Study Desk

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

That which was from the beginning,^(a) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,^(b) which we have looked at and our hands have touched^(c)—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

The life appeared;^(d) we have seen it and testify to it,^(e) and we proclaim to you the eternal life,^(f) which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,^(g) so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.^(h)

We write this⁽ⁱ⁾ to make our^[a] joy complete.^(j)

This is the message we have heard^(k) from him and declare to you: God is light;^(l) in him there is no darkness at all.

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,^(m) we lie and do not live out the truth.⁽ⁿ⁾

But if we walk in the light,^(o) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[b] sin.^(p)

If we claim to be without sin,^(q) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.^(r)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins^(s) and purify us from all unrighteousness.^(t)

If we claim we have not sinned,^(u) we make him out to be a liar^(v) and his word is not in us.^(w)

My dear children,^(a) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^(b) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^(c) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^(d)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

We know^(e) that we have come to know him^(f) if we keep his commands.^(g)

Whoever says, "I know him,"^(h) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.⁽ⁱ⁾

But if anyone obeys his word,^(j) love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them.^(k) This is how we know^(l) we are in him:

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^(m)

Dear friends,⁽ⁿ⁾ I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^(o) This old command is the message you have heard.

Yet I am writing you a new command;^(p) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing^(q) and the true light^(r) is already shining.^(s)

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^[b](t) is still in the darkness.^(u)

Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[c] lives in the light,^(v) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^(w)

But anyone who hates a brother or sister^(x) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^(y) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^(z)

I am writing to you, dear children,^(aa) because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.^(ab)

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.^(ac) I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome^(ad) the evil one.^(ae)

I write to you, dear children,^(af) because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.^(ag) I write to you, young men, because you are strong,^(ah) and the word of God^(ai) lives in you,^(aj) and you have overcome the evil one.^(ak)

Do not love the world or anything in the world.^(al) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[d] is not in them.^(am)

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(an) the lust of the eyes,^(ao) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

The world and its desires pass away,^(ap) but whoever does the will of God^(aq) lives forever.

Dear children, this is the last hour;^(ar) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(as) even now many antichrists have come.^(at) This is how we know it is the last hour.

They went out from us,^(au) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(av)

But you have an anointing^(aw) from the Holy One,^(ax) and all of you know the truth.^[e](ay)

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(az) and because no lie comes from the truth.

Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^(ba)

No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(bb)

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(bc) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^(bd)

And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(be)

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^(bf)

As for you, the anointing^(bg) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(bh) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(bi)

And now, dear children,^(bj) continue in him, so that when he appears^(bk) we may be confident^(bl) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(bm)

If you know that he is righteous,^(bn) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(bo)

See what great love^(a) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(b) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^(c)

Dear friends,^(d) now we are children of God,^(e) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](f) we shall be like him,^(g) for we shall see him as he is.^(h)

All who have this hope in him purify themselves,⁽ⁱ⁾ just as he is pure.^(j)

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^(k)

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(l) And in him is no sin.^(m)

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.⁽ⁿ⁾ No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(o) or known him.^(p)

Dear children,^(q) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(r) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^(s)

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(t) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(u) appeared was to destroy the devil's work.^(v)

No one who is born of God^(w) will continue to sin,^(x) because God's seed^(y) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

This is how we know who the children of God^(z) are and who the children of the devil^(aa) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love^(ab) their brother and sister.^(ac)

More on Love and Hatred

For this is the message you heard^(ad) from the beginning:^(ae) We should love one another.^(af)

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(ag) and murdered his brother.^(ah) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.^(ai)