3Behold ^awhat manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that ^bwe should be called children of ¹God! Therefore the world does not know ²us, ^cbecause it did not know Him. ²Beloved, ^dnow we are children of God; and ^eit has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, ^fwe shall be like Him, for ^gwe shall see Him as He is. ³^hAnd everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Sin and the Child of God

⁴Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and ⁱsin is lawlessness. ⁵And you know ^jthat He was manifested ^kto take away our sins, and ^lin Him there is no sin. ⁶Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸^mHe who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, ⁿthat He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹Whoever has been ^oborn of God does not sin, for ^pHis seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

The Imperative of Love

¹⁰In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. ¹¹For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, ^qthat we should love one another, ¹²not as ^rCain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹³Do not marvel, my brethren, if ^sthe world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love ³his brother abides in death. ¹⁵^tWhoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^uno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The Outworking of Love

¹⁶^vBy this we know love, ^wbecause He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷But ^xwhoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸My little children, ^ylet us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹And by this we ⁴know ^zthat we are of the truth, and shall ⁵assure our hearts before Him. ²⁰^aFor if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, ^bwe have confidence toward God. ²²And ^cwhatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments ^dand do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ ^eand love one another, as He gave ⁶us commandment.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

²⁴Now ^fhe who keeps His commandments ^gabides in Him, and He in him. And ^hby this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

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Footnotes

1NU adds And we are.
2M you
3NU omits his brother
4NU shall know
5persuade, set at rest
6M omits us

Cross references

a[John 3:16; Eph. 2:4–7; 1 John 4:10]
b[John 1:12]
c John 15:18, 21; 16:3
d[Is. 56:5; Rom. 8:15, 16]
e[Rom. 8:18, 19, 23]
f Rom. 8:29; 2 Pet. 1:4
g[Ps. 16:11]
h 1 John 4:17
i Rom. 4:15; 1 John 5:17
j 1 John 1:2; 3:8
k[Is. 53:5, 6]; John 1:29; [2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26]
l[2 Cor. 5:21]; 1 John 2:29
m Matt. 13:38; John 8:44; 1 John 3:10
n Luke 10:18; [Heb. 2:14]
o John 1:3; 3:3; [1 John 2:29; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18]; 3 John 11
p 1 Pet. 1:23
q[John 13:34; 15:12]; 1 John 4:7, 11, 21; 2 John 5
r Gen. 4:4, 8
s[John 15:18; 17:14]
t Matt. 5:21; John 8:44
u[Gal. 5:20, 21; Rev. 21:8]
v[John 3:16]
w John 10:11; 15:13; Gal. 2:20
x Deut. 15:7
y Ezek. 33:31
z John 18:37
a[1 Cor. 4:4, 5]
b[Heb. 10:22; 1 John 2:28; 5:14]
c Ps. 34:15; [John 15:7]; 1 John 5:14, 15
d John 8:29; Heb. 13:21
e Matt. 22:39
f John 14:23
g John 14:21; 17:21
h John 14:17; Rom. 8:9, 14, 16; 1 Thess. 4:8; 1 John 4:13