New Testament Plan

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

²We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.

³Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

⁴For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

⁵And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross — not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.

⁷So we have these three witnesses —

⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and all three agree.

⁹Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.

¹⁰All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

¹¹And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

¹³I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

¹⁴And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

¹⁵And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

¹⁶If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.

¹⁷All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.

¹⁸We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.

¹⁹We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

²¹Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

¹This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth — as does everyone else who knows the truth —

²because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ — the Son of the Father — will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

⁴How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

⁵I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.

⁶Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

⁷I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

⁸Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.

⁹Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement.

¹¹Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

¹²I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

¹³Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

¹This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

³Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth.

⁴I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

⁵Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.

⁶They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.

⁷For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.

⁸So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us.

¹⁰When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

¹²Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

¹³I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink.

¹⁴For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.

¹⁵Peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.