1 Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands. 4 He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart. 5 But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him. 6 The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived. 7 My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received. 8 And yet I *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine. 9 Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness. 10 He who loves his brother man continues in the light, and his life puts no stumbling-block in the way of others. 11 But he who hates his brother man is in darkness and is walking in darkness; and he does not know where he is going--because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12 I am writing to you, dear children, because for His sake your sins are forgiven you. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and God's Message still has a place in your hearts, and you have overcome the Evil one. 15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father. 16 For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world. 17 And the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does God's will continues for ever. 18 Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come. 19 They have gone forth from our midst, but they did not really belong to us; for had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they left us that it might be manifest that professed believers do not all belong to us. 20 As for you, you have an anointing from the holy One and have perfect knowledge. 21 I have written to you, not because you are ignorant of the truth, but because you know it, and you know that nothing false comes from the truth. 22 Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ. 23 No one who disowns the Son has the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has also the Father. 24 As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages. 26 I have thus written to you concerning those who are leading you astray. 27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. But since His anointing gives you instruction in all things--and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with Him even as it has taught you to do. 28 And now, dear children, continue in union with Him; so that, if He re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from His presence at His Coming. 29 Since you know that He is righteous, be assured also that the man who habitually acts righteously is a child of His. | |