²⁸Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won’t turn from him in shame. ²⁹If you know that Christ has God’s approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.

3RD CHAPTER

¹Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that’s what we are. For this reason the world doesn’t recognize us, and it didn’t recognize him either. ²Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is. ³So all people who have this confidence in Christ keep themselves pure, as Christ is pure.

⁴Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience. ⁵You know that Christ appeared in order to take away our sins. He isn’t sinful. ⁶Those who live in Christ don’t go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven’t seen or known Christ.

⁷Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God’s approval as Christ has God’s approval. ⁸The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does. ⁹Those who have been born from God don’t live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can’t live sinful lives. They have been born from God. ¹⁰This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.

Read in Logos

1 John 3:1: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.