1 John 2–5

2My dear children,^x I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^y with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^z and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^a

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

³We know^b that we have come to know him^c if we keep his commands.^{d 4}Whoever says, “I know him,”^e but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^{f 5}But if anyone obeys his word,^g love for God^a is truly made complete in them.^h This is how we knowⁱ we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^j

⁷Dear friends,^k I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^l This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command;^m its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passingⁿ and the true light^o is already shining.^p

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^bq is still in the darkness.^{r 10}Anyone who loves their brother and sister^c lives in the light,^s and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^{t 11}But anyone who hates a brother or sister^u is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^v They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^w

Reasons for Writing

¹²I am writing to you, dear children,^x

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.^y

¹³I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.^z

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome^a the evil one.^b

¹⁴I write to you, dear children,^c

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.^d

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,^e

and the word of God^f lives in you,^g

and you have overcome the evil one.^h

On Not Loving the World

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world.ⁱ If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^d is not in them.^{j 16}For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^k the lust of the eyes,^l and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away,^m but whoever does the will of Godⁿ lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸Dear children, this is the last hour;^o and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^p even now many antichrists have come.^q This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us,^r but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^s

²⁰But you have an anointing^t from the Holy One,^u and all of you know the truth.^{ev 21}I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^w and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^{x 23}No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^y

²⁴As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^z remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^{a 25}And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^b

²⁶I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^{c 27}As for you, the anointing^d you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^e and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^f

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸And now, dear children,^g continue in him, so that when he appears^h we may be confidentⁱ and unashamed before him at his coming.^j

²⁹If you know that he is righteous,^k you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^l

3See what great love^m the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!ⁿ And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{o 2}Dear friends,^p now we are children of God,^q and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^ar we shall be like him,^s for we shall see him as he is.^{t 3}All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^u just as he is pure.^v

⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^{w 5}But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^x And in him is no sin.^{y 6}No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^z No one who continues to sin has either seen him^a or known him.^b

⁷Dear children,^c do not let anyone lead you astray.^d The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{e 8}The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^f because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^g appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{h 9}No one who is born of Godⁱ will continue to sin,^j because God’s seed^k remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God^l are and who the children of the devil^m are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not loveⁿ their brother and sister.^o

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹For this is the message you heard^p from the beginning:^q We should love one another.^{r 12}Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^s and murdered his brother.^t And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{u 13}Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^b if the world hates you.^{v 14}We know that we have passed from death to life,^w because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{x 15}Anyone who hates a brother or sister^y is a murderer,^z and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^a

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^b And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{c 17}If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^d how can the love of God be in that person?^{e 18}Dear children,^f let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^g

¹⁹This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Dear friends,^h if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{i 22}and receive from him anything we ask,^j because we keep his commands^k and do what pleases him.^{l 23}And this is his command: to believe^m in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,ⁿ and to love one another as he commanded us.^{o 24}The one who keeps God’s commands^p lives in him,^q and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^r

On Denying the Incarnation

4Dear friends,^s do not believe every spirit,^t but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^{u 2}This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^v is from God,^{w 3}but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^x which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^y

⁴You, dear children,^z are from God and have overcome them,^a because the one who is in you^b is greater than the one who is in the world.^{c 5}They are from the world^d and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.^e This is how we recognize the Spirit^a of truth^f and the spirit of falsehood.^g

God’s Love and Ours

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another,^h for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of Godⁱ and knows God.^{j 8}Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.^{k 9}This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^l into the world that we might live through him.^{m 10}This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved usⁿ and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.^{o 11}Dear friends,^p since God so loved us,^q we also ought to love one another.^{r 12}No one has ever seen God;^s but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.^t

¹³This is how we know^u that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.^{v 14}And we have seen and testify^w that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.^{x 15}If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,^y God lives in them and they in God.^{z 16}And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love.^a Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.^{b 17}This is how love is made complete^c among us so that we will have confidence^d on the day of judgment:^e In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,^f because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.^{g 20}Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister^h is a liar.ⁱ For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,^j cannot love God, whom they have not seen.^{k 21}And he has given us this command:^l Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.^m

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

5Everyone who believesⁿ that Jesus is the Christ^o is born of God,^p and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.^{q 2}This is how we know^r that we love the children of God:^s by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.^t And his commands are not burdensome,^{u 4}for everyone born of God^v overcomes^w the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. …