two 'spirits' operating; that of God, the Holy Spirit / spirit of Christ, and that of the world. There is a 'spirit' in and of the age / world where we live, a ghost in the machine, a principle of thought and being which can be summarized as &quot;the flesh&quot;, or the Biblical 'devil'.</p>