^1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
^2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world.
^3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
^4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.
^5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
^6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even
as he walked.
^7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old
commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the
word which ye have heard from the beginning.
^8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in
him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now
shineth.
^9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in
darkness even until now.
^10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.
^11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in
darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath
blinded his eyes.
^12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
you for his name’s sake.
^13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from
the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the
wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the
Father.
^14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is
from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one.
^15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If
any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
^16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.
^17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth
the will of God abideth for ever.
^18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we
know that it is the last time.
^19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went
out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
^20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
^21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but
because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
^22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
^23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
^24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the
beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain
in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
^25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
^26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
^27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and
ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath
taught you, ye shall abide in him.
^28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear,
we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
^29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is born of him.

This book tells us a lot about how to tell what kind of fruit someone is
bearing, and helps us realize some of the things we need to do to
perfect Gods love in us. (See verse 5) The bible tells us to keep Gods
words and abide in them, that means to obey, this chapter also tells us
that we are to keep that which was given to us from the beginning. For a
list of the ten commandments go to Exodus 20, they are laid out for you
there. There should be no interpretaition needed or confusion about what
they say, just read them as they are and obey them, “For God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
1Corinthians14:33. The law that the new testament freed us from was the
lavitical law and the mosiac law, which are about the same I believe,
but not from the commandments of God that he said to keep for ever and
ever. The importance of keeping the commandments is throughout the word
of God, from Exodus all the way to the last chapter in Revelation. So
from this chapter we get a lot of information about how to tell if we
are in Christ or not, and also how to tell if someone else truly loves
the Lord.
So how about you? Are you keeping Gods commandments? If you do, what’s
the worst that could happen? If you don’t what do you think will happen?
Give us some of your input let us know what you think about todays reading.