1 John
Chapter 2
Overview
This chapter sounds like a caring teacher steadying a close-knit community after conflict. Some people have left and are now trying to mislead those who remain, especially about who Jesus is. The writer gives his readers practical tests for truth: obey Jesus, love one another, resist the world’s selfish cravings, and hold on to what they first learned. He also reminds them that failure is not the end, because Jesus stands for them before the Father. Light and darkness run through the chapter; where love grows, the path becomes easier to see.
1My dear children, I am writing these things so that you will not sin—that is, do what is wrong before God. But if anyone does sin, we have someone to speak in our defense before the Father: Jesus the Messiah, who always does what is right.
2Jesus himself is the sacrifice for our sins—not only ours, but the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know Jesus if we obey his commands.
4Anyone who says, “I know him,” but does not obey his commands is a liar. The truth is not in that person.
5But when someone obeys what Jesus said, that person’s love for God has truly reached its goal. This is how we know that we are united with Jesus:
6anyone who says they remain united with him must live as Jesus lived.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command, but an old command you have had from the beginning. This old command is the message you heard.
8Still, I am writing it as a new command. Its truth is seen in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a fellow believer is still in the darkness.
10Anyone who loves a fellow believer remains in the light, and there is nothing in that person to make them stumble.
11But anyone who hates a fellow believer is in the darkness and walks in darkness. That person does not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.
12Dear children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven because of who Jesus is.
13Fathers, I am writing to you because you know Jesus, who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I am writing to you because you have defeated the evil one.
14Children, I have written to you because you know the Father. Fathers, I have written to you because you know Jesus, who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I have written to you because you are strong, God’s message remains in you, and you have defeated the evil one.
15Do not love the world’s way of life or what it prizes. If anyone loves that world, love for the Father is not in them.
16Everything that belongs to this world—selfish physical cravings, greedy longing for what we see, and boastful pride in what we have—does not come from the Father. It comes from the world.
17That world and its cravings are passing away, but whoever does what God wants remains forever.
18Children, this is the final hour. You heard that an opponent of the Messiah is coming, and even now many opponents of the Messiah have appeared. This is how we know that this is the final hour.
19They left our community, but they did not truly belong with us. If they had belonged with us, they would have remained with us. Their departure made it clear that not everyone among us truly belongs with us.
20But the Holy One has anointed you, setting you apart for him, and all of you know the truth.
21I did not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it—and because no lie comes from the truth.
22Who is the liar? It is the person who denies that Jesus is the Messiah. That person is an opponent of the Messiah, rejecting both the Father and the Son.
23Whoever rejects the Son has no relationship with the Father either. Whoever openly acknowledges the Son has a relationship with the Father as well.
24As for you, let the message you heard from the beginning remain in you. If it remains in you, you will also remain united with the Son and the Father.
25This is the promise he himself made to us: life that never ends.
26I have written these things to you about the people who are trying to mislead you.
27The anointing you received from him remains in you, so you do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything, and it is true, not a lie. Just as it has taught you, remain united with him.
28Now, dear children, remain united with Jesus, so that when he appears, we may face him with confidence and not pull away from him in shame when he comes.
29If you know that he always does what is right, recognize that everyone who does what is right has been born from him into new life.