1 John

Chapter 1

¹ I, John, am writing to you about Jesus, the Word of God, the one who gives life. He existed before there was anything else. We apostles listened to him as he taught. We saw him personally. We looked at him and touched him. {So we can testify that he was a real human being.} ² Because he came here to the earth and we saw him, we are proclaiming him to you clearly. The one who has always existed, who had been with his Father in heaven, came here to us. ³ We want you to share life with us, and so we are proclaiming to you what we saw and heard {from Jesus}. {If you believe in him,} you will share life, as we do, with God our Father and his Son Jesus the Messiah. ⁴ I am writing to you about these things so that {you will recognize that they are true, and that as a result} we will be completely joyful together.

⁵ The message that we heard from Jesus and are proclaiming to you is this: God always does what is right and never, ever does anything wrong. ⁶ If we claim that we share life with God, but we conduct our lives in an evil manner, we are lying. We are not living truthfully. ⁷ But if we live in a pure manner, as God is pure in every way, then we can share life with each other. Then God forgives us and accepts us because his Son Jesus died for us. ⁸ If we say that we do not commit sin, we are fooling ourselves. We are refusing to believe the true things {that God says about us}. ⁹ But God always does what he says he will do, and what he does is always right. So if we admit to him that we have sinned, he will forgive us for our sins and will free us from {the guilt of} everything we have done wrong. ¹⁰ {Because God says that everyone has sinned,} if we say that we do not sin, we are speaking as if God were a liar! We are rejecting what God has said about us!

Chapter 2

¹ You who are as dear to me as my own children, I am writing this to you to keep you from sinning. But if any of you does sin, {remember that} Jesus the Messiah, the righteous one, pleads with the Father {and asks him to forgive us}. ² Jesus is the one who makes God no longer angry with us for our sins. And this is true not just of our sins, but of all the sins that people everywhere have committed!

³ If we obey what God commands us to do, then we can be sure that we have come to know God. ⁴ If someone says, “I am living in relationship with God,” but that person does not obey what God has commanded, he is a liar. He is not conducting his life according to God’s true message. ⁵ But if someone obeys what God has commanded, that person loves God in every way. This is how we can be sure that we are joined with God: ⁶ If anyone says that he shares life with God, then he should conduct his life as Jesus did {when he was here on earth}.

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing to tell you to do something new. Instead, I am writing to tell you to do something you have known you should do since you first believed in Jesus. This is part of the message that you have always heard {about him}. ⁸ However, seen another way, I am actually telling you to do something new. It is new because what the Messiah did was new, and what you are doing is new. That is because you are ceasing to do evil and you are doing more and more good. ⁹ If someone says that he is doing what God wants, but he hates any of his fellow believers, then he is still doing what God does not want. ¹⁰ But if someone loves his fellow believers, then he is truly doing what God wants. He will not be led to sin {as he would be if he hated a fellow believer}. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a fellow believer is not doing what God wants. He is conducting his life in the wrong way. But he does not understand how he should live, because the wrong things he is doing are keeping him from understanding.

¹² I am writing to you, whom I love as though you were my own children, because God has forgiven your sins because of what Jesus has done for you. ¹³ I am also writing to you who have been believers longer than the others. I am writing because you are acquainted with God, who has been alive from all eternity. I am also writing to you believers who have become steadfast in your faith. I am writing because Satan, that evil being, has tried to tempt you to do wrong, but you have successfully resisted. ¹⁴ Yes, I have written to you, whom I love as though you were my own little children, because you are acquainted with God the Father. I have written to you who have been believers longer than the others because you are acquainted with God, who has been alive from all eternity. And I have written to you believers who have become steadfast in your faith because you are spiritually strong. I have also written to you because you continue to obey what God commands, and because while Satan, that evil being, has tried to tempt you to do wrong, you have successfully resisted.

