1 John 2

My dear children
I am writing this to you so that you will not sin
But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father
He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous
He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our
sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments
If someone claims, "I know God,
" but doesn't obey God's commandments,
that person is a liar and is not living in the truth
But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him
That is how we know we are living in him
Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did
A New Commandment
Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you
rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning
This old commandment—to love one
another—is the same message you heard before.
Yet it is also new.
Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it
For the darkness is disappearing,
and the true light is already shining
If anyone claims,
"I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister
that person is still living in darkness
Anyone who loves another brother or sister living
in the light and does not cause others to stumble
But anyone who hates another brother or
sister is still living and walking in darkness
Such a person does not know the way to
go, having been blinded by the darkness
I am writing to you who are God's children
because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus
I am writing to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning
I am writing to you who are young in the faith
because you have won your battle with the evil one
I have written to you who are God's children
because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning
I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong
God's word lives in your hearts
and you have won your battle with the evil one
Do Not Love This World

Do not love this world nor the things
it offers you, for when you love the world
you do not have the love of the Father in you
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure,
a craving for everything we see,
and pride in our achievements and possessions
These are not from the Father, but are from this world
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever
Warning about Antichrists
Dear children, the last hour is here
You have heard that the Antichrist is coming,
and already many such antichrists have appeared
From this we know that the last hour has come
These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us
otherwise they would have stayed with us
When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us
But you are not like that,
for the Holy One has given you his
Spirit,and all of you know the truth
So I am writing to you not because you don't know the
truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies
And who is a liar?
Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ
Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist
Anyone who denies the Son doesn't have the Father, either
But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also
So you must remain faithful to what
you have been taught from the beginning
If you do, you will remain in
fellowship with the Son and with the Father
And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us
I am writing these things to warn you
about those who want to lead you astray
But you have received the Holy Spirit,
and he lives within you,
so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true
For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to
know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie
So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ
Living as Children of God
And now, dear children,
remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns
you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame
Since we know that Christ is righteous
we also know that all who do what is right are God's children