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¹ THE FIRST LETTER OF JOHN Eyewitnesses to the Word of Life It’s been there from the beginning. We’ve heard it. We’ve seen it with our eyes, and our hands have felt it. We’re talking about the Word of Life.

² And this Life has been revealed, and we’ve seen it. And we’re testifying and passing on the message of this eternal Life to you. It was with the Father, and it’s been revealed to us.

³ It’s what we’ve seen and heard that we are nowa passing on to you. That way, you can have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is also with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

⁴ And we’re writing all thisb so ourc happiness will be complete.

⁵ Challenge to Live in the Light And this is the message that we’ve heard from God, and which we are passing on to you: God is light, and there’s no darkness in God at all.

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with God, and we’re livingd in darkness, we’re lying, and we’re not living oute the truth.

⁷ But if we’re living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, And the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, washes us clean from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we don’t have sin, we’re deceiving ourselves, and the truth isn’t in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgivef us our sins and wash us clean from everything we’ve done wrong.g

¹⁰ If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make God a liar, and God’s word isn’t in us.

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¹ Jesus Christ is the Offering That Makes Amends for the Sins of the World My children, I’m writing you all this so that you won’t sin. And if somebody does sin, we have somebody that speaks in our defense in front of the Father: Jesus Christ, the Just One.a

² And he’s the offering that makes amendsb for our sins-and not just for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world.

³ And this is how we recognize that we’ve come to know God: if we obey Christ’s commands.

⁴ The person that says, “I know Christ,” and isn’t obeying Christ’s commands, is a liar. And the truth isn’t in them.

⁵ But if someonec holds to Christ’s teaching,d God’s love has come to completion in that person. That’s how we know that we’re in Christ.

⁶ The person that says they’re living in hime is obligated to conduct their own life just like he lived.

⁷ The Command to Love Dear friends, I’m not writing you a new command, but an old one. You’ve had it from the beginning. The old command is the message that you’ve heard.

⁸ On the other hand, I am writing you a new command. It’s true in him, and it’s true in you. Because the darkness is going away, and the true light is already shining.

⁹ The person that says, “I’m in the light,” and hates their fellow human being,f is still in the dark.

¹⁰ The person that loves their fellow human beingg is staying in the light, and there’s nothing in them to offend people.h

¹¹ The person that hates their fellow human beingi is in the dark, and they’re walking around in the dark. And they don’t know where they’re going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

¹² I’m writing you, little children, because your sins are forgiven because of his name.

¹³ I’m writing you, parents, because you’ve known the One who’s been from the beginning. I’m writing you, young people, because you’ve won the battle with the evil one.

¹⁴ I’ve written you, children, because you’ve known the Father. I’ve written you, parents, because you’ve known the One who’s been from the beginning. I’ve written you, young people, because you’re strong, and God’s word is still in you, and you’ve won the battle with the evil one.

¹⁵ Don’t Love the World and its Things Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If somebody loves the world, they don’t have the Father’s love in them.

¹⁶ Everything in the world-the lustj of the flesh, the lustk of the eyes, and the arrogance of life-is not from the Father, but from the world.

¹⁷ And the world is disappearing, and so are its obsessions.l But the person that does God’s will lasts forever.

¹⁸ Warning against Antichrists Children, this is the final hour. And just as you’ve heard that antichristm is coming, sure enough,n lots of antichrists have now shown up. Seeing them,o we recognize that it’s the final hour.

¹⁹ They went out from us,p but they didn’t belong to us. Because if they had belonged to us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, to show that they didn’t belong to us.

²⁰ Butq you have an anointingr from the Holy One, and you all know it.s

²¹ I haven’t written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it. And you also know that no liar belongs to the truth.

²² Who’s a liar, if not the person that denies that Jesus is the Christ? That’s the antichristt.-that denies both the Father and the Son.

²³ Nobody that denies the Son has the Father either. The person that publicly acknowledgesu the Son has the Father too.

