Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Christ Our Helper
1 I am writing this to you, my
children, so that you will not sin;
but if anyone does sin, we have
someone who pleads with the Father
on our behalf—Jesus Christ, the
righteous one.
2 And Christ himself
is the means by which our sins are
forgiven, and not our sins only, but
also the sins of everyone.
3 If we obey God's commands,
then we are sure that we know him.
4 If someone says that he knows him,
but does not obey his commands,
such a person is a liar and there is no
truth in him.
5 But whoever obeys his
word is the one whose love for God
has really been made perfect. This is
how we can be sure that we are in
union with God:
6 whoever says that
he remains in union with God should
live just as Jesus Christ did.
The New Command
7 My dear friends, this command I
am writing you is not new; it is the
old command, the one you have had
from the very beginning. The old
command is the message you have
already heard. note
8 However, the command
I now write you is new, because
its truth is seen in Christ and
also in you. For the darkness is passing
away, and the real light is already
shining.
9 Whoever says that he is in the
light, yet hates his brother, is in the
darkness to this very hour.
10 Whoever
loves his brother lives in the
light, and so there is nothing in him
that will cause someone else note to sin.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in
the darkness; he walks in it and does
not know where he is going, because
the darkness has made him blind.
12 I write to you, my children, because
your sins are forgiven for the
sake of Christ.
13 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who
has existed from the beginning. I
write to you, young men, because
you have defeated the Evil One.
14 I write to you, my children, because
you know the Father. I write
to you, fathers, because you know
him who has existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because
you are strong; the word of
God lives in you, and you have defeated
the Evil One.
15 Do not love the world or anything
that belongs to the world. If
you love the world, you do not love
the Father.
16 Everything that belongs
to the world—what the sinful
self desires, what people see and
want, and everything in this world
that people are so proud of—none of
this comes from the Father; it all
comes from the world.
17 The world
and everything in it that people desire
is passing away; but he who
does the will of God lives forever.
The Enemy of Christ
18 My children, the end is near!
You were told that the Enemy of
Christ would come; and now many
enemies of Christ have already appeared,
and so we know that the end
is near.
19 These people really did not
-- --
belong to our fellowship, and that is
why they left us; if they had belonged
to our fellowship, they would
have stayed with us. But they left so
that it might be clear that none of
them really belonged to us.
20 But you have had the Holy Spirit
poured out on you by Christ, and so
all of you know the truth.
21 I write
you, then, not because you do not
know the truth; instead, it is because
you do know it, and you also know
that no lie ever comes from the
truth.
22 Who, then, is the liar? It is anyone
who says that Jesus is not the
Messiah. Such a person is the Enemy
of Christ—he rejects both the
Father and the Son.
23 For whoever
rejects the Son rejects also the Father;
whoever accepts the Son has
the Father also.
24 Be sure, then, to keep in your
hearts the message you heard from
the beginning. If you keep that message,
then you will always live in
union with the Son and the Father.
25 And this is what Christ himself
promised to give us—eternal life.
26 I am writing this to you about
those who are trying to deceive you.
27 But as for you, Christ has poured
out his Spirit on you. As long as his
Spirit remains in you, you do not
need anyone to teach you. For his
Spirit teaches you about everything,
and what he teaches is true, not
false. Obey the Spirit's teaching,
then, and remain in union with
Christ.
28 Yes, my children, remain in
union with him, so that when he appears
we may be full of courage and
need not hide in shame from him on
the Day he comes.
29 You know that
Christ is righteous; you should
know, then, that everyone who does
what is right is God's child.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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