¹⁵ Do not behave like people who do not honor God. Do not desire the things that they want to have. If anyone behaves as those people do, {he is proving that} he does not love God the Father. ¹⁶ {I say that such a person does not love God} because the way that ungodly people act is not the way God our Father wants them to act. They want to fulfill their physical desires. They want to get for themselves the things that they see. They boast about all of the things they own. All these actions show that these people truly are ungodly. ¹⁷ The way of behavior that does not honor God, along with everything that it makes people desire, will not last. But those who do what God wants will live forever!

¹⁸ You who are very dear to me, {I want you to know that} this is the time just before Jesus returns to earth. You have already heard that a person who will pretend to be the Messiah is coming. In fact, many people like that, who are against the true Messiah, are already here. Because of this, we know that it is that time. ¹⁹ These people refused to remain in our congregations. However, they never really belonged with us in the first place. After all, if they had belonged with us, they would not have left. But {when they left us,} then we clearly saw that they had all never actually joined with us. ²⁰ But as for you, the Messiah, the one who is holy, has given you his Spirit. As a result, you all know {the truth}. ²¹ I am not writing this letter to you because you do not know the true things {that God has told us}, but because you do know them. You also know enough to recognize and reject every lie that is not one of the true things {God has told us}. ²² The worst liars are the ones who deny that Jesus is the Messiah. All who do that are against the Messiah. They are refusing to believe both in God the Father and in Jesus his Son. ²³ Those who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is God’s Son are in no way joined with God the Father. But those who acknowledge that the Jesus is God’s Son are also joined with God the Father. ²⁴ Here is what you should do{, unlike those people who deny Jesus}. You must continue to believe and live by the truth about Jesus the Messiah that you first heard. If you do that, then you will continue to share life with Jesus the Son and God the Father. ²⁵ And what God promised us is that he will enable us to live forever!

²⁶ I am writing this letter to you to warn you about people who want to deceive you {about Jesus}. ²⁷ Here is what you should do {about those people who are trying to deceive you}. God’s Spirit, whom you received from Jesus, continues to live in you. So you do not need anyone else to be your teacher. God’s Spirit is teaching you everything that you need to know. He always teaches the truth, and never says anything that is false. So continue to live in the way that he has taught you, and continue to share life with Jesus.

²⁸ Now, my dear ones, {I urge you to} continue to share life with Jesus. That way, when he comes back again we will be confident {that he will accept us}. We will not be ashamed to face him when he returns. ²⁹ Since you know that God always does what is right, you know that all those who continue doing what is right are the ones who have become God’s children.

Chapter 3

¹ Think about how much God our Father loves us! He says that we are his children. And this is indeed true. But people who are unbelievers have not understood who God is. So they do not understand who we are{, that we are God’s children}. ² Dear friends, even though at present we are God’s children, he has not yet shown us what we will be like {in the future}. {However,} we know that when Jesus comes back again, we will become like him, because we will see him face to face. ³ So all those who confidently expect to see Jesus face to face will keep themselves from sinning, just like Jesus himself, who never sins. ⁴ But everyone who continues to sin is refusing to obey God’s laws, because that is what sin is, refusing to obey God’s laws. ⁵ You know that Jesus came so that God would forgive our sins. {You know} also {that} he never sinned himself. ⁶ Those who share life with Jesus do not continue sinning. But all those who continue to sin have not understood who Jesus is and they are not truly acquainted with him. ⁷ So I urge you who are very dear to me not to let anyone deceive you {by telling you that it is all right to sin}. If you continue doing what is right, that will please God, just as Jesus always does what pleases God. ⁸ But anyone who continues to sin is behaving like the devil, because the devil has always been sinning, ever since the world began. And the reason why God’s Son became a human being was to destroy what the devil has done. ⁹ People do not continue sinning if they have become children of God. They cannot continually sin, because God has made them his children, and he has put into them what he himself is like. ¹⁰ People who belong to God are clearly different from people who belong to the devil. Those who do not do what is right do not belong to God. Those who do not love their fellow believers do not belong to God.

