1 John 2:3–11

³Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. ⁴Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; ⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him:^{* 6}whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.^*

A New Commandment

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because^b the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.^{* 9}Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.^{* 10}Whoever loves a brother or sister abides in the light, and in such a person^c there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹But whoever hates a brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.^*