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I, the presbyter, send greeting to that sovereign lady whom God has chosen; and to those children of hers who are my friends in the truth, loved, not by me only, but by all those who have recognized the truth,✻
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for love of that truth which dwells in us, and will be our companion for ever.
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God the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, send you grace, mercy and peace in a spirit of truth and love.
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It has given me great happiness, in meeting some of thy children, to find that they followed the way of truth, obeying the command that came to us from the Father.
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And now, sovereign lady, I have a request to make of thee. It is no new command that my letter brings, only the command we were given from the first; let us all love one another.
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Love means keeping his commandments; love is itself the commandment which our earliest lessons bade us follow.
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Many false teachers have appeared in the world, who will not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in human flesh; here is the deceiver you were warned against, here is Antichrist.
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Be on your guard, or you will lose all you have earned, instead of receiving your wages in full.✻
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The man who goes back, who is not true to Christ’s teaching, loses hold of God; the man who is true to that teaching, keeps hold both of the Father and of the Son.✻
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If you are visited by one who does not bring this teaching with him, you must not receive him in your houses, or bid him welcome;
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to bid him welcome is to share the guilt of his doings.
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I might add to this letter, but I have thought it best not to entrust my message to paper and ink; I hope to visit you, and convey it by word of mouth, to give you happiness in full measure.
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The children of thy sister, God’s chosen, send thee greeting.