1 John 2:18-4:6

New International Version

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour;^(A) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(B) even now many antichrists have come.^(C) This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us,^(D) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(E)

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(F) from the Holy One,^(G) and all of you know the truth.^{[a](H) 21} I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(I) and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^{(J) 23} No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(K)

²⁴ As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(L) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^{(M) 25} And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(N)

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^{(O) 27} As for you, the anointing^(P) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(Q) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(R)

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(S) continue in him, so that when he appears^(T) we may be confident^(U) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(V)

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous,^(W) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(X)

3 See what great love^(Y) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(Z) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(AA) 2} Dear friends,^(AB) now we are children of God,^(AC) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[b](AD) we shall be like him,^(AE) for we shall see him as he is.^{(AF) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(AG) just as he is pure.^(AH)

⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^{(AI) 5} But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(AJ) And in him is no sin.^{(AK) 6} No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(AL) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(AM) or known him.^(AN)

⁷ Dear children,^(AO) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(AP) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(AQ) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(AR) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(AS) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(AT) 9} No one who is born of God^(AU) will continue to sin,^(AV) because God’s seed^(AW) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(AX) are and who the children of the devil^(AY) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(AZ) their brother and sister.^(BA)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹ For this is the message you heard^(BB) from the beginning:^(BC) We should love one another.^{(BD) 12} Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(BE) and murdered his brother.^(BF) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{(BG) 13} Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[c] if the world hates you.^{(BH) 14} We know that we have passed from death to life,^(BI) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{(BJ) 15} Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(BK) is a murderer,^(BL) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(BM)

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(BN) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(BO) 17} If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(BP) how can the love of God be in that person?^{(BQ) 18} Dear children,^(BR) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(BS)

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends,^(BT) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{(BU) 22} and receive from him anything we ask,^(BV) because we keep his commands^(BW) and do what pleases him.^{(BX) 23} And this is his command: to believe^(BY) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(BZ) and to love one another as he commanded us.^{(CA) 24} The one who keeps God’s commands^(CB) lives in him,^(CC) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(CD)

On Denying the Incarnation

4 Dear friends,^(CE) do not believe every spirit,^(CF) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^{(CG) 2} This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^(CH) is from God,^{(CI) 3} but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^(CJ) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^(CK)

⁴ You, dear children,^(CL) are from God and have overcome them,^(CM) because the one who is in you^(CN) is greater than the one who is in the world.^{(CO) 5} They are from the world^(CP) and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.^(CQ) This is how we recognize the Spirit^[d] of truth^(CR) and the spirit of falsehood.^(CS)