The True Spirit and the False Spirit

¹My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere.

²This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit who comes from God.

³But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.

⁴But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.

⁵Those false prophets speak about matters of the world, and the world listens to them because they belong to the world.

⁶But we belong to God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This, then, is how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.

⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

⁹And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.

¹⁰This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

¹¹Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.

¹²No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us.

¹³We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit.

¹⁴And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us.

¹⁶And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us. God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them.

¹⁷Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's.

¹⁸There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

¹⁹We love because God first loved us.

²⁰If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.

²¹The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also.

Our Victory over the World

¹Whoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah is a child of God; and whoever loves a father loves his child also.

²This is how we know that we love God's children: it is by loving God and obeying his commands.

³For our love for God means that we obey his commands. And his commands are not too hard for us,

⁴because every child of God is able to defeat the world. And we win the victory over the world by means of our faith.

⁵Who can defeat the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Witness about Jesus Christ

⁶Jesus Christ is the one who came with the water of his baptism and the blood of his death. He came not only with the water, but with both the water and the blood. And the Spirit himself testifies that this is true, because the Spirit is truth.

⁷There are three witnesses:

⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and all three give the same testimony.

⁹We believe human testimony; but God's testimony is much stronger, and he has given this testimony about his Son.

¹⁰So those who believe in the Son of God have this testimony in their own heart; but those who do not believe God, have made a liar of him, because they have not believed what God has said about his Son.

¹¹The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son.

¹²Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Eternal Life

¹³I am writing this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life—you that believe in the Son of God.

¹⁴We have courage in God's presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will.

¹⁵He hears us whenever we ask him; and since we know this is true, we know also that he gives us what we ask from him.

¹⁶If you see a believer commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray to God, who will give that person life. This applies to those whose sins do not lead to death. But there is sin which leads to death, and I do not say that you should pray to God about that.

¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which does not lead to death.

¹⁸We know that no children of God keep on sinning, for the Son of God keeps them safe, and the Evil One cannot harm them.

¹⁹We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the Evil One.

²⁰We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true God—in union with his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life.

²¹My children, keep yourselves safe from false gods!

¹From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope—

²To Timothy, my true son in the faith: May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Warnings against False Teaching

³I want you to stay in Ephesus, just as I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia. Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop.

⁴Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God's plan, which is known by faith.

⁵The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith.

⁶Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions.

⁷They want to be teachers of God's law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

⁸We know that the Law is good if it is used as it should be used.

⁹It must be remembered, of course, that laws are made, not for good people, but for lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and sinful, for those who are not religious or spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

¹⁰for the immoral, for sexual perverts, for kidnappers, for those who lie and give false testimony or who do anything else contrary to sound doctrine.

¹¹That teaching is found in the gospel that was entrusted to me to announce, the Good News from the glorious and blessed God.

Gratitude for God's Mercy

¹²I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength for my work. I thank him for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him,

¹³even though in the past I spoke evil of him and persecuted and insulted him. But God was merciful to me because I did not yet have faith and so did not know what I was doing.

¹⁴And our Lord poured out his abundant grace on me and gave me the faith and love which are ours in union with Christ Jesus.

¹⁵This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them,

¹⁶but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in him and receive eternal life.

¹⁷To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the only God—to him be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁸Timothy, my child, I entrust to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons in order to fight well,

¹⁹and keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith.

²⁰Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have punished by handing them over to the power of Satan; this will teach them to stop their blasphemy.

Church Worship

¹First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people;

²for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct.

³This is good and it pleases God our Savior,

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.

⁵For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave himself to redeem the whole human race. That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved,

⁷and that is why I was sent as an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, to proclaim the message of faith and truth. I am not lying; I am telling the truth!

⁸In every church service I want the men to pray, men who are dedicated to God and can lift up their hands in prayer without anger or argument.

⁹I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses,

¹⁰but with good deeds, as is proper for women who claim to be religious.

¹¹Women should learn in silence and all humility.

¹²I do not allow them to teach or to have authority over men; they must keep quiet.

¹³For Adam was created first, and then Eve.

¹⁴And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God's law.

¹⁵But a woman will be saved through having children, if she perseveres in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

Leaders in the Church

¹This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work.

²A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife, be sober, self-controlled, and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach;

³he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money;

⁴he must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect.

⁵For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?

⁶He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was.

⁷He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the Devil's trap.

Helpers in the Church

⁸Church helpers must also have a good character and be sincere; they must not drink too much wine or be greedy for money;

⁹they should hold to the revealed truth of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰They should be tested first, and then, if they pass the test, they are to serve.

¹¹Their wives also must be of good character and must not gossip; they must be sober and honest in everything.

¹²A church helper must have only one wife, and be able to manage his children and family well.

¹³Those helpers who do their work well win for themselves a good standing and are able to speak boldly about their faith in Christ Jesus.

The Great Secret

¹⁴As I write this letter to you, I hope to come and see you soon.

¹⁵But if I delay, this letter will let you know how we should conduct ourselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

¹⁶No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

²⁴There are four animals in the world that are small, but very, very clever:

²⁵Ants: they are weak, but they store up their food in the summer.

²⁶Rock badgers: they are not strong either, but they make their homes among the rocks.

²⁷Locusts: they have no king, but they move in formation.

²⁸Lizards: you can hold one in your hand, but you can find them in palaces.