¹My 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.

Instructions About Loving and Hating Other Believers

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.

Reasons for Writing

Do Not Love the World

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 forever.

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.