Knox Bible

1

Little children, the purpose of this letter is to keep you clear of sin. Meanwhile, if any of us does fall into sin, we have an advocate to plead our cause before the Father in the Just One, Jesus Christ.

2

He, in his own person, is the atonement made for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world.

3

Have we attained the knowledge of him? The test is, whether we keep his commandments;

4

the man who claims knowledge of him without keeping his commandments is a liar; truth does not dwell in such a man as that.

5

No, if a man keeps true to his word, then it is certain that the love of God has reached its full stature in him; that is what tells us that we are dwelling in him.

6

One who claims to dwell in him must needs live and move as he lived and moved.

7

Beloved, I am not sending you a new commandment; it is an old commandment, which you were given from the very first; what was the message to which you listened long ago but this same commandment, now grown old?

8

And yet it is a new commandment I am sending you, now that it is verified in him and you; the darkness has passed away now, and true light shines instead.

9

He who claims enlightenment, and all the while hates his brother, is in darkness still.

10

It is the man who loves his brother that lives in light; no fear of stumbling haunts him.

11

The man who hates his brother is in the dark, guides his steps in the dark without being able to tell where he is going; darkness has fallen, and blinded his eyes.

12

I call you little children; have not your sins been forgiven in his name?

13

I call you fathers; have you not knowledge of one who was from the first? I call you young men; have you not gained victory over the evil one?

14

I call you sons; you have learned to recognize the Father. I call you young men; you are strong, with God’s word dwelling in you always; you have gained your victory over the evil one.✻

15

Do not bestow your love on the world, and what the world has to offer; the lover of this world has no love of the Father in him.

16

What does the world offer? Only gratification of corrupt nature, gratification of the eye, the empty pomp of living; these things take their being from the world, not from the Father.

17

The world and its gratifications pass away; the man who does God’s will outlives them, for ever.

18

My sons, this is the last age of time. You have been told that Antichrist must needs come; and even now, to prove to us that it is the last stage of time, many Antichrists have appeared.

19

They came of our company, but they never belonged to our company; if they had belonged to it, they would have persevered at our side. As it is, they were destined to prove that there are some who are no true companions of ours.

20

With you, it is otherwise; the Holy One has anointed you, and now nothing is hidden from you,

21

so that I am not writing to you as to men from whom the truth is hidden. Rather, I am appealing to your knowledge of it; the truth, after all, cannot give birth to a lie.

22

To whom do we give the lie, if not to him who tells us that Jesus is not the Christ? Such a man is Antichrist, disowning as he does both the Father and the Son.

23

To disown the Son is to have no claim to the Father; it is by acknowledging the Son that we lay claim to the Father too.

24

Enough for you, that the message which was first brought you should dwell in you. If that first message dwells in you, you too will dwell in the Son, and in the Father.

25

He himself has made us a promise, the promise of eternal life.

26

So much I have written about those who are trying to mislead you.

27

Meanwhile, the influence of his anointing lives on in you, so that you have no need of teaching; no lesson his influence gives you can be a lie, they are all true. Follow those lessons, and dwell in him.

28

Yes, little children, dwell in him, so that when he appears we may greet him confidently, instead of being ashamed at his presence.

29

You are sure that he is just; be sure, then, that whoever does right is born of him.