Study Desk

So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars and do not follow the truth.

But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin.

But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.

My dear children, I write this letter to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper in the presence of the Father—Jesus Christ, the One who does what is right.

He died in our place to take away our sins, and not only our sins but the sins of all people.

Anyone who says, "I know God," but does not obey God's commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

But if someone obeys God's teaching, then in that person God's love has truly reached its goal. This is how we can be sure we are living in God:

My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you but an old command you have had from the beginning. It is the teaching you have already heard.

But also I am writing a new command to you, and you can see its truth in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

Anyone who says, "I am in the light," but hates a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.

But whoever hates a brother or sister is in darkness, lives in darkness, and does not know where to go, because the darkness has made that person blind.

These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world.

The world and everything that people want in it are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever.

These enemies of Christ were in our fellowship, but they left us. They never really belonged to us; if they had been a part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, and this shows that none of them really belonged to us.

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know the truth. And you know that no lie comes from the truth.

Whoever does not accept the Son does not have the Father. But whoever confesses the Son has the Father, too.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and we have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is.

Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God's love is not living in that person.

My children, we should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring.

My dear friends, many false prophets have gone out into the world. So do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God.