¹¹ {You should recognize this because} the message that you heard when you first believed in Jesus is that we should love each other. ¹² We should not hate others as {Adam’s son} Cain did. He belonged to {Satan,} that evil being. Cain murdered his {younger} brother {Abel}. I will tell you why he did that. It was because Cain behaved in an evil way, and {he hated his younger brother because} his younger brother behaved in the right way. ¹³ My friends, you should not be amazed when unbelievers hate you. ¹⁴ We love our fellow believers, and this assures us that God has made us spiritually alive. But if someone does not love {other believers}, this shows that this has not happened for him. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates his fellow believers is doing something just as bad as committing murder. Someone who hates like that shows that he is not living the new life that God enables us to live. ¹⁶ We have the example of Jesus, who died for us of his own free will. That has shown us how to love our fellow believers truly. For our part, we should do anything for our fellow believers, even die for them. ¹⁷ Many of us have the things that are necessary for life in this world. But supppose we become aware that a fellow believer does not have what he needs. And suppose we refuse to provide for him. Then it is clear that we do not love God. ¹⁸ You whom I love dearly, let us not merely say that we love each other. {Let us love each other} genuinely by helping each other.

¹⁹ Here is how we can be sure that we are living according to the true message that we received from Jesus. Here is why we should not feel guilty in the presence of God. ²⁰ Even though we might still feel guilty and undeserving of God’s acceptance, God does not go by our feelings. He knows everything about us {and he knows when we have genuinely trusted him}. ²¹ Dear friends, if our minds do not accuse us {of having sinned}, then we can pray confidently to God. ²² We find that when we pray confidently to God and ask for something, he gives it to us. {We pray confidently like this} because {as people who belong to him,} we do what he commands us to do and we do what pleases him. ²³ I will tell you what God commands us to do. We must believe that Jesus the Messiah is his Son. We must also love each other. Yes, that is what God has commanded us to do. ²⁴ Those who do what God commands share life with God, and God shares life with them. Because we have God’s Spirit, whom he gave to us, we can be sure that God is sharing life with us.

Chapter 4

¹ Dear friends, many people who have a false message are teaching it to others. Be very careful about these people. You must think carefully about what you hear them teach and decide whether they are teaching the truth that comes from God or not. ² I will tell you how to know whether someone is teaching truth that comes from the Spirit of God. Those who affirm that Jesus the Messiah came from God to become a human like us are teaching a message that is from God. ³ But those who do not affirm that truth about Jesus are not teaching a message from God. They are teachers who oppose the Messiah. You have heard that people like that will be coming {among us}. Even now they are already here.

⁴ As for you who are very dear to me, you belong to God, and you have refused to believe what those people teach. You have done this because God, who enables you to do what he wants, is more powerful than the spirits who are inspiring them. ⁵ As for those people who are teaching what is false, they think what they do because they refuse to honor God. That is why what they say also does not honor God, and that is why other people who do not honor God believe what they say. ⁶ As for us, we belong to God. Whoever lives in relationship with God listens to what we teach. Whoever does not live in relationship with God does not listen to what we teach. That difference enables us to distinguish between people who teach what is true {about God} and people who deceive {others}.

⁷ Dear friends, we must love each other, because God enables us to do that. Those who love {their fellow believers} have become God’s children and are living in relationship with him. ⁸ God shows his love to people. So those who do not love others must not be living in relationship with God. ⁹ Here is how God has shown us that he loves us. He sent his only Son to this earth to enable us to live eternally because of him. ¹⁰ God has shown us what love truly is. It is not that we loved God. It is that God loved us and sent his Son to offer himself on our behalf. That offering pleased God so much that God is not angry about the sins of anyone who trusts in Jesus. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!

