1 John 2 (New American Standard)

Christ Is Our Advocate

1 ¹My little children, I am ²writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ³we have an ^a4Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ; 2 and He Himself is ⁵the ^bpropitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also ⁶for those of the whole world. 3 ⁷By this we know that we have come to ⁸know Him, if we ⁹keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "¹⁰I have come to ¹¹know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a ¹²liar, and ¹³the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever ¹⁴keeps His word, in him the ¹⁵love of God has truly been perfected. ¹⁶By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he ¹⁷abides in Him ¹⁸ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. 7 ¹⁹Beloved, I am ²⁰not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ²¹from the beginning ; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 ^cOn the other hand, I am writing ²²a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ²³the darkness is passing away and ²⁴the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet ²⁵hates his ²⁶brother is in the darkness until now. 10 ²⁷The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who ²⁸hates his brother is in the darkness and ²⁹walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ³⁰blinded his eyes. 12 I am writing to you, ³¹little children, because ³²your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ³³who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ³⁴you have overcome ³⁵the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ³⁶you know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ³⁷who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ³⁸strong, and the ³⁹word of God abides in you, and ⁴⁰you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love ⁴¹the world nor the things in the world. ⁴²If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, ⁴³the lust of the flesh and ⁴⁴the lust of the eyes and ⁴⁵the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 ⁴⁶The world is passing away, and also its lusts ; but the one who ⁴⁷does the will of God lives forever. 18 Children, ⁴⁸it is the last hour ; and just as you heard that ⁴⁹antichrist is coming, ⁵⁰even now many antichrists have appeared ; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 ⁵¹They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ⁵²so that ^dit would be shown that they all are not of us. 20 ^eBut you have an ⁵³anointing from ⁵⁴the Holy One, and ⁵⁵you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ⁵⁶because you do know it, and ^fbecause no lie is ⁵⁷of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but ⁵⁸the one who denies that Jesus is the ^gChrist ? This is ⁵⁹the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 ⁶⁰Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father ; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ⁶¹from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ⁶²will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

25 ⁶³This is the promise which He Himself ^hmade to us: eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ⁶⁴deceive you. 27 As for you, the ⁶⁵anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ⁶⁶teaches you about all things, and is ⁶⁷true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ⁱyou abide in Him. 28 Now, ⁶⁸little children, abide in Him, so that when He ⁶⁹appears, we may have ⁷⁰confidence and ⁷¹not ^jshrink away from Him in shame ^kat His ⁷²coming. 29 If you know that ⁷³He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ⁷⁴is ^lborn of Him.