1 John 2:14-24

14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God's word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.

A Warning about the World

15 Do not love the world or the things that belong to^[a] the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

16 For everything that belongs to^[b] the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle-is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever.

The Last Hour

18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, "Antichrist is coming," even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour.

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

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.^[c]

21 I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

Remaining with God

24 What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.