Even though our sins give evidence against us, Lord, please do something for us because of your good nature. Yes, we have rebelled against you so often; we have sinned against you.
Some of you were once like that, but you have been made clean and holy. You have been made right in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
But if we are living in the light, as he is in the light, then we share in this friendship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, makes us clean from every sin.
My dear children, I'm writing this to you so you shouldn't sin. But if anybody should happen to sin, we have someone who defends us before the Father—Jesus Christ, who is truly good and right.
My friends, I'm not writing to you giving some new commandment, but an old commandment you've had from the beginning. This old commandment is one you have already heard.