1My dear children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who speaks to the Father on our behalf.
2He is the sacrifice that removes our sins, and not just ours, but also the sins of the whole world.
3This is how we can be sure that we know him: if we obey his commands.
4Anyone who says, "I know him," but does not obey his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
5But in anyone who obeys his word, God's love has truly been made perfect. This is how we know we are in him:
6whoever claims to live in him must live the same way Jesus lived.
7Dear brothers and sisters, I am not writing a new command to you; rather, it is an old command that you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you heard before.
8Yet I am also writing a new command to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is fading, and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a fellow believer is still in darkness.
10Whoever loves a fellow believer lives in the light, and there is nothing in them that would cause stumbling.
11But anyone who hates his brother is in darkness. He walks in darkness and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has made him blind.
12My dear children, I am writing to you because your sins are forgiven through Jesus.
13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know the One who has always existed. I am writing to you, young men, because you have defeated the evil one. I am writing to you, dear children, because you know the Father.
14I have written to you, fathers, because you know the One who has always existed. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God's word lives in you, and you have defeated the evil one.
15Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love is not in him.
16Everything in the world—our sinful desires, what our eyes long for, and our proud display of our possessions—does not come from the Father, but from the world.
17The world and all its desires are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever.
18Dear children, this is the final hour. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and even now, many antichrists have appeared. That is how we know it is the final hour.
19They went out from us, but they never truly belonged with us. If they had belonged with us, they would have stayed. But they left so it would be clear that none of them truly belonged with us.
20You have a special blessing from the Holy One, and you all know the truth.
21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
22Who is the liar? It is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This person is the Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23Anyone who denies the Son also does not have the Father. But the one who acknowledges the Son has the Father as well.
24So let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.
25And this is the promise that he made to us: eternal life.
26I have written these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27As for you, the special blessing 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—and this teaching is true and not a lie—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28And now, dear children, remain in him, so that when he appears, we may be confident and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.