1 John 2:1-17
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.
2 HE HIMSELF IS THE SACRIFICE THAT ATONES
FOR OUR SINS—
AND NOT ONLY OUR
SINS BUT THE SINS OF ALL THE WORLD.
3 And we
can be sure that we know HIM if we obey HIS commandments.
4 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.
5 But
those who obey GOD’s WORD
truly show how completely they love HIM. That is how we know we are living in HIM.
6 Those
who say they live in GOD
should live their lives as JESUS did.
A New Commandment
7 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.
8 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.
9 If
anyone claims, ‘I am living in THE LIGHT,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is
still living in darkness.
10 Anyone
who loves a fellow believer is
living in THE LIGHT
and does not cause others to stumble.
11 But
anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.
Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12 I am writing to you who
are GOD’s children
because
your sins have been forgiven through JESUS.
13 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.
14 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
15 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.
16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, (the lust of the flesh)
a craving for everything we see, (the lust of the eyes)
and pride in our achievements and possessions. (the pride of life)
These are not from THE
FATHER, but are from this world.
17 And this
world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who
does what pleases GOD
will live forever.”