So, dear friends, in this expectation, strive to be found spotless and blameless in his peace, and believe that your salvation is the patience of our Lord; as our beloved brother Paul has also written to you in the wisdom that has been granted to him, even as he speaks of these matters in all his letters; but places in them are hard to understand, and these the ignorant and unstable distort, as they do the other scriptures; but to their own destruction. But for your part, dear friends, being forew^raed, keep yourselves from being carried along in the deviation of the iniquitous, and from falling away from your own firm position; but grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and to the day of eternity.
The First General Letter of John
WHAT WAS FROM THE BEGINNING, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have watched and our hands have felt, concerning the word of life; and the life was revealed, and we have seen and attest and announce to you the life everlasting which was with the Father and was revealed to us; what we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you also may share it with us; and our sharing is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. And we write you this so that your joy may be complete.
And this is the message which we heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there is not any darkness in him. If we say that we have a share in him, and yet walk in darkness, we are lying and not enacting the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we share with each other, and the blood of Jesus his son washes us clean of all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is righteous and to be trusted to forgive us our sins and wash us clean of all guilt. If we say that we have not sinned, we are making him a liar and his word is not in us.
% My little children, I write you this so that you will not sin. And even if one does sin, we have a just advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ; and he himself is an expiation for our sins, and not for ours alone but for those of all the world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. The man who says: I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if a man obeys his word, truly in that man the love of God is fulfilled. By this we know that we are with him; the man who says that he abides with him must walk in the ways in which he walks.
Dear friends, I am not writing you any new commandment, but the old one which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word to which you listened. Yet, again, I am writing you a new commandment, which is the truth in him and in you, that the darkness is passing away and the true light is now shining. The man who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the dark even now. The man who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no offense in him; but the man who hates his brother is in the dark and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven through his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who was from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I wrote to you, children, because you know the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you know him who was from the beginning. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong and the word abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.
Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If one loves the world, love of the Father is not in him; because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its lust are passing away, but he who does the will of God endures forever.
Children, this is the final hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even so there are now many antichrists. From this we know tha.t it is the final hour. They went forth from us, but they were not of our number (for if they had been of our number they would have remained with us); they went forth from us so that it might be made clear that they are not of our number. And you ha.ve been anointed by the holy one; and all of you have knowledge. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar, if not the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son also fails to have the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you; and if that which you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and the Father. And this is the promise which he promised us, the life that is everlasting.
I write you this concerning those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is the truth and no lie, and as he himself taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in ^m, so that if he is revealed to us we may feel confident and not be shamed by him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, realize that every one who acts righteously is sprung from him.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called God's children; and we are. This is why the world does not know us; because it did not know him. Dear friends, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself pure, as God is pure.
Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was revealed to take sins away, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who abides in him does not sin; anyone who sins has not seen him and does not know him. My little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who acts righteously is righteous, as the Lord is righteous. Everyone who acts sinfully is from the devil, because the devil is a sinner from the beginning. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to undo the work of the devil.
Anyone sp^mg from God does not sin, because God's seed endures in him, and he is unable to sin, because he is sprung from God. By this it is clear which are the children of God and which the children of the devil; anyone who does not act righteously is not from God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Since this is the message we have heard from the beginning, that we should love each other. We should not be like Cain, who c^e from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions had been evil, and his brother's had been righteous.
Brothers, do not be surprised if the world hates you. We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers. He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a man- slayer, and you know that no manslayer has life everlasting lodged within him.