1 John 3–4

3See ^ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^zchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why ^athe world does not know us is that ^bit did not know him. ²Beloved, we are ^zGod’s children ^cnow, and what we will be ^dhas not yet appeared; but we know that ^ewhen he appears^{1 f}we shall be like him, because ^gwe shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who ^hthus hopes in him ⁱpurifies himself as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^jsin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that ^khe appeared in order to ^ltake away sins, and ^min him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ⁿno one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, ^olet no one deceive you. ^pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^rto destroy the works of the devil. ^9sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s² seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^tnor is the one who ^udoes not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹For ^vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^wthat we should love one another. ¹²We should not be like ^xCain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^yBecause his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³Do not be surprised, brothers,^{3 z}that the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that ^awe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^cno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶By this we know love, that ^dhe laid down his life for us, and ^ewe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷But ^fif anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^gcloses his heart against him, ^hhow does God’s love abide in him? ¹⁸Little children, let us not ⁱlove in word or talk but in deed and ^jin truth.

¹⁹By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, ^kif our heart does not condemn us, ^lwe have confidence before God; ²²and ^mwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ⁿdo what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, ^othat we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^plove one another, ^qjust as he has commanded us. ^24rWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God,⁴ and God⁵ in him. And ^sby this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Test the Spirits

4Beloved, ^tdo not believe every spirit, but ^utest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^vmany ^wfalse prophets ^xhave gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: ^yevery spirit that confesses that ^zJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit ^athat does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^bnow is in the world already. ⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^che who is in you is greater than ^dhe who is in the world. ^5eThey are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^fthe world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. ^gWhoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^hthe Spirit of truth and ⁱthe spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷Beloved, ^jlet us love one another, for love is from God, and ^kwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8lAnyone who does not love does not know God, because ^mGod is love. ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ⁿGod sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, ^onot that we have loved God ⁿbut that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^pthe propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ^12qNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^rhis love is perfected in us.

^13sBy this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And ^twe have seen and testify that ^uthe Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^vthe world. ^15wWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶So ^xwe have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^yGod is love, and ^zwhoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷By this ^ais love perfected with us, so that ^bwe may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^cas he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but ^dperfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^abeen perfected in love. ^19eWe love because he first loved us. ^20fIf anyone says, “I love God,” and ^ghates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot¹ love God ^hwhom he has not seen. ²¹And ⁱthis commandment we have from him: ^jwhoever loves God must also love his brother.