1 John 2–3

Christ Our Advocate

²My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,^{* 2}and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.^*

³Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. ⁴Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; ⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him:^{* 6}whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.^*

A New Commandment

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because^b the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.^{* 9}Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.^{* 10}Whoever loves a brother or sister abides in the light, and in such a person^c there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹But whoever hates a brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.^*

¹²I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.^*

¹³I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young people,

because you have conquered the evil one.

¹⁴I write to you, children,

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young people,

because you are strong

and the word of God abides in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.^*

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world,^{* 16}for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷And the world and its desire^d are passing away, but those who do the will of God abide forever.^*

Warning against Antichrists

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.^{* 19}They went out from us, but they did not belong to us, for if they had belonged to us they would have remained^e with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.^{* 20}But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.^{f* 21}I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?^g This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.^{* 24}Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.^{* 25}And this is what he has promised us,^h eternal life.^*

²⁶I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. ²⁷As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.^i*

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.^*

Children of God

²⁹If you perceive that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who does right has been born of him.^*

³See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he^j is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.^{* 3}And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.^{* 5}You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.^{* 6}No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children,^k let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸Everyone who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.^{* 9}Those who have been born of God do not sin because God’s seed abides in them;^l they cannot sin because they have been born of God.^{* 10}The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love a brother or sister.^*

Love One Another

¹¹For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.^{* 12}We must not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.^{* 14}We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers and sisters. Whoever does not love abides in death.^{* 15}All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.^{* 16}We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.^{* 17}How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?^*

¹⁸Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.^{* 19}And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him^{* 20}whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, ²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.^*

²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.^{* 24}All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.^*