¹The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. ²This life was revealed to us. We have seen it, and we testify about it. We are reporting to you about this eternal life that was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us. ³This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴We are writing this so that we can be completely filled with joy.

Through Jesus We Have a Relationship with God

⁵This is the message we heard from Christ and are reporting to you: God is light, and there isn’t any darkness in him. ⁶If we say, “We have a relationship with God” and yet live in the dark, we’re lying. We aren’t being truthful.

⁷But if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from every sin. ⁸If we say, “We aren’t sinful” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. ¹⁰If we say, “We have never sinned,” we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.

2ND CHAPTER

¹My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. Yet, if anyone does sin, we have Jesus Christ, who has God’s full approval. He speaks on our behalf when we come into the presence of the Father. ²He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commandments

³We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments. ⁴The person who says, “I know him,” but doesn’t obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn’t in that person. ⁵But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ. ⁶Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.

⁷Dear friends, it’s not as though I’m writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, I’m giving you an old commandment that you’ve had from the beginning. It’s the old commandment you’ve already heard. ⁸On the other hand, I’m writing to give you a new commandment. It’s a truth that exists in Christ and in you: The darkness is fading, and the true light is already shining.

⁹Those who say that they are in the light but hate other believers are still in the dark. ¹⁰Those who love other believers live in the light. Nothing will destroy the faith of those who live in the light. ¹¹Those who hate other believers are in the dark and live in the dark. They don’t know where they’re going, because they can’t see in the dark.

Don’t Love the World

¹²I’m writing to you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven through Christ.

¹³I’m writing to you, fathers, because you know Christ who has existed from the beginning.

I’m writing to you, young people, because you have won the victory over the evil one.

¹⁴I’ve written to you, children, because you know the Father.

I’ve written to you, fathers, because you know Christ, who has existed from the beginning.

I’ve written to you, young people, because you are strong and God’s word lives in you. You have won the victory over the evil one.

¹⁵Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them. ¹⁶Not everything that the world offers—physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles—comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and ¹⁷the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.

Live in Christ

¹⁸Children, it’s the end of time. You’ve heard that an antichrist is coming. Certainly, many antichrists are already here. That’s how we know it’s the end of time. ¹⁹They left us. However, they were never really part of us. If they had been, they would have stayed with us. But by leaving they made it clear that none of them were part of us.

²⁰The Holy One has anointed you, so all of you have knowledge. ²¹I’m writing to you because you know the truth, not because you don’t know the truth. You know that no lie ever comes from the truth.

²²Who is a liar? Who else but the person who rejects Jesus as the Messiah? The person who rejects the Father and the Son is an antichrist. ²³Everyone who rejects the Son doesn’t have the Father either. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father. ²⁴Make sure that the message you heard from the beginning lives in you. If that message lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵Christ has given us the promise of eternal life.

²⁶I’m writing to you about those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷The anointing you received from Christ lives in you. You don’t need anyone to teach you something else. Instead, Christ’s anointing teaches you about everything. His anointing is true and contains no lie. So live in Christ as he taught you to do.

We Are God’s Children

²⁸Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won’t turn from him in shame. ²⁹If you know that Christ has God’s approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.

3RD CHAPTER

¹Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that’s what we are. For this reason the world doesn’t recognize us, and it didn’t recognize him either. ²Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is. ³So all people who have this confidence in Christ keep themselves pure, as Christ is pure.

⁴Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience. ⁵You know that Christ appeared in order to take away our sins. He isn’t sinful. ⁶Those who live in Christ don’t go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven’t seen or known Christ.

⁷Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God’s approval as Christ has God’s approval. ⁸The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does. ⁹Those who have been born from God don’t live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can’t live sinful lives. They have been born from God. ¹⁰This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.

Love One Another

¹¹The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. ¹²Don’t be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God’s approval. ¹³Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.

¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn’t grow in love remains in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn’t have eternal life.

¹⁶We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. ¹⁷Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he doesn’t bother to help the other believer? ¹⁸Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.

¹⁹This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be reassured in his presence. ²⁰Whenever our conscience condemns us, we will be reassured that God is greater than our conscience and knows everything. ²¹Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we can boldly look to God ²²and receive from him anything we ask. We receive it because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Jesus Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us. ²⁴Those who obey Christ’s commandments live in God, and God lives in them. We know that he lives in us because he has given us the Spirit.

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