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。

我的孩子们,我写这些话给你们是为了叫你们不要犯罪。如果有人犯了罪,在父那里我们有一位护慰者,就是那位义者——耶稣基督。 祂为我们的罪作了赎罪祭,不只是为我们的罪,也是为全人类的罪。

我们若遵行上帝的命令,就知道自己认识祂。 若有人说“我认识祂”,却不遵行祂的命令,这人是说谎的,他心中没有真理。 遵行主话语的人是真正全心爱上帝的人,我们借此知道自己是在主里面。 所以,自称住在主里面的,就该在生活中效法基督。

新命令

亲爱的弟兄姊妹,我写给你们的并不是一条新命令,而是你们起初接受的旧命令,这旧命令就是你们已经听过的真道。 然而,我写给你们的也是新命令,在基督和你们身上都显明是真实的,因为黑暗渐渐过去,真光已经照耀出来。

若有人说自己在光明中,却恨他的弟兄姊妹,他就仍然活在黑暗里。 10 爱弟兄姊妹的人活在光明中,没有什么可以绊倒他[a] 11 恨弟兄姊妹的人活在黑暗中,走在黑暗中,不知何去何从,因为黑暗弄瞎了他的眼睛。

Footnotes

  1. 2:10 没有什么可以绊倒他”或译“他也不会绊倒别人”。

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

This is the message we have heard(A) from him and declare to you: God is light;(B) in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,(C) we lie and do not live out the truth.(D) But if we walk in the light,(E) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin.(F)

If we claim to be without sin,(G) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.(H) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins(I) and purify us from all unrighteousness.(J) 10 If we claim we have not sinned,(K) we make him out to be a liar(L) and his word is not in us.(M)

My dear children,(N) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate(O) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,(P) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.(Q)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

We know(R) that we have come to know him(S) if we keep his commands.(T) Whoever says, “I know him,”(U) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.(V) But if anyone obeys his word,(W) love for God[b] is truly made complete in them.(X) This is how we know(Y) we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.(Z)

Dear friends,(AA) I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.(AB) This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command;(AC) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing(AD) and the true light(AE) is already shining.(AF)

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[c](AG) is still in the darkness.(AH) 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[d] lives in the light,(AI) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.(AJ) 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister(AK) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.(AL) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 1:7 Or every
  2. 1 John 2:5 Or word, God’s love
  3. 1 John 2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.
  4. 1 John 2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.