Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;

And yet I *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine.

I am writing to you, dear children, because for His sake your sins are forgiven you.

Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come.

And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. But since His anointing gives you instruction in all things--and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with Him even as it has taught you to do.

And now, dear children, continue in union with Him; so that, if He re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from His presence at His Coming.

Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been fully revealed. We know that if Christ reappears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

Dear children, let no one lead you astray. The man who acts righteously is righteous, just as He is righteous.

Dear children, let us not love in words only nor with the lips, but in deed and in truth.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have perfect confidence towards God;

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see whether they are from God; for many false teachers have gone out into the world.

As for you, dear children, you are God's children, and have successfully resisted them; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God.

Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we know the true One, and are in union with the true One--that is, we are in union with His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the Life of the Ages.

Dear children, guard yourselves from idols.