1 John 2
GOD’S WORD Translation
2 My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. Yet, if anyone does sin, we have Jesus Christ, who has God’s full approval. He speaks on our behalf when we come into the presence of the Father. 2 He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commandments
3 We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments. 4 The person who says, “I know him,” but doesn’t obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn’t in that person. 5 But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ. 6 Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.
7 Dear friends, it’s not as though I’m writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, I’m giving you an old commandment that you’ve had from the beginning. It’s the old commandment you’ve already heard. 8 On the other hand, I’m writing to give you a new commandment. It’s a truth that exists in Christ and in you: The darkness is fading, and the true light is already shining.
9 Those who say that they are in the light but hate other believers are still in the dark. 10 Those who love other believers live in the light. Nothing will destroy the faith of those who live in the light. 11 Those who hate other believers are in the dark and live in the dark. They don’t know where they’re going, because they can’t see in the dark.
Don’t Love the World
12 I’m writing to you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven through Christ.
13 I’m writing to you, fathers, because you know Christ who has existed from the beginning.
I’m writing to you, young people, because you have won the victory over the evil one.
14 I’ve written to you, children, because you know the Father.
I’ve written to you, fathers, because you know Christ, who has existed from the beginning.
I’ve written to you, young people, because you are strong and God’s word lives in you. You have won the victory over the evil one.
15 Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them. 16 Not everything that the world offers—physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles—comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 17 the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.
Live in Christ
18 Children, it’s the end of time. You’ve heard that an antichrist is coming. Certainly, many antichrists are already here. That’s how we know it’s the end of time. 19 They left us. However, they were never really part of us. If they had been, they would have stayed with us. But by leaving they made it clear that none of them were part of us.
20 The Holy One has anointed you, so all of you have knowledge. 21 I’m writing to you because you know the truth, not because you don’t know the truth. You know that no lie ever comes from the truth.
22 Who is a liar? Who else but the person who rejects Jesus as the Messiah? The person who rejects the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Everyone who rejects the Son doesn’t have the Father either. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father. 24 Make sure that the message you heard from the beginning lives in you. If that message lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father. 25 Christ has given us the promise of eternal life.
26 I’m writing to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 The anointing you received from Christ lives in you. You don’t need anyone to teach you something else. Instead, Christ’s anointing teaches you about everything. His anointing is true and contains no lie. So live in Christ as he taught you to do.
We Are God’s Children
28 Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won’t turn from him in shame. 29 If you know that Christ has God’s approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.
1 John 2
The Message
2 1-2 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.
The Only Way to Know We’re in Him
2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness fading away and the True Light already blazing!
9-11 Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
Loving the World
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
Antichrists Everywhere You Look
18 Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they’re all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That’s how we know that we’re close to the end.
19 They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.
20-21 But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies.
22-23 So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that’s who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
Live Deeply in Christ
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson