1 John 1:8-2:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves,[a] and the truth is not in us.(A) 9 If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.(B) 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(C)
Chapter 2
Christ and His Commandments. 1 My children,[b] I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.(D) 2 He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.(E) 3 The way we may be sure[c] that we know him is to keep his commandments.(F) 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.(G) 5 But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:(H) 6 whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived.
The New Commandment.[d]
Footnotes
- 1:8–10 Denial of the condition of sin is self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the continual possibility of sin’s recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance.
- 2:1 Children: like the term “beloved,” this is an expression of pastoral love (cf. Jn 13:33; 21:5; 1 Cor 4:14). Advocate: for the use of the term, see Jn 14:16. Forgiveness of sin is assured through Christ’s intercession and expiation or “offering”; the death of Christ effected the removal of sin.
- 2:3–6 The way we may be sure: to those who claim, “I have known Christ and therefore I know him,” our author insists on not mere intellectual knowledge but obedience to God’s commandments in a life conformed to the example of Christ; this confirms our knowledge of him and is the love of God…perfected. Disparity between moral life and the commandments proves improper belief.
- 2:7–11 The author expresses the continuity and freshness of mutual charity in Christian experience. Through Christ the commandment of love has become the light defeating the darkness of evil in a new age. All hatred as darkness is incompatible with the light and Christian life. Note also the characteristic Johannine polemic in which a positive assertion is emphasized by the negative statement of its opposite.
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