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My dear children, I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One. 2 He gave his life to pay for our sins. But he not only paid for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world. 1:1–2:2 John described Jesus as the Word of Life. This means that Jesus is the Word of God or God's word. It also means that Jesus has eternal life. Death couldn't destroy him. While Jesus lived on earth, John and the other apostles knew him very well. In this way, John and the 12 disciples shared life with Jesus. God wants all people to share life with him. Sharing life with God means to know God. It means living in friendship with him and being filled with his love. It is another way to describe sharing in God's nature (2 Peter 1:4). This is possible when people walk in God's light. People walk in God's light when they trust Jesus to forgive their sins. They must recognise that they think, speak and do things that are sinful. They must confess this to God. God always forgives people who repent of their sin. Sin is like darkness that covers the world. Being forgiven for sin allows people to be in the light. Walking in God's light also means obeying God and following Jesus' example.
3 We know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands. 4 Suppose someone says, ‘I know him.’ But suppose this person does not do what God commands. Then this person is a liar and is not telling the truth. 5 But if anyone obeys God's word, then that person truly loves God. Here is how we know we belong to him. 6 Those who claim to belong to him must live just as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command. Instead, I'm writing one you have heard before. You have had it since the beginning. 8 But I am writing what amounts to a new command. Its truth was shown in how Jesus lived. It is also shown in how you live. That's because the darkness is passing away. And the true light is already shining.
9 Suppose someone claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister. Then they are still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light. There is nothing in them to make them fall into sin. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness. They walk around in the darkness. They don't know where they are going. The darkness has made them blind.
12 Dear children, I'm writing to you
because your sins have been forgiven.
They have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done.
13 Fathers, I'm writing to you
because you know the one who is from the beginning.
Young men, I'm writing to you
because you have won the battle over the evil one.
14 Dear children, I'm writing to you
because you know the Father.
Fathers, I'm writing to you
because you know the one who is from the beginning.
Young men, I'm writing to you
because you are strong.
God's word lives in you.
You have won the battle over the evil one.
2:3–14 Obeying God's commands is how people show that they know God. This means living the way that Jesus taught people to live. This was called Christ's law. Christ's law is about loving God and loving others. If people are full of hate, it means that they are still controlled by sin. John described this as being in darkness instead of in God's light. John mentioned children, fathers and young men. He wasn't talking about how old the people he wrote to were. He was describing the relationship that believers have with God. Their relationship changes as they grow up in their faith. God is their Father who forgives their sins. The believers know God deeply. They are in a spiritual fight against the evil one. The evil one is the devil. God's word gives believers the strength to say no to evil.
15 Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 Here is what people who belong to this world do. They try to satisfy what their sinful desires want to do. They long for what their sinful eyes look at. They take pride in what they have and what they do. All of this comes from the world. None of it comes from the Father. 17 The world and its evil desires are passing away. But whoever does what God wants them to do lives for ever.
Warnings about saying no to the Son
18 Dear children, we are living in the last days. You have heard that the great enemy of Christ is coming. But even now many enemies of Christ have already come. That's how we know that these are the last days. 19 These enemies left our community of believers. They didn't really belong to us. If they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by leaving they showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 You have received the Spirit from the Holy One. And all of you know the truth. 21 I'm not writing to you because you don't know the truth. I'm writing because you do know it. I'm writing to you because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The person who says this is the great enemy of Christ. They say no to the Father and the Son. 23 The person who says no to the Son doesn't belong to the Father. But anyone who says yes to the Son belongs to the Father also.
24 Make sure that you don't forget what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will remain joined to the Son and to the Father. 25 And here is what God has promised us. He has promised us eternal life.
26 I'm writing these things to warn you. I am warning you about people trying to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit from God. He continues to live in you. So you don't need anyone to teach you. God's Spirit teaches you about everything. What he says is true. He doesn't lie. Remain joined to Christ, just as you have been taught by the Spirit.
God's children and sin
28 Dear children, remain joined to Christ. Then when he comes, we can be bold. We will not be ashamed to meet him when he comes.
29 You know that God is right and always does what is right. And you know that everyone who does what is right is God's child.
2:15–29 John said that believers mustn't love the world. The world that John meant was the way of living based on obeying sinful desires. That world won't last for ever. It will pass away. But those who obey God will live for ever. Until Jesus' return, people are living in the last days. John talked about the lies that the enemies of Christ teach during the last days. They teach that Jesus isn't the Christ and the Messiah. They say that Jesus isn't the Son of God and that he isn't the Lord. Saying no to Jesus means that they can't share life with God the Father. These lies about Jesus go against what the Holy Spirit teaches believers. Believing the truth that the Holy Spirit teaches keeps believers joined to Jesus. In John chapter 15, Jesus had taught his disciples how important it is to stay joined to him.