1 JOHN
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
TOC
Maps
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we
have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched
with our hands, concerning the word of life-- 2 this life was revealed, and we
have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was
with the Father and was revealed to us-- 3 we declare to you what we have seen
and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things
so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him
and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we
lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his
Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is
faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and
his word is not in us.
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My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you
may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not
for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 Now by this we may be
sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. 4 Whoever says, "I have come
to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a
person the truth does not exist; 5 but whoever obeys his word, truly in this
person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we
are in him: 6 whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked. 7
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you
have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have
heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you,
because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9
Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in
the darkness. 10 Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in
such a person there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates another
believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to
go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. 12 I am writing to you,
little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name. 13 I am
writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am
writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one. 14 I
write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people,
because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome
the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of
the Father is not in those who love the world; 16 for all that is in the
world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in
riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 And the world and its
desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. 18
Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so
now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19
They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged
to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain
that none of them belongs to us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One,
and all of you have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know
the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the
truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This
is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who
denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father
also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard
from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the
Father. 25 And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. 26 I write these
things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the
anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need
anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is
true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now,
little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have
confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming. 29 If you know that
he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of
him.
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See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called
children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will
be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we
will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in
him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty
of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away
sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who
sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive
you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8
Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning
from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the
works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's
seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The
children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who
do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their
brothers and sisters. 11 For this is the message you have heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain who was
from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because
his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be astonished,
brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed
from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in
death. 15 All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that
murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. 16 We know love by this,
that he laid down his life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one
another. 17 How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and
sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18 Little children, let
us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And by this we will
know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20
whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows
everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before
God; 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his
commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we
should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as
he has commanded us. 24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he
abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he
has given us.
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Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of
which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. 4
Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is
in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world;
therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We
are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does
not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God
is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son
into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that
we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice
for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one
another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us,
and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he
in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify
that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in
those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we
have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who
abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected
among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as
he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not
reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who
say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who
do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they
have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God
must love their brothers and sisters also.
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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of
God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. 2 By this we know that
we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For
the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are
not burdensome, 4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is
the victory that conquers the world, our faith. 5 Who is it that conquers the
world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the one
who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the
water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is
the truth. 7 There are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the
blood, and these three agree. 9 If we receive human testimony, the testimony of
God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his
Son. 10 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.
Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the
testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son
has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write
these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may
know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the boldness we have in him,
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know
that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests
made of him. 16 If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a
mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one--to those whose
sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should
pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.
18 We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born
of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. 19 We know that we
are God's children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil
one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding
so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son
Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep
yourselves from idols.
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