The Word that gives life was from the beginning, and this is the one our message is about. Our ears have heard, our own eyes have seen, and our hands touched this Word.
The one who gives life appeared! We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us.
We are telling you what we have seen and heard, so that you may share in this life with us. And we share in it with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing to tell you these things, because this makes us truly happy.
God Is Light
Jesus told us that God is light and doesn?t have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you.
If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away.
If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn?t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn?t in our hearts.
Christ Helps Us
My children, I am writing this so that you won?t sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us. Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world?s people.
When we obey God, we are sure that we know him. But if we claim to know him and don?t obey him, we are lying and the truth isn?t in our hearts. We truly love God only when we obey him as we should, and then we know that we belong to him. If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.
The New Commandment
My dear friends, I am not writing to give you a new commandment. It is the same one that you were first given, and it is the message you heard.
But it really is a new commandment, and you know its true meaning, just as Christ does. You can see the darkness fading away and the true light already shining.
If we claim to be in the light and hate someone, we are still in the dark. But if we love others, we are in the light, and we don?t cause problems for them.
If we hate others, we are living and walking in the dark. We don?t know where we are going, because we can?t see in the dark.