²⁴ Stay in the Son of God As for you, let what you’ve heard from the beginning stay in you. If what you’ve heard from the beginning stays in you, then you’ll also stay inv the Son and inw the Father.

²⁵ And this is the promise that Jesusx himself gave us: eternal life.y

²⁶ I’ve written you all this about the people who are trying to deceive you.

²⁷ Butz as for you, the anointing that you’ve received from him is still in you, and you don’t need for anybody to teach you.aa Not at all. His anointing teaches you about everything. And it’s true, and not a lie. And just like he taught you, you’re staying inbb him.

²⁸ And now, little children, stay incc him. That way, if he’s revealed, we’ll have confidence, and we won’t shrink away from him in shame when he comes.

²⁹ If you know that he’s just,dd then you know that everybody that acts justly is his offspring.ee

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¹ Children of God Look what love the Father has given us-that we should be called children of God! And that’s what we are. That’s why the world doesn’t know us-because it hasn’t known God.

² Dear friends, we’re children of God now, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we’re going to be. We do know that when Jesusa appears, we’re going to be like him, because we’re going to see him just as he is.

³ And everybody that has this hope in him purifies themselves, just as he’s pure.

⁴ Everybody that practices sin also practices lawlessness. Becauseb sin is lawlessness.

⁵ And you know that he appeared to take away allc sins, and sin isn’t in him.

⁶ Everybody that stays ind him doesn’t sin. Nobody that’s sinning has seen him or known him.e

⁷ Little children, don’t let anybody deceive you. The person that practices justice is a just person-just like Jesus is.

⁸ The person that practices sin is from the devil, because the devil’s beenf sinning ever since the beginning. That’s why the Son of God appeared: to do away with the devil’s behavior.g

⁹ Nobody that’s born from God practices sin, because God’s offspring stays in God,h and they can’t sin, because they’re born from God.

¹⁰ That’s how the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Everybody that doesn’t do what’s righti isn’t of God. And neither is the person that doesn’t love their fellow human being.j

¹¹ Because this is the message that we’ve heard from the beginning: that we should love one another.

¹² Not like Cain, who was from the Evil One, and violently murderedk his brother. And why did he murderl him? Because his actions were evil, and his brother’s were just.

¹³ Also, brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.

¹⁴ We know that we’ve been brought out of death and into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person that doesn’t love is staying in death.

¹⁵ Everybody that hates their fellow human beingm is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life livingn in them.

¹⁶ This is how we’ve come to recognize love:o because Jesusp laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.

¹⁷ Suppose somebody has this world’s resources, and sees their fellow human beingq in need, and they close their heart towards the person. How is God’s love staying in them?

¹⁸ Little children, let’s not love with words or with our tongues, but with action, and in truth.r

¹⁹ That’s how we’re going to know that we’re withs the truth, and reassure our hearts in front of God.

²⁰ Becauset if our hearts condemn us, we can be assured that God is greater than our heart, and knows everything.

²¹ Faith in God’s Presence Dear friends, if our heart doesn’t condemn us,u we have confidence in front of God.

²² And we receive whatever we ask-because we’re keeping God’s commands and doing what’s pleasing to God.v

²³ And this is God’s command: for us to believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another, just as Jesus told us to.w

²⁴ And the person that keeps God’s commands stays in God, and God in them. And this is how we know that God livesx in us: from the Spirit that God has given us.

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¹ Test the Spirits Dear friends, don’t believe every spirit: test the spirits, to see if they’re from God. Because lots of false prophets have gone out into the world.

² This is how you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

³ And every spirit that doesn’t acknowledge Jesus isn’t from God. And this sort of spirit is the spirit of the antichrist.a You’ve heard that it’s coming, and now it’s already in the world.

⁴ You’re from God, little children, and you’ve won the battle with those spirits.b Because the One in you is greater than the onec who’s in the world.

⁵ These spirits are from the world. That’s why they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them.

