1 John 2:1-9

Christ Our Advocate

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ¹we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 ²He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ³also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ⁴keep his commandments.

4 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments ⁵is a liar, and ⁶the truth is not in him,

5 but whoever ⁷keeps his word, in him truly ⁸the love of God is perfected. ⁹By this we may know that we are in him:

6 whoever says he ¹⁰abides in him ¹¹ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you ¹²no new commandment, but ¹³an old commandment ¹⁴that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

8 At the same time, it is ¹⁵a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^[a]¹⁶the darkness is passing away and ¹⁷the true light is already shining.

9 Whoever says he is in the light and ¹⁸hates his brother is still in darkness.

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Cross References 18

1. Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25
2. 1 John 4:10; Romans 3:25; [2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; Colossians 1:20]
3. 1 John 4:14; John 1:29; John 4:42; John 11:51, 52; John 12:32
4. John 14:15; John 15:10
5. 1 John 1:8; John 8:44
6. 1 John 1:8; John 8:44
7. 1 John 5:3; John 14:23
8. 1 John 4:12
9. 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13; 1 John 5:2
10. John 15:4, 5, 7
11. See Matthew 11:29
12. 2 John 5
13. Leviticus 19:18
14. [ver. 24; 1 John 3:11; 2 John 5, 6]
15. See John 13:34
16. Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5
17. John 1:9; John 8:12
18. 1 John 4:20; [1 John 3:14, 15; Titus 3:3]

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or that

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.