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The First Letter of John 2

2 You are as dear to me as though you were my own children. Therefore, 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 sacrificed his life for us so that God could forgive our sins. And this is true not just of our sins, but of all the sins that all people everywhere have committed!

3 When we obey what God commands us to do, then we can be sure that we have come to have a close relationship with God. 4 If someone says, “I am living in close relationship with God,” but that person does not obey what God has commanded, then 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 have a close relationship with God: 6 If anyone says that he has a close relationship with God, then he should conduct his life as Jesus did when he was here on earth.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing this to tell you to do something new. Instead, I am writing this to tell you to do something that you have known that you should do since you first believed in Jesus. This is part of the message that Jesus gave to us and that we have already told to you. 8 However, if we think about this in another way, I am telling you to do something new. It is new because the way that the Messiah lived was new, and the way that you are living is new. That is because you are ceasing to do evil and you are doing good more and more. It is as though you have come out of a dark place and have begun to live in light from God. 9 Someone might say that he is living in a good way, just as God wants him to do. That would be like living in light from God. But if he hates any of his fellow believers, then he is still living in a bad way, doing what God does not want, like a person who lives in darkness. 10 But if someone loves his fellow believers, then he is truly living well, like a person who is living in light from God. He will not have a reason to do anything evil as he would have if he hated a fellow believer. This is like a person in daylight who has no reason to trip over anything. 11 But anyone who hates a fellow believer is living in a completely wrong way. He does not understand how he should live, because the wrong things that he is doing are keeping him from understanding God’s way. It is as though he is walking in darkness, and cannot see where to go.

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 writing to you who have been believers longer than the others. I am writing to you because you have a close relationship with Jesus, the person who has always been alive. I am writing to you newer but steadfast believers because Satan, that evil being, has tried to tempt you to do wrong, but you have successfully resisted him. 14 I have written to you whom I love as though you were my own little children because you have a close relationship with God the Father. I have written to you who have been believers longer than the others because you have a close relationship with Jesus, the person who has always been alive. I have written to you newer but steadfast believers because you are spiritually strong. I have also written to you because you continue to obey what God commands, and because you have successfully resisted Satan, that evil being, when he tried to tempt you to do wrong.

15 Do not desire to be like people who do not honor God. Do not desire the things that they want to have. If anyone desires to be like those people, he is proving that he does not love God the Father. 16 I say that such a person does not love God the Father because the way that ungodly people live is not the way that God our Father teaches us to live. 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 that they own. All of these things come from the selfish and ungodly way of thinking. 17 The people who do not honor God will disappear, along with all of the things that they desire. But the people who do what God wants them to do will live forever!

18 You who are as dear to me as though you were my own children, I want you to know that this is the time just before Jesus returns to earth. You have already heard that a person is coming who will strongly oppose the Messiah. 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 us. But when they left us, then we clearly saw that none of them had actually joined with us. 20 But as for you, the Holy Messiah has given you his Spirit. As a result, you all know what is true. 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 that 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 Jesus is God’s Son are also joined with God the Father. 24 Here is what you must 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 continue to believe and live by the truth about Jesus the Messiah that you first heard, 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. If we do that, we will not be ashamed to stand before 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 spiritual children.

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