¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born from God. Everyone who loves the Father also loves his children. ²We know that we love God’s children when we love God by obeying his commandments. ³To love God means that we obey his commandments. Obeying his commandments isn’t difficult ⁴because everyone who has been born from God has won the victory over the world. Our faith is what wins the victory over the world. ⁵Who wins the victory over the world? Isn’t it the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶This Son of God is Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood. He didn’t come with water only, but with water and with blood. The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷There are three witnesses:^a⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree.

⁹We accept human testimony. God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony that he has given about his Son. ¹⁰Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them. Those who don’t believe God have made God a liar. They haven’t believed the testimony that God has given about his Son.

¹¹This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. ¹²The person who has the Son has this life. The person who doesn’t have the Son of God doesn’t have this life.

Read in Logos

1 John 5:4: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Footnotes

a 5:7 Four very late manuscripts add verses 7b–8a: “in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three witnesses agree. And there are three witnesses on earth:”