1 John 02 (Contemporary English Version)
- My children, I am writing this so that you won't sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.
- Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world's people.
- When we obey God, we are sure that we know him.
- But if we claim to know him and don't obey him, we are lying and the truth isn't in our hearts.
- We truly love God only when we obey him as we should, and then we know that we belong to him.
- If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.
- My dear friends, I am not writing to give you a new commandment. It is the same one that you were first given, and it is the message you heard.
- But it really is a new commandment, and you know its true meaning, just as Christ does. You can see the darkness fading away and the true light already shining.
- If we claim to be in the light and hate someone, we are still in the dark.
- But if we love others, we are in the light, and we don't cause problems for them.
- If we hate others, we are living and walking in the dark. We don't know where we are going, because we can't see in the dark.
- Children, I am writing you, because your sins have been forgiven in the name of Christ.
- Parents, I am writing you, because you have known the one who was there from the beginning. Young people, I am writing you, because you have defeated the evil one.
- Children, I am writing you, because you have known the Father. Parents, I am writing you, because you have known the one who was there from the beginning. Young people, I am writing you, because you are strong. God's message is firm in your hearts, and you have defeated the evil one.
- Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father.
- Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father.
- The world and the desires it causes are disappearing. But if we obey God, we will live forever.
- Children, this is the last hour. You heard that the enemy of Christ would appear at this time, and many of Christ's enemies have already appeared. So we know that the last hour is here.
- These people came from our own group, yet they were not part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, which proves that they did not belong to our group.
- Christ, the Holy One, has blessed you, and now all of you understand.
- I did not need to write you about the truth, since you already know it. You also know that liars do not belong to the truth.
- And a liar is anyone who says that Jesus isn't truly Christ. Anyone who says this is an enemy of Christ and rejects both the Father and the Son.
- If we reject the Son, we reject the Father. But if we say that we accept the Son, we have the Father.
- Keep thinking about the message you first heard, and you will always be one in your heart with the Son and with the Father.
- The Son has promised us eternal life.
- I am writing to warn you about those people who are misleading you.
- But Christ has blessed you with the Holy Spirit. Now the Spirit stays in you, and you don't need any teachers. The Spirit is truthful and teaches you everything. So stay one in your heart with Christ, just as the Spirit has taught you to do.
- Children, stay one in your hearts with Christ. Then when he returns, we will have confidence and won't have to hide in shame.
- You know that Christ always does right and that everyone who does right is a child of God.
John stated his intent for this letter in the first chapter: Fellowship with God and the joy that accompanies it. In 2:1 he says, "I am writing you these things so that you may not sin," but this is not a change in his direction. As he has already stated in chapter 1, "God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him . . . if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1:5,7) The statement, "fellowship with one another," is not fellowship with fellow Christians, but fellowship between us and God. Walking in darkness - sin - keeps us from this fellowship. Thus, John has written that the readers may not sin, and, accordingly, lose their fellowship with God.
On the other hand, however, the reality is that Christians do sin. But John wants them to know that there is a remedy for sin - Jesus Christ. Not only did He die that we might have forgiveness of sin, He continues to serve as "an advocate with the Father." (2:1) When we sin (not if), we do not need to continue in sin, or in other words, walk in darkness. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who "is the propitiation for our sins." (2:2) As quickly as we are aware of the sin, we need to allow our Advocate to intervene for us and remove the guilt of that sin, and thus, not allow our fellowship with God to be broken.
John has already stated in chapter 1 (verse 8) that "If we say, 'We have no sin,' we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Lest the readers think he is referring only to acts of morality or immorality, John points to another deception - our relationship with our fellow Christians. This, too, is sin, and the one who thinks he is walking in the light along with God, but hates his brother, is deceiving himself and is actually walking in darkness. His darkness blinds him and he doesn't even know where he is going. Many Christians are blindsided by this deception and do not see that their relationship with a Christian brother has affected their relationship with God.
John then moves on to address another deception Christians might have: love for the world and the things that belong to the world. John makes a rather strong statement concerning one who loves the world - "love for the Father is not in him." (2:15) Love for the Father and love for the world are incompatible and cannot exist together. But love for the world can be subtle and we can be deceived by it. John mentions as examples of love for the world, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride in one's lifestyle. Especially deceptive in this list is pride in one's lifestyle. One may tell himself he loves God, but be unwilling to face the reality that if a choice must be made he will choose his lifestyle over God. He is deceiving himself and has a love for the world that he is not willing to admit. Nor does he admit that this love for the world is an indicator of his lack of love for God.
Yet another deception is the denial that Jesus is the Messiah. Included in this denial is the denial that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through (Him)." (John 14:6) This deception tries to convince us that there are many ways to fellowship with God. But John says that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is a liar and an 'antichrist.' Furthermore, he says, "No one who denies the Son can have the Father." Therefore, they are deceived. There is not fellowship with the Father apart from the Son.
These are some of the deceptions Christians face. In light of them, John's advise is to "remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
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