1 John 2:1-11

Living in the light

1 My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you don't sin. But if you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.

2 He is God's way of dealing with our sins, not only ours but the sins of the whole world.

3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.

4 The one who claims, "I know him," while not keeping his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in this person.

5 But the love of God is truly perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know we are in him.

6 The one who claims to remain in him ought to live in the same way as he lived.

7 Dear friends, I'm not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message you heard.

8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.

9 The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now.

10 The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is nothing in the light that causes a person to stumble.

11 But the person who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and lives in the darkness, and doesn't know where to go because the darkness blinds the eyes.