¹² No one has ever seen God. Nevertheless, if we love each other, it is clear that God lives within us and that we love others just as he intends us to do. ¹³ This is how we can be sure that we are sharing life with God and that God is sharing life with us: He has put his Spirit within us. ¹⁴ We apostles have seen God’s Son {Jesus on earth}, and we solemnly tell others that the Father sent him to save the people in the world {from suffering eternally for their sins}. ¹⁵ So God continues to share life with those who say the truth about Jesus. They say, “He is the Son of God.” And so they continue to share life with God. ¹⁶ We have experienced how God loves us and we believe that he loves us. {As a result, we love others.} Because God’s nature is to love people, those who continue to love others share life with God, and God shares life with them. ¹⁷ We should love others completely. If we do that, when the time comes for God to judge us, we will be confident {that he will not condemn us. We will be confident of that} because we are living in this world {sharing life with God} just as the Messiah himself {is sharing life with God}. ¹⁸ We will not be afraid {of God} if we truly love him, because those who love {God} completely cannot possibly be afraid {of him}. We would be afraid only if we thought that he would punish us. So those who are afraid {of God} certainly are not loving {God} completely. ¹⁹ We love {God and our fellow believers} because God loved us first. ²⁰ So those who say “I love God” but hate a fellow believer are lying. After all, we have seen our fellow believers. But we have not seen God. So those who do not love one of their fellow believers certainly cannot be loving God, {because it is much easier to love someone you can see than someone you cannot see}. ²¹ Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.

Chapter 5

¹ All those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are children of God. And whoever loves anyone who is a father certainly loves his child also. {So if we believe in Jesus, then we should love our fellow believers.} ² We can be sure that we truly love others who believe that Jesus is the Messiah when we love God and do what he commands us to do. ³ I am saying this because what loving God really means is that we do what he commands. And it is not difficult to do what he commands. ⁴ Here is the reason why it is not difficult for us to do what God commans. All of us who believe in Jesus as the Messiah have been able to refuse to do what unbelievers want us to do. We are stronger than everything that is against God. We are able to refuse to do wrong because we trust in Jesus. ⁵ I will tell you who is stronger than everything that is against God: It is anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ Jesus is the one who came {to earth from God}. God showed that he had truly sent Jesus not only when John baptized Jesus in water, but also when Jesus’ blood flowed from his body when he died. And God’s Spirit declares {truthfully that Jesus the Messiah came from God}, because the Spirit always tells the truth. ⁷ {We know this} because two other witnesses confirm what the Spirit says. ⁸ What happened when John baptized Jesus in water confirms what the Spirit says. What happened when Jesus’ blood flowed from his body when he died also confirms what the Spirit says. ⁹ We usually believe what other people tell us. But we can certainly trust much more in what God says. After all, God has spoken about things {that no human would know}. He has told us who his Son is. ¹⁰ Those who trust in the Son of God know within their inner beings what is true about him. But those who do not believe what God says call him a liar, because they have refused to believe what God has testified about his Son. ¹¹ This is what God says to us: “I have given you eternal life.” We will live forever if we share life with his Son. ¹² Those who share life with God’s Son Jesus will live forever with God. Those who do not share life with him will not live forever.

¹³ Because I want you to know that you will live forever, I have written this letter to you who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. ¹⁴ I also want you to know that we can be very confident that God wants to answer our prayers when we ask him to do anything that he approves of. ¹⁵ Now if we know that God wants to answer our prayers, no matter what we ask for, then we can also be sure that God will give us what we ask him for.

¹⁶ Suppose someone sees one of his fellow believers sinning in a way that would not separate him from God. Then he should pray for the one who is sinning. If he does, God will bring that person back into close fellowship with himself. However, I am saying this only about people who are sinning in a way that would not separate them from God. There are some kinds of sins that cause people to be separated from God forever. I am not saying that you should pray for people who are sinning in that way. ¹⁷ Everything that is wrong is a sin against God, but not every bad thing we do will separate us from God forever. ¹⁸ We know that if a person is sharing life with God, he does not keep sinning again and again. Instead, the Son of God protects him so that Satan, that evil being, does not harm him. ¹⁹ We know that we are sharing life with God,. We also know that all the people who are unbelievers are under the control of Satan, that evil being. ²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come among us and has enabled us to understand what is true. That way we can share life with the one genuine God. We are living in relationship with the one genuine God and with his Son, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is truly God, and he is the one who enables us to live the new life that God wants us to live.

²¹ I say to you who are very dear to me, “Guard yourselves from worshiping gods that have no real power.”