1st John
Originally penned by the Apostle John through the leading of the Holy Spirit
Translation by Pastor Luther Walker
Copyright 2021 by Luther Walker. All Rights Reserved
This translation is intended to give a clear understanding based on the original language, taking into consideration all available manuscripts to reproduce the original letter from John. The original language should always be considered the only authority by which each word, phrase, and all other parts of speech are based upon. Where additional information is needed to better explain the meaning and use of a word, a footnote has been added.
Because the book of 1st John was originally a letter, it has been returned to its original form to reduce confusion to the reader by breaks in the middle of sentences and concepts caused by the addition of chapters and verses. Brackets and paratheses are used for clarification within the text.
1st John was written by the Apostle John in 90 A.D. from Ephesus.
What was from a beginning, what we have heard, what we have discerned with our eyes, what we have watched, and our hands touched concerning the Word of the life. And the life was manifested, and we discerned, and testify, and announce to you, the eternal life that was before the Father and was manifested to us. What we discerned and heard we announce also to you, in order that you also should have fellowship with us. And the fellowship, indeed our fellowship, is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And this we write to you, in order that our joy should be made full. And this is the message that we heard from Him and announce to you, that the God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If perhaps we should say that we are having fellowship with Him and we are walking in the darkness, we are lying and are not doing the truth. But if perhaps we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son keeps on cleaning us from all sin. If perhaps we should say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If perhaps we should confess our sins, He is faithful and just in order that He should send away our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If perhaps we should say that we have never sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.
My little children, these things I write to you in order that you should not sin and if someone should sin, we have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ (the) righteous. And He is a satisfaction concerning our sins, and not only concerning our sins, but also concerning the whole world. And in this we experientially know that we are in a state of experientially knowing Him, if perhaps we should guard His commandments. The one saying, “I know Him.”, and does not guard His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in this one. But whosoever guards His Word, truly this one is mature in the love of God. By this we experientially know that we are in Him. The one saying, “to abide in Him”, he is obligated just as that One walked also thus he is to walk. Brethren, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but the old commandment that we have had from a beginning. The old commandment is the word that we had from a beginning. Again a new commandment I write to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. The one saying, “to be in the light” and is indifferent to his brother, is in the darkness until now. The one loving his brother remains in the light, and scandal is not in him. And the one indifferent to his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not intuitively know where he goes because the darkness blinds his eyes.
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of His name. I write to you, fathers, because you experientially know the One from a beginning. I write to you, young men, because you overcame the malignantly evil one. I write to you, young children, because you know the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you know the One from a beginning. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you, and you overcame the malignantly evil one.
Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If perhaps someone should love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because all the things in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and the arrogant boastfulness of biological life, are not out from the Father but are out from the world. And the world is passing away and its desires, but the one doing the desirous will of God will remain into the age.
Young children, it is a last hour and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have come to be, from where we experientially know that it is a last hour. Out from us they went, but they are not out from us. For if they were out from us they would remain with us, but in order that they should be manifested that they are all not out from us. And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and intuitively know all things. I did not write to you because you do not intuitively know the truth, but because you intuitively know it and because every lie is not out from the truth. Who is the liar except the one denying Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. Everyone denying the Son does not have the Father. The one confessing the Son also has the Father.
Let what you have heard from a beginning abide in you. If perhaps what you have heard from a beginning abides in you, also you abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He promised us, eternal life. These things I wrote to you concerning the one deceiving you. And you, the anointment that you received from Him abides in you and you do not have need in order that someone should teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, even just as He teaches you abide in Him. And now, little children, you abide in Him in order that when He appears we should have boldness and not be put to shame from Him in His coming. If perhaps you intuitively know that He is righteous, you experientially know that all the ones doing the righteousness are born out from Him. Discern what manner of love the Father has given to us, in order that we should be called children of God, and we are. Because of this the world does not experientially know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God and it is not yet manifested what we are. We intuitively know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will discern Him just as He is. And everyone having this hope upon Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Everyone doing the sin is doing the lawlessness and the sin is lawlessness. And we intuitively know that that One was manifested in order that the sins should be taken away, and there is no sin in Him. Everyone abiding in Him does not habitually sin. Everyone sinning has not discerned Him nor has experientially known Him. My little children, do not let anyone deceive you, the one doing the righteousness is righteous, just as that One is righteous. The one doing the sin is out from the devil, because from a beginning the devil habitually sins. Because of this the Son of God was manifested, in order that He should release the works of the Devil. Everyone born out from God does not habitually sin because His seed abides in him and he does not have the inherent ability to sin because he is born out from God. By this the children of God are manifested and the children of the Devil. Everyone not doing righteousness is not out from God, and the one not loving the brethren. Because this is the message that you have heard from a beginning, in order that you should love one another. Not just as Cain was out from the malignantly evil one and slew his brother. And why did he slay his brother? Because his works were malignantly evil, but the [works] of his brother [were] righteous.
