生命之道

论到从太初就已经存在的生命之道,我们曾经耳闻目睹,亲眼看过,亲手摸过。 这生命曾显现过,我们看见了,现在做见证,向你们传扬这原本与父同在、曾向我们显现的永恒生命。 我们把所见所闻传给你们,使你们可以与我们相交。诚然,我们是与父和祂儿子耶稣基督相交。 我们将这些话写给你们,是要让大家都充满喜乐。

要活在光中

我们从耶稣那里听见、现在传给你们的信息就是:上帝是光,在祂里面毫无黑暗。 如果我们说与祂相交,却仍过着黑暗的生活,就是撒谎,没有遵行真理。 如果我们生活在光明之中,像上帝在光明中一样,就能够彼此相交,上帝儿子耶稣的血能洗净我们一切的罪。

如果我们说自己没有罪,便是自欺,真理就不在我们心中。 如果我们承认自己的罪,上帝是信实公义的,必赦免我们的罪,洗净我们一切的不义。 10 我们如果说自己没有犯过罪,就是把上帝看作说谎的,祂的道也不在我们心中。

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 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.

Jesus is God's message to people

We have an important message to tell you. We want to tell you about the person who was already there before the beginning of the world. We have heard him speak. We have seen him with our own eyes. We watched him and we touched him. He is the Word that gives us life with God.[a]

He showed himself clearly when he lived on this earth. From long ago he was together with God the Father, and he lives for ever. We saw him and we are telling you what is true. He is the one who has shown himself to us. We also want you to share this new life with us. We share this life with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. That is why we are telling you about everything that we have seen and heard. We are writing to you so that together we all may be completely happy.

God is light

We are telling you the good news that Jesus Christ told to us. This is the message: God is completely good and clean. He is like light. There is nothing dark about him. Do you say that you share in the life that God gives? If you say that, but if you still live in the dark, you are telling a lie. You are not living in God's true way. But when we live in a right way, it is like living in the light. God is always in the light. So, if we live in the light, we share together in the life which God gives. And when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross, he saved us from all our sins. The blood of his sacrifice makes us clean.

If we say that we never do any wrong thing, we are deceiving ourselves. Even though we may think it is true, it is a lie. Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done. 10 God says that all people have done wrong things. So, if we say that we have not done any wrong thing, we are saying that God tells lies. It shows that we have not accepted his message at all.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 John is writing with authority. He is saying that he was with Jesus, the Word of God. He knows Jesus, and he knows what Jesus taught.