1 John 3:11–5:12

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹For this is the message you heard^p from the beginning:^q We should love one another.^{r 12}Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^s and murdered his brother.^t And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{u 13}Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^b if the world hates you.^{v 14}We know that we have passed from death to life,^w because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{x 15}Anyone who hates a brother or sister^y is a murderer,^z and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^a

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^b And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{c 17}If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^d how can the love of God be in that person?^{e 18}Dear children,^f let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^g

¹⁹This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Dear friends,^h if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{i 22}and receive from him anything we ask,^j because we keep his commands^k and do what pleases him.^{l 23}And this is his command: to believe^m in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,ⁿ and to love one another as he commanded us.^{o 24}The one who keeps God’s commands^p lives in him,^q and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^r

On Denying the Incarnation

4Dear friends,^s do not believe every spirit,^t but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^{u 2}This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^v is from God,^{w 3}but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^x which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^y

⁴You, dear children,^z are from God and have overcome them,^a because the one who is in you^b is greater than the one who is in the world.^{c 5}They are from the world^d and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.^e This is how we recognize the Spirit^a of truth^f and the spirit of falsehood.^g

God’s Love and Ours

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another,^h for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of Godⁱ and knows God.^{j 8}Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.^{k 9}This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^l into the world that we might live through him.^{m 10}This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved usⁿ and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.^{o 11}Dear friends,^p since God so loved us,^q we also ought to love one another.^{r 12}No one has ever seen God;^s but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.^t

¹³This is how we know^u that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.^{v 14}And we have seen and testify^w that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.^{x 15}If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,^y God lives in them and they in God.^{z 16}And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love.^a Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.^{b 17}This is how love is made complete^c among us so that we will have confidence^d on the day of judgment:^e In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,^f because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.^{g 20}Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister^h is a liar.ⁱ For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,^j cannot love God, whom they have not seen.^{k 21}And he has given us this command:^l Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.^m

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

5Everyone who believesⁿ that Jesus is the Christ^o is born of God,^p and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.^{q 2}This is how we know^r that we love the children of God:^s by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.^t And his commands are not burdensome,^{u 4}for everyone born of God^v overcomes^w the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.^x

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood^y—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.^{z 7}For there are three^a that testify: ⁸the^a Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹We accept human testimony,^b but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God,^c which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony.^d Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,^e because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,^f and this life is in his Son.^{g 12}Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.^h