Stop marveling, my brethren, since the world is indifferent to you. We intuitively know that we are in a state of having departed out from the death into the life, because we love the brethren. The one not loving the brother remains in the death. Everyone indifferent to his brother is a murderer and we intuitively know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in himself. By this we experientially know the love, because that One on behalf of us laid down His life and we are obligated on behalf of the brethren to lay down our lives. And the one having the goods of the world and watches his brother having need and shuts up his compassions from him, how is the love of God abiding in him? My little children do not love in word nor with the tongue, but in works and truth. And by this we experientially know that we are out from the truth and before Him we will persuade our hearts, because if our hearts should be against knowledge that the God is greater than our hearts and He experientially knows all things. Beloved, if our heart is not against knowledge concerning us, we have boldness towards the God. And that which if we should ask, we receive from Him, because we guard His commandments and we do the things pleasing before Him. And this is the commandment from Him, in order that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and we should love one another, just as He gave a command to us. And the one guarding His commandments abides in Him and He in him. And by this we experientially know that He abides in us, out from the Spirit who He gave us.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test for approval the spirit if it is out from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this we experientially know the spirit from God. Every spirit that verbally agrees Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is out from God. And every spirit that does not verbally agree Jesus has come in the flesh is not out from God and this is the antichrist that you have heard that he will come and now is already in the world. You are out from the God, little children, and you have overcome them because greater is the One in you than the one in the world. They are out from the world. Because of this, they speak out from the world and the world hears them. We are out from the God. The one experientially knowing the God, he hears us. The one not out from the God, he does not hear us. Out from this we experientially know the spirit of the truth and the spirit of the error.
Beloved, we should love one another because the love is out from the God and everyone loving is born out from the God and he experientially knows the God. The one not loving does not experientially know the God because the God is love. In this the love of the God was manifested among us, because His Son, the one of a kind, the God sent into the world in order that we should live through Him. In this is the love, not that we loved the God but that He loved us and sent His son [to be] a satisfaction concerning our sins. Beloved, if thus the God loved us, also we are obligated to love one another. No one at any time has watched God. If perhaps we love one another the God abides in us and His love is brought to maturity in us. In this we experientially know that in Him we abide and He in us. because He gave out from His Spirit to us. And we have watched, and we testify that the Father sent the Son, a savior concerning the world. The one who should verbally agree that Jesus is the Son of God, the God abides in Him and he in the God. And we know and believe the love of God that the God has in us. The God is love and the one abiding in love in God abides and the God in him abides. In this the love is in a state of maturity among us, in order that we should have boldness in the day of the judgment because just as that One is, also we are in this world. Fear is not in the love, but the mature love casts out the fear because the fear has punishment. And the one fearing is not in a state of maturity in the love. We should love Him because He first loved us. If perhaps someone says, “Love the God” and is indifferent to his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he can see, how does he have the ability to love the God Whom he has never see? And this commandment we have from Him, in order that the one loving the God also loves his brother.
Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ is born out from God, and everyone loving the One who begot also loves the one begotten out from Him. By this we experientially know that we love the children of God, when we loving God also are guarding His commandments. For this is the love of God, in order that should we guard His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. Because everyone born out from God has overcome the world and this is the victory, the overcoming the world – our faith. And who is the one overcoming the world except the one believing that Jesus is the Son of the God? This is the one coming through water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not in water only, but in the water and in the blood and the Spirit is the witness because the Spirit is the Truth. If we receive the witness of humans, the witness of God is greater. Because this is the witness of God that He testified concerning His Son. The one believing in the Son of God has the witness in him. The one not believing in the God makes Him a liar because he does not believe because of the witness that the God testified concerning His Son. And this is the witness that the God gave to us, eternal life and this life is in His Son. The one having the Son has the life, the one not having the Son of God does not have life. These things I wrote to you, to the ones believing on the name of the Son of God, in order that you should discern that you have eternal life.
And this is the confidence we have facing Him, that if we should happen to ask according to His will, He hears us. And if we intuitively know that He hears us, what we should happen to ask, we intuitively know that we have the things that we asked from Him. If perhaps someone discerns his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he will ask and He will give to him life, the one sinning not unto death. There is a sin facing death, concerning this I say in order that you do not question. Every quality of sin is a quality of unrighteousness and there is a sin not facing death. We intuitively know that everyone born out from God does not habitually sin, but the one born out from God guards himself and the malignantly evil one does not touch him. We intuitively know that we are out from God, and the whole world lies in the malignantly evil one. And we intuitively know the Son of God has come and He gave to us a working of the mind in order that we should experientially know the truth and we are in the truth, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and the eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols, Amen.