1 John 2

1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is righteous.

2He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, not for ours alone but for the whole world as well.

3This is how we know that we have come to know him: if we keep his commandments.

4Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

5But whoever keeps his word, in that person the love of God has truly been made complete. This is how we know that we are in him:

6whoever claims to remain in him ought to walk just as he walked.

7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new commandment but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word you have heard.

8Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

9Whoever claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

10Whoever loves a brother or sister remains in the light, and in that person there is nothing to cause stumbling.

11But whoever hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

14I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.

16For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and pride in one’s possessions—does not come from the Father but from the world.

17The world is passing away, and so is its desire, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

18Children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. This is how we know that it is the last hour.

19They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be made clear that none of them belong to us.

20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know.

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 but the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

24As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.

26I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

27As for you, the anointing 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 is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in him.

28And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink back from him in shame at his coming.

29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.