The First Epistle General of John

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

You who are as dear to me as my own children, I am writing this to you to keep you from sinning. But if any of you believers does sin, remember that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, pleads with the Father for him to forgive us.

Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed his own life for us, so that as a result God forgives our sins. Yes, God is able to forgive our sins, but not only ours. He is also able to forgive the sins of people everywhere!

I will tell you how we can be sure that we know God. If we obey what he commands us to do, that shows us that we are joined together with him.

Those who say, “We know God,” and do not obey what God commands us to do, are liars. They are not conducting their lives according to God’s true message.

But those who obey what God commands them to do are the people who love God in every way. This is how we can be sure that we are joined with God.

If we say that we are in union with God, we should conduct our lives as Messiah did.

A New Commandment

Dear friends, I am not writing that you must do something new. Instead, I am writing something that you have known to do since you first believed in Messiah. This is part of the message that you have always heard.

But I will say something again to you on this same topic: I can say that I am telling you to do something new. It is new because what Messiah did was new, and what you are doing is new. This is because you are ceasing to do evil and you are doing more and more good. It is like when night passes away and day dawns, the true day of Messiah.

Those who claim that they are like people who live in the light, but who hate any of their fellow believers, are still like people who live in darkness.

But those who love their fellow believers behave like people who are living in the light; they have no reason to sin.

Those who hate any of their fellow believers are still like people who are living in darkness, unaware of what is true about God.

I am writing this to you whom I love as though you were my own children. God has forgiven your sins because of what Messiah has done for you.

I am writing to you believers who are older than the others. You have known Messiah, who has always lived. I am also writing to you young men; you have defeated Satan, the evil one. And I am writing to you little children, because you know God the Father.

I will say it again: I am writing this to you older men because you have come to know Messiah, the one who has always existed. And I am writing to you young men, because you are strong and you continue to obey what God commands, and because you have defeated Satan, the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

Do not behave like the people in the world who do not honor God. Do not desire the things they want to have. If anyone lives like they live, they are proving they do not love God our Father.

I am writing this, because all the wrong things that people do, all the things that people see and try to obtain for themselves, and all the things that they boast about, all these things have nothing to do with our Father in heaven. They belong to the world.

The people in the world who do not honor God, along with everything that they desire, will disappear. But those who do what God wants them to do will live forever!

Beware of Antichrists

You who are very dear to me, it is now just before Jesus returns to earth. You have already heard that the person who will pretend to be Messiah is coming; actually, many such persons have already arrived, but they are all against Messiah. Because of this, we know that Messiah will return very soon.

These people refused to remain in our congregations, but they never really belonged with us in the first place. When they left us, we clearly saw that they had never joined with us.

But as for you, Messiah, the one who is holy, has given you his Spirit; it is his Spirit who teaches you all the truth.

I am writing this letter to you, not because you do not know the truth about God, but because you do know what it is. You also know that God teaches us nothing that is false; instead, he teaches us only what is true.

The worst liars are the ones who deny that Jesus is the Christ. All who do this are against Messiah, because they refuse to believe in the Father and the Son.

Those who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is God’s Son are in no way joined with the Father, but those who acknowledge that Messiah is the Son of God are also joined with the Father.

Remain in Christ

So, as for you, you must continue to believe the truth about Jesus Christ that you first heard, and to live according to it. If you do that, you will stay joined to the Son and the Father.

And what God told us is that he will cause us to live forever!

I have written this to you to warn you about those who want to deceive you concerning the truth about Messiah.

As for you, God’s Spirit, whom you received from Messiah, remains in you. So you do not need anyone else to be your teacher. God’s Spirit is teaching you everything that you need to know. He always teaches the truth and never says anything that is false. So continue to live in the way that he has taught you, and remain joined with him.

Now, my dear ones, I urge you to continue to remain joined with Messiah. We need to do that in order that we may be confident that he will accept us when he comes back again. If we do that, we will not be ashamed when we stand before him when he comes.

Since you know that Messiah always does what is right, you know that all those who continue doing what is right are the ones who have become God’s children.

My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor(a) with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

And he is the atoning sacrifice(b) for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.

One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.

But God’s love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him:

he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

A New Commandment

Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.

He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.

He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.

But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.

The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.

Beware of Antichrists

Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.

They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.

You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.(c)

I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

Whoever denies the Son doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Remain in Christ

Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.

This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.

These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray.

As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.

Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Footnotes

(a)2:1 Greek παρακλητον: Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, and Comforter.

(b)2:2 “atoning sacrifice” is from the Greek “ιλασμος”, an appeasing, propitiating, or the means of appeasement or propitiation—the sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath because of our sin.