1 John 2

2 ¹My dear children, I write this so you won't sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the righteous one. ²He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not ours only but also the whole world's. ^a a v2 Jesus is the sacrifice that covers our sin and turns away judgment — not for believers only, but offered for the whole world. ³By this we know that we have come to know him: if we keep his commandments. ⁴Whoever says, "I know him," yet doesn't keep his commands, is a liar—the truth isn't in him. ⁵But whoever keeps his word, the love of our Father is truly complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to remain in him ought to walk in the very way he walked.

⁷Dear ones, I write you no new command, but an old one, held since the start—the old command is the word you heard. ⁸Again, I write you a new command—true in him and in you—because the darkness is passing and the true light already shines. ⁹Anyone who says they're in the light but hates their brother or sister is in the dark even now. ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother or sister abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹But whoever hates his brother or sister is in the dark, walking in the dark, not knowing where he's going—the dark has blinded his eyes.

¹²I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

¹³I write to you, fathers, because you know the One from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have defeated the evil one.

¹⁴Children, I write because you know the Father. Fathers, I write because you know the One from the beginning. Young men, I write because you're strong, and our Father's word lives in you, and you've overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵Do not love the world, or anything in the world. Whoever loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶Everything in the world—the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its cravings are passing away, but whoever does the will of our Father remains forever.

Watch for Those Who Deny the Son

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour. As you heard antichrist comes, so now many antichrists have come; by this we know it's the last hour. ^b b v18 "Antichrist" means "against" or "in place of" Christ. John defines it as anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (2:22); already "many" have come, animated by "the spirit of antichrist" (4:3). ¹⁹They went out from us, but were not of us; if they had been of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, to show that none of them belonged to us. ²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know the truth. ²¹I write to you not because you don't know the truth, but because you do—and no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar, if not the one denying Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, denying the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

²⁴You—let what you heard from the start remain in you. If what you heard from the start remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and the Father. ²⁵And this is the promise that he himself made to us—eternal life.

²⁶I write these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. But since his anointing teaches you about everything—true, not a lie—remain in him, just as it taught you.

²⁸And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. ²⁹If you know he's righteous, you also know that all who do right are born of him.