1 John Chapter 2

Christ Our Advocate

¹ My little children, I’m writing so you’ll continue not to sin. If any of us do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just. ² He’s the basis for forgiving our sins as well as the sins of the whole world. ³ We can tell we know him by whether we’re keeping his commandments. ⁴ If we claim to know him but don’t obey him, we’re not telling the truth and don’t have it. ⁵ If we keep God’s word, we really have loved God completely. That’s how we can tell we’re in him. ⁶ If we claim to be in him, we should be like him.               

1 Jn 2:1-6

Love, the New Commandment

            ⁷ Friends, I’m not telling you anything new; it’s what you’ve heard all along. ⁸ Then again, I am saying something new, something that’s true in him and us: darkness is disappearing, and true light is already shining. ⁹ People that claim to be enlightened and hate fellow believers are still in the dark. ¹¹ They don’t know where they’re going because they can’t see in the dark. ¹⁰ Whoever loves a fellow believer is in the light and doesn’t make people stumble.

                        ¹² I’m writing to you little children

                                    because he’s forgiven your sins.

                        ¹³ I’m writing to you fathers

                                    because you’ve known the One that’s from the beginning.

I’m writing to you young men

                                    because you’ve overcome the evil one.

                        ¹⁴ I’ve written to you children

because you’ve known the Father.

                                      I’ve written to you fathers

                        because you’ve known the One that’s from the beginning.  

I’ve written to you young men

                                    because you’re strong;

                                    God’s message remains in you, and

                                    you’ve overcome the evil one.                                                        

1 Jn 2:7-14

¹⁵ Don’t love the world or what’s in it. Loving the world means not loving the Father. ¹⁶ Nothing worldly comes from the Father; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life come from the world. ¹⁷ The world will pass away along with its lust, but whoever does God’s will lasts forever.                                                                                                                      

1 Jn 2:15-17

The Antichrist

            ¹⁸ Little children, we’re in the last hour. You’ve heard that antichrist is coming, and lots of antichrists have already come; so we know we’re in the last hour. ¹⁹ Some people have left us, but they weren’t part of us, or they would’ve stayed; leaving us shows they weren’t part of us. ²⁰ You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know what you need to know. ²¹ I’m not writing to tell you something you don’t know, but because you do know it and because there’s a difference between false and true. ²² Who’s telling what’s false if it’s not someone that denies Jesus is the Christ^Messiah? It’s the antichrist that denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Nobody that denies the Son has the Father either; anybody that acknowledges the Son has both. ²⁴ Let what you’ve heard from the beginning stick with you. If you do, you’ll continue to be in the Son and the Father, ²⁵ and you’ll have the eternal life he promised.        

²⁶ I’m writing about the ones that are trying to mislead you. ²⁷ The anointing you received from him is still in you; you don’t need anybody to teach you anything more. His anointing is correct and complete. Stick with what he taught you ²⁸ so when he returns, you’ll feel confident, not ashamed. ²⁹ If you know he’s good, you know he’s begotten everyone that’s good.

1 Jn 2:18-29