1 John 2-5 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

1 John 2-5

Jesus Christ Our Advocate

^aMy little children, I am ^bwriting these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^cwe have an ¹^dAdvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is ^athe ¹propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also ^bfor those of the whole world.
3 ^aAnd by this we know that we have come to ^bknow Him, if we ^ckeep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “^aI have come to ^bknow Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^cliar, and ^dthe truth is not in him; 5 but whoever ^akeeps His word, truly in him the ^blove of God has been perfected. ^cBy this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he ^aabides in Him ^bought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
7 ^aBeloved, I am ^bnot writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^cfrom the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 ¹On the other hand, I am writing ^aa new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^bthe darkness is passing away and ^cthe true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^ahates his ^bbrother is in the darkness until now. 10 ^aThe one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who ^ahates his brother is in the darkness and ^bwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness ^cblinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, ^alittle children, because ^byour sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known Him ^awho has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^byou have overcome ^cthe evil one. I have written to you, children, because ¹^dyou have known the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him ^awho has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^bstrong, and the ^cword of God abides in you, and ^dyou have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love ^athe world nor the things in the world. ^bIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, ^athe lust of the flesh and ^bthe lust of the eyes and ^cthe boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 ^aAnd the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who ^bdoes the will of God abides forever.
18 Children, ^ait is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^bantichrist is coming, ^ceven now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19 ^aThey went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^bso that ¹it would be manifested that they all are not of us. 20 ¹But you have an ^aanointing from ^bthe Holy One, and ^cyou all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^abecause you do know it, and ¹because no lie is ^bof the truth. 22 Who is the liar but ^athe one who denies that Jesus is the ¹Christ? This is ^bthe ²antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 ^aEveryone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that which you heard ^afrom the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^bwill abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 ^aAnd this is the promise which He Himself ¹made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to ^adeceive you. 27 And as for you, the ^aanointing whom you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing ^bteaches you about all things, and is ^ctrue and is not a lie, and just as He has taught you, ¹abide in Him.
28 And now, ^alittle children, abide in Him, so that when He ^bis manifested, we may have ^cconfidence and ^dnot ¹shrink away from Him in shame ²at His ^ecoming. 29 If you know that ^aHe is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness ^bhas been ¹born of Him.

Children of God, Love One Another

See ¹^ahow great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called ^bchildren of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^cit did not know Him. 2 ^aBeloved, now we are ^bchildren of God, and ^cit has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^dis manifested, we will be ^elike Him, because we will ^fsee Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this ^ahope fixed on Him ^bpurifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and ^asin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He ^awas manifested in order to ^btake away sins, and ^cin Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him ^asins; no one who sins has seen Him or ¹^bhas come to know Him. 7 ^aLittle children, let no one ^bdeceive you. ^cThe one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who does sin is ^aof the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. ^bThe Son of God ^cwas manifested for this purpose, ^dto destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone who has been ¹^aborn of God ^bdoes not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been ¹born of God. 10 By this the ^achildren of God and the ^bchildren of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who ^cdoes not love his ^dbrother.
11 ^aFor this is the message ^bwhich you have heard from the beginning, ^cthat we should love one another; 12 not as ^aCain, who was of ^bthe evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ^chis deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13 Do not marvel, brothers, if ^athe world hates you. 14 We know that we have ^apassed out of death into life, ^bbecause we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who ^ahates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^bno murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we have known love, that ^aHe laid down His life for us; and ^bwe ought to lay down our lives for the ^cbrothers. 17 But ^awhoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and ^bcloses his ¹heart ²against him, ^chow does the love of God abide in him? 18 ^aLittle children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^btruth. 19 And by this we will know that we are ^aof the truth, and will ¹assure our heart before Him 20 ¹in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 ^aBeloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^bconfidence ¹before God; 22 and ^awhatever we ask we receive from Him, because we ^bkeep His commandments and do ^cthe things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment, that we ¹^abelieve in ^bthe name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^cHe gave a commandment to us. 24 And the one who ^akeeps His commandments ^babides in Him, and He in him. ^cWe know by this that ^dHe abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.

Test the Spirits

^aBeloved, do not believe every ^bspirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^cmany false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: ^aevery spirit that ^bconfesses that ^cJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that ^adoes not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the ^bantichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and ^cnow it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, ^alittle children, and ^bhave overcome them; because ^cgreater is He who is in you than ^dhe who is in the world. 5 ^aThey are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them. 6 ^aWe are from God. ^bThe one who knows God hears us; ^cthe one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know ^dthe spirit of truth and ^ethe spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 ^aBeloved, let us ^blove one another, for love is from God; and ^ceveryone who loves has been ¹^dborn of God and ^eknows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because ^aGod is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested ¹^ain us, that ^bGod has sent His ²only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, ^anot that we have loved God, but that ^bHe loved us and sent His Son to be ^cthe propitiation for our sins. 11 ^aBeloved, if God so loved us, ^bwe also ought to love one another. 12 ^aNo one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His ^blove is perfected in us. 13 ^aBy this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have beheld and ^abear witness that the Father has ^bsent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 ^aWhoever confesses that ^bJesus is the Son of God, God ^cabides in him, and he in God. 16 ^aAnd we have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^bin us. ^cGod is love, and the one who ^dabides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, ^alove has been perfected with us, so that we may have ^bconfidence in ^cthe day of judgment, because ^das He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but ^aperfect love casts out fear, because fear ¹involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^bperfected in love. 19 ^aWe love, because He first loved us. 20 ^aIf someone says, “I love God,” and ^bhates his brother, he is a ^cliar; for ^dthe one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^ecannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And ^athis commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^bshould love his brother also.

Overcoming the World

^aEveryone who believes that Jesus is the ¹Christ has been ²^bborn of God, and everyone who loves the ³One who gives new birth ^cloves also the one who has been ²born of Him. 2 ^aBy this we know that ^bwe love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. 3 For ^athis is the love of God, that we ^bkeep His commandments; and ^cHis commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everything that has been ¹^aborn of God ^bovercomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who ^abelieves that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the One who came ^aby water and blood, Jesus Christ; not ¹with the water only, but ¹with the water and ¹with the blood. It is ^bthe Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are ^athree that bear witness: 8 ¹the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are ²in agreement. 9 ^aIf we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that ^bHe has borne witness about His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God ^ahas this witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has ^bmade Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness which God has borne witness about His Son. 11 And the witness is this, that God gave us ^aeternal life, and ^bthis life is in His Son. 12 ^aHe who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have that life.

That You May Know

13 ^aThese things I have written to you who ^bbelieve in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have ^ceternal life. 14 And this is ^athe confidence which we have ¹before Him, that, ^bif we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, ^awe know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother ¹committing a sin not leading to death, ^ahe shall ask and ²God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. ^bThere is a sin leading to death; ^cI do not say that he should make request for this. 17 ^aAll unrighteousness is sin, and ^bthere is a sin not leading to death.
18 ^aWe know that ^bno one who has been ¹born of God sins; but He who was ²begotten of God ^ckeeps him, and ^dthe evil one does not ^etouch him. 19 ^aWe know that ^bwe are of God, and that ^cthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And ^awe know that ^bthe Son of God has come, and has ^cgiven us understanding so that we may know ^dHim who is true; and we ^eare in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. ^fThis is the true God and ^geternal life.
21 ^aLittle children, guard yourselves from ^bidols.