Outline*
I. Introduction: The Reality of the Incarnation (1:1-4)
1. Moral likeness (1:5-7)
3. Obedience (2:3-6)
4. Love for fellow believers (2:7-11)
B. Two Digressions (2:12-17)
C. Christological Test of Fellowship (2:18-28)
1. Contrast: apostates versus believers (2:18-21)
2. Person of Christ: the crux of the test (2:22-23)
3. Persistent belief: key to continuing fellowship (2:24-28)
1 John 1 NLT
1 We proclaim to you the one who existed
from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes
and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.
2 This one who is life itself was
revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you
that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was
revealed to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves
have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our
fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that
you may fully share our joy.
5 This is the message we heard from
Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at
all.
6 So we are lying if we say we have
fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not
practicing the truth.
7But if we are living in the light, as God
is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of
Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we claim we have no sin, we are
only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
9But if we confess our sins to him, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
10 If we claim we have
not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in
our hearts.
1 John 2 NLT
1 My dear children, I am writing this
to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate
who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly
righteous.
2 He himself is the sacrifice that
atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him
if we obey his commandments.
4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but
doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the
truth.
5 But those who obey God’s word truly
show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in
him.
6 Those who say they live in God should
live their lives as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new
commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very
beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you
heard before.
8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the
truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is
disappearing, and the true light is already shining.
9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the
light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
10 Anyone who loves a fellow believer is
living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
11 But anyone who hates a fellow
believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know
the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12 I am writing to you who are God’s
children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13 I am writing to you who are mature in
the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing
to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the
evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s
children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in
the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have
written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word
lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.
15 Do not love this world nor the things
it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the
Father in you.
16 For the world offers only a craving
for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our
achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this
world.
17 And this world is fading away, along
with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will
live forever.
18 Dear children, the last hour is here.
You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists
have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.
19 These people left our churches, but
they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us.
When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
20 But you are not like that, for the
Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.
21 So I am writing to you not because
you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and
lies.
22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says
that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an
antichrist.
23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t
have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father
also.
24 So you must remain faithful to what
you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in
fellowship with the Son and with the Father.
25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the
eternal life he promised us.
26 I am writing these things to warn you
about those who want to lead you astray.
27But you have received the Holy Spirit, and
he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For
the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is
true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with
Christ.
28 And now, dear children, remain in
fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and
not shrink back from him in shame.
