Introduction

1 We saw him with our very own eyes.[1] We gazed upon him[2] and heard him speak.[3] Our hands actually touched him,[4] the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God.[5]

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[6] is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Anointed One.[7]

4 We are writing these things to you because we want to release to you our fullness of joy.[8]

Walk in the Light

5 This is the life-giving message[9] 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.[10]

6 If we claim that we share life with him,[11] 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,[12] we share unbroken fellowship with one another,[13] and the blood of Jesus, his Son, continually cleanses us from all sin.

Confession of 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,[14] 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.[15]

10 If we claim that we’re not guilty of sin when God uncovers it with his light,[16] we make him a liar and his word is not in us.