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November 18: 1 John 1

November 18: 1 John 1

The Living Expression

1 We saw him with our very own eyes.[a]
   We gazed upon him[b]and heard him speak.[c]
   Our hands actually touched him,[d]
   the one who was from the beginning,
   the Living Expression of God.[e]
2 This Life-Giver was made visible
   and we have seen him.
   We testify to this truth:
   the eternal Life-Giver
   lived face-to-face with the Father
   and has now dawned upon us.
3 So we proclaim to you
   what we have seen and heard
   about this Life-Giver
   so that we may share and enjoy
   this life together.
   For truly our fellowship[f] is with the Father
   and with his Son, Jesus, the Anointed One.[g]

4 We are writing these things to you because we want to release to you our fullness of joy.[h]

God Is Light

5 This is the life-giving message[i]we heard him share and it’s still ringing in our ears. We now repeat his words to you: God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in him.[j]

6 If we claim that we share life with him,[k] but keep walking in the realm of darkness, we’re fooling ourselves and not living the truth. 7 But if we keep living in the pure light that surrounds him,[l] we share unbroken fellowship with one another,[m] and the blood of Jesus, his Son, continually cleanses us from all sin.

Purified from Sin

8 If we boast that we have no sin, we’re only fooling ourselves and are strangers to the truth. 9 But if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them,[n] he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[o]

10 If we claim that we’re not guilty of sin when God uncovers it with his light,[p] we make him a liar and his word is not in us.