Letters to the Churches

The Word, which gives life! He existed from the beginning. We have heard him, we have seen him with our eyes, we have contemplated him, we have touched him with our hands!

The life appeared, and we have seen it. We are testifying to it and announcing it to you — eternal life! He was with the Father, and he appeared to us.

What we have seen and heard, we are proclaiming to you; so that you too may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah.

We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

And this is the message which we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him — none!

If we claim to have fellowship with him while we are walking in the darkness, we are lying and not living out the truth.

But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of his Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin.

If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing.

If we claim we have not been sinning, we are making him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us.

My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father.

Also, he is the kapparah for our sins — and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands.

Anyone who says, “I know him,” but isn’t obeying his commands is a liar — the truth is not in him.

But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him.

A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did.

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command. On the contrary, it is an old command, which you have had from the beginning; the old command is the message which you have heard before.

Yet I am writing you a new command, and its reality is seen both in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in this light while hating his brother is still in the dark.

The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip.

But the person who hates his brother is in the dark — yes, he is walking in the dark, and he doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

You children, I am writing you because your sins have been forgiven for his sake.

You fathers, I am writing you because you have known him who has existed from the beginning. You young people, I am writing you because you have overcome the Evil One.

You children, I have written you because you have known the Father. You fathers, I have written you because you have known him who has existed from the beginning. You young people, I have written you because you are strong — the Word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the Evil One.

Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him;