³We know^b that we have come to know him^c if we keep his commands.^d ⁴Whoever says, “I know him,”^e but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^f ⁵But if anyone obeys his word,^g love for God^a is truly made complete in them.^h This is how we knowⁱ we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^j

⁷Dear friends,^k I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^l This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command;^m its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passingⁿ and the true light^o is already shining.^p

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^b^q is still in the darkness.^r ¹⁰Anyone who loves their brother and sister^c lives in the light,^s and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^t ¹¹But anyone who hates a brother or sister^u is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^v They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^w

Read in Logos

1 John 2:5: but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him…

Footnotes

aOr word, God’s love
bThe Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.
cThe Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.

Cross references

bver 5; 1 Jn 3:24; 4:13; 5:2
cSee ver 4
dSee Jn 14:15
ever 3; Tit 1:16; 1 Jn 3:6; 4:7, 8
f 1 Jn 1:6, 8
gSee Jn 14:15
h 1 Jn 4:12
iSee ver 3
jSee Mt 11:29
kSee 1 Co 10:14
lver 24; 1 Jn 3:11, 23; 4:21; 2 Jn 5, 6
mSee Jn 13:34
n Ro 13:12; Heb 10:25
o Jn 1:9
p Eph 5:8; 1 Th 5:5
qver 11; Lev 19:17; 1 Jn 3:10, 15, 16; 4:20, 21
r 1 Jn 1:5
s 1 Jn 3:14
tver 11; Ps 119:165
uSee ver 9
vSee 1 Jn 1:6
w Jn 11:9; 12:35