⁶ We’re from God. The person that knows God listens to us; the person that’s not from God doesn’t listen to us. That’s how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

⁷ Love is the Ultimate Proof of Knowing God Dear friends, let’s love one another. Because love is from God, and everybody that loves is born from God and knows God.

⁸ The person that doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.

⁹ God’s Love in Action This is how God’s love has been shown tod us: God has sent God’s only Son into the world, so that we can live through him.

¹⁰ This is what love is about:e not that we’ve loved God, but that God personally loved us, and sent God’s Son as an offering that makes amendsf for our sins.

¹¹ Dear friends, if God has loved us that much, we ought to love one another too.

¹² Nobody’s ever seen God. If we love one another, God livesg in us, and God’s love has been made complete in us.

¹³ This is how we know that we’re livingh in God, and God in us: God has given us a portion of God’s Spirit.

¹⁴ And we’ve seen, and we’re testifying, that the Father has sent the Son as the savior of the world.

¹⁵ If a person acknowledgesi that Jesus is God’s Son, God livesj in them, and they live in God.

¹⁶ And we’ve come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love, and when a person livesk in the love that’s in God, God lives in them.

¹⁷ That’s how love is brought to completion with us, so that we can be confident on judgment day-because as God is, so we are in this world.

¹⁸ There’s no fear in love. Just the opposite: perfect love kicks out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment, and the person that fears hasn’t been perfected in love.

¹⁹ We lovel because God loved us first.

²⁰ If somebody says, “I love God,” but hates their fellow human being,m they’re a liar. Because if you don’t love your fellow human beingn that you can see, you can’t love God, that you can’t see. That’s whyo we have this commandment from God: the person that loves God should also love their fellow human being.p

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¹ The Person who Believes in Jesus Wins the Battle Everybody that believes Jesus is the Christ is born from God. And everybody that loves the Parent loves the child they’ve produced.a

² This is how we know that we love God’s children: whenever we love God, and practiceb God’s commands.

³ After all, that’s love for God: our keeping of God’s commands. And God’s commands aren’t hard.c

⁴ Because every child born from God wins the battle with the world. And this faith of ours is the victory that has won the battle with the world.

⁵ Who’s the winner of this battle?d Isn’t ite the person that believes that Jesus is God’s Son?

⁶ God’s Testimony about Jesus He’s the one who came through water and blood: Jesus Christ. Not just in water, but in water and blood.f And the Spirit is the one that testifies, because the Spirit is Truth.

⁷ Because there are three things that testify:

⁸ the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three agree.

⁹ If we accept the testimony of human beings, God’s testimony is more weighty. Because this is God’s testimony, which God has testified about God’s Son.

¹⁰ The person that believes in God’s Son has that testimony inside.g The person that doesn’t believe God has made God out to be a liar, because they haven’t believed the testimony that God has given about God’s Son.

¹¹ And this is God’sh testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in God’s Son.

¹² The person that has the Son has this life! The person that doesn’t have the Son of God doesn’t have this life.

¹³ Final Words of Encouragement and Challenge I’ve written these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son, so that you’ll know that you have eternal life.

¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have in front of God: if we ask something in line with God’s will, God listens to us.

¹⁵ And if we know that God listens to what we ask, we know that we geti the things we’ve asked God for.

¹⁶ If somebody sees their brother or sister committing a sin (not a deadly sin), they should pray for the person.j And God will give the person life-if they’re not committing a deadly sin. There is such a thing as a deadly sin. I’m not saying that they should pray for them in that situation.k

¹⁷ All wrong behaviorl is sin, and there’s such a thing as a deadly sin.

¹⁸ We know that nobody that’s born from God sins. No, the Son of Godm protects them,n and the evil one doesn’t touch them.

¹⁹ We know that we’re from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ We know that God’s Son has come, and that he has given us understanding so that we know the True One. And we’re in the True One-in God’s Son Jesus Christ. Heo is the True God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, keep yourselves away from idols.