1 John 2

¹My dear children, I am writing these things to you so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Just One. ²He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins—and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

³This is how we know that we have come to know him: if we keep his commands. ⁴The one who says, "I have come to know him," yet does not keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. ⁵But whoever keeps his word, in this person the love of God has truly reached its goal. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶the one who claims "to remain in him" is obligated to walk in the same way that he walked.

⁷Beloved, I am not writing a new command to you, but an old command that you have had from the beginning. This old command is the word you have heard. ⁸On the other hand, I am writing a new command to you—something that is true in him and in you—because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. ⁹The one who claims "to be in the light" but hates their brother or sister is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰The one who loves their brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in them. ¹¹But the one who hates their brother is in the darkness; they walk in the darkness and do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

¹²I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven through his name. ¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one. ¹⁴I have written to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known the One 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 conquered 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 him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of one's status—does not come from the Father but comes from the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away, along with its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that "Antichrist is coming," even now many antichrists have appeared. From this, we know 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 it would be made clear that not all of them belong to us.

²⁰You, however, have a chrism from the Holy One, and you all know the truth. 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 if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; the one who acknowledges the Son has the Father as well.

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 he himself made to us: eternal life. ²⁶I have written these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷As for you, the chrism you received from him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. Instead, as his chrism teaches you about all things—and it is true and not a lie—and just as it has taught you, remain in him.

²⁸And now, dear children, remain in him, so that if he is revealed, we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his parousia. ²⁹If you know that he is just, you realize that everyone who practices justice has been fathered by him.