Study Desk

I will try my best so that you may be able to remember these things even after I am gone.

There used to be false prophets among God's people, just as you will have some false teachers in your group. They will secretly teach things that are wrong—teachings that will cause people to be lost. They will even refuse to accept the Master, Jesus, who bought their freedom. So they will bring quick ruin on themselves.

Those false teachers only want your money, so they will use you by telling you lies. Their judgment spoken against them long ago is still coming, and their ruin is certain.

So the Lord knows how to save those who serve him when troubles come. He will hold evil people and punish them, while waiting for the Judgment Day.

They have caused many people to suffer, so they themselves will suffer. That is their pay for what they have done. They take pleasure in openly doing evil, so they are like dirty spots and stains among you. They delight in deceiving you while eating meals with you.

In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God,

Dear friends, since you already know about this, be careful. Do not let those evil people lead you away by the wrong they do. Be careful so you will not fall from your strong faith.

We write this to you so we may be full of joy.

So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars and do not follow the truth.

My dear children, I write this letter to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper in the presence of the Father—Jesus Christ, the One who does what is right.

You have the gift that the Holy One gave you, so you all know the truth.

Christ gave you a special gift that is still in you, so you do not need any other teacher. His gift teaches you about everything, and it is true, not false. So continue to live in Christ, as his gift taught you.

Yes, my dear children, live in him so that when Christ comes back, we can be without fear and not be ashamed in his presence.

The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are his children. The reason the people in the world do not know us is that they have not known him.

So anyone who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. Anyone who goes on sinning has never really understood Christ and has never known him.

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you the wrong way. Christ is righteous. So to be like Christ a person must do what is right.

The devil has been sinning since the beginning, so anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil's work.

So we can see who God's children are and who the devil's children are: Those who do not do what is right are not God's children, and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not God's children.

This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters.

My dear friends, many false prophets have gone out into the world. So do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God.