1 John 2:1-10

1 Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;

2 and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands.

4 He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart.

5 But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him.

6 The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived.

7 My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received.

8 And yet I *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine.

9 Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness.

10 He who loves his brother man continues in the light, and his life puts no stumbling-block in the way of others.