1 John 2

1My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate in the Father’s presence, Jesus Christ, who is righteous. 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins, and not for ours alone but for the sins of the whole world.

3We can be sure that we have come to know him in this way: if we keep his commands. 4Anyone who says, “I have come to know him,” but does not keep his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in them. 5But whoever keeps his word, in that person the love of God has truly reached its goal. That is how we know we are in him. 6Anyone who claims to remain in him ought to live in the same way that Jesus lived.

7Dear friends, what I am writing to you is not a new command but an old one, one you have had from the beginning. That old command is the word you heard. 8And yet the command I am writing to you is a new one. Its newness is real in him and in you, for the darkness is passing away, and already the true light is shining. 9Someone who says they are in the light, and yet hates their brother or sister, is in the darkness even now. 10Whoever loves their brother or sister remains in the light, and in them there is nothing that causes stumbling. 11But whoever hates their brother or sister is in the darkness and goes about in it, not knowing where they are headed, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

12Dear children, I am writing to you because your sins stand forgiven for the sake of his name. 13Fathers, I am writing to you because you know the one who has been from the beginning. Young men, I am writing to you because you have defeated the evil one. 14Children, I have written to you because you know the Father. Fathers, I have written to you because you know the one who has been from the beginning. Young men, I have written to you because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have defeated the evil one.

15Do not give your love to the world or to the things that are in it. Whoever loves the world has no love for the Father in them. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of human nature, the greed of the eyes, and arrogant pride in what one has—does not come from the Father but comes from the world. 17The world is passing away, and its cravings with it; but the one who does God’s will remains forever.

18Children, the last hour has come. You heard that the antichrist is coming, and in fact many antichrists have already appeared; that is how we know the last hour has come. 19They went out from among us, but they were never truly part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have remained with us. Their leaving happened so that it would be made plain that none of them are part of us. 20But as for you, the Holy One has anointed you, and you all know the truth. 21My reason for writing to you is not that you are ignorant of the truth. It is that you know it, and that nothing false ever comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar, if not the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? That person is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father as well as the Son. 23Anyone who denies the Son is without the Father as well; anyone who confesses the Son has the Father too. 24You, for your part, must let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And the promise he himself made to us is this: eternal life.

26I have written these things to you concerning those who are out to deceive you. 27As for you, you received an anointing from him, and that anointing remains in you; you have no need for anyone to teach you. Rather, his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true and not a lie. So, just as the anointing has taught you, remain in him.

28And now, dear children, remain in him. Then, when he appears, we will be able to face him boldly at his coming, instead of turning away from him in shame. 29Since you know that he is righteous, you can be sure that everyone who does what is righteous has been born of him.