1 John 1 - RWB Paraphrase (10 V)
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1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard and looked upon with our eyes, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life, 2 that life was manifested to us and we have seen and proclaim to you the Eternal Life, Who was with the Father and was shown to us. 3 What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us, for our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write these things to you so that your joy may be full. 5 This is the message we heard from Him and declare to you. God is light and there is no darkness in Him. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
COMMENT: We cannot willingly walk in darkness and claim fellowship with Jesus.
7 But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
COMMENT: We must walk in the light. In other words, we must not knowingly choose what is sin, and then claim to be covered by His sacrifice for us.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
COMMENT: Romans 3:23 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
COMMENT: Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and did not try to hide it. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave me.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
COMMENT: Knowing Jesus comes from following the transcript of His character.
4 If someone says, I have come to know Him, but they do not keep His commandments, then this person is a liar and the truth is not in him.
COMMENT: We must keep His commandments. Jesus commandments are very ones He handed to
moses that He wrote on the tablets of stone.
5 But the love of God is truly in the one who keeps His word, and makes him perfect. This is how we know that we are in Him.
6 The one who says that he abides in Him should walk in the same manner as He walked.
7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment, but an old one you have heard from the beginning.
8 But it is also a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and you, because the darkness is past and the true Light now shines.
9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is even now in darkness.
10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and does not stumble.
11 The one who hates his brother walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because his eyes are blinded.
12 I am writing to you little children, because your sins have been forgiven for His name's sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known Him from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14 I have written to you fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or the things in it. If any man loves the world, the Father's love is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away with its lusts. But the one who does God's will lives forever.
18 Children, it is the final hour. You have heard that antichrist is coming. Right now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the final hour.
COMMENT: It is the final hour for those who are making a decision. The children are those young in their understanding. All must carefully consider whether they are for or against Christ.
19 Some went out from us but were not really part of us. For if they had been one of us, they would still be with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they are not one of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know this.
21 I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth. You do know the truth and the truth does not lie.
22 The liar is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This one is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
COMMENT: The Father and the Son are One.
24 You must hang on to what you heard from the beginning. If you keep this truth in you, you will abide in the Son and the Father.
25 This is the promise which He Himself has made to us, even eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
27 As for you, the anointing you received from Him abides in you, and you do not need to listen to anyone teaching you something different. What we taught is the truth that you should abide in Him.
28 Now little children, abide in Him, so that when He shall appear you may have confidence and be unashamed before Him at His coming.
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
COMMENT: The law reveals sin in the life.
5 You know that He came to take away our sins. In Him there is no sin.
6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has not seem Him, or known Him.
COMMENT: It seems we can do good works without abiding in Jesus.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, even as God is righteous.
8 The one who sins is of the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of God commits sin, for His Son abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
10 In this way it is manifested whether we are children of God or of the devil. Whoever does not do right is not of God, neither is he who does not love his brother.
11 You have heard from the beginning that we should love one another,
12 and not be as Cain was toward his brother when he killed him. And why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous.
13 Brethren, do not be surprised if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that does not love his brother is dead.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 We can see the love of God toward us as we consider that He laid down His life for us. And so we should lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 Can the love of God be in one who has the world's goods, and seeing his brother in need has no compassion for him?
18 My little children, let us not love with words, but in deed and truth.
19 By this we may know that we are of the truth and be assured in our hearts before Him.
20 For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, then we have confidence before God.
22 Whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and that we love one another just as He commanded.
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him. The Spirit Whom He has given to us shows us that He abides in us.
COMMENT: We are to be overcomers. This is His promise to us and it is also the test by which we know we are His children.
5 Who is the one that overcomes the world? It is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
COMMENT: This book is all about believing that Jesus is one with His Father.
6 Jesus Christ came by water and blood. Not with water alone. And the Spirit bears witness to this because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. These three are one.
COMMENT: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.
8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood. All three agree.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. God has testified of His Son.
COMMENT: God the Father's voice is mentioned in connection with Jesus' baptism and His transfiguration. Matthew 3:17 A voice out of heaven was heard, saying, "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." Matthew 17:5
1 John 2 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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1 My little children, I write these things so that you may not sin. And if someone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
2 He made the payment for our sins, and not only ours, but for the sins of the whole world.
3 And we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments.
1 John 3 - RWB Paraphrase (24 V)
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1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it does not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not apparent what we shall become. We know that when He appears we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 Everyone who fixes his hope on God purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone who practices sin breaks the law. Sin is the transgression of the law.
1 John 4 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 You can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess this is not of God. To not confess that Jesus is from God is the spirit of antichrist which we have heard is coming and is now in the world.
4 You are of God, little children. You have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world and speak of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God does not listen to us. This is how we distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows Him.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God manifested His love to us when He sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 Here is love. God loved us before we loved Him, and He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we should also love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, He abides in us and His love is perfected in us.
13 We know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit.
14 We have seen and can testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, has God dwelling in him and he dwells in God.
16 We have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 This is how our love is made perfect, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in the world.
18 There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear, because fear is associated with punishment and the one who fears is perfected in love.
19 We love because He first loved us.
20 No one can say that he loves God while he hates his brother. For the one that does not love his brother whom he can see, cannot love God Whom he has not seen.
21 The commandment from God is that he who loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 5 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And everyone that loves God loves Him that is begotten of Him.
2 We know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments which are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. Our faith brings the victory that overcomes the world.