1 John 1

1 ¹ What was from the beginning — what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have gazed upon and touched with our hands — this we proclaim about the Word of life, Jesus. ^a a v1 John opens by pointing to the one he touched and heard with his own senses — the Word of life is a person, Jesus, not an idea. ² The life appeared; we have seen it, and we testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with our Father and appeared to us. ³ What we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have deep communion with us; and our deep communion is with our Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Walking in Our Father's Light

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you: our Father is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. ^b b v5 The God who is pure light, with no shadow of darkness in him, is our Father — the message Jesus carried and his witnesses passed on. ⁶ If we claim to have deep communion with him while we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have deep communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his word is not in us.