1
See
1what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called
2children of God; and so we are. The reason why
3the world does not know us is that
4it did not know him.
2
Beloved, we are
5God's children
6now, and what we will be
7has not yet appeared; but we know that
8when he appears
9 we shall be like him, because
10we shall see him as he is.
3
And everyone who
11thus hopes in him
12purifies himself as he is pure.
4
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness;
13sin is lawlessness.
5
You know that
14he appeared to
15take away sins, and
16in him there is no sin.
6
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning;
17no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
7
Little children,
18let no one deceive you.
19Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
8
20Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was
21to destroy the works of the devil.
9
22No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
10
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God,
23nor is the one who
24does not love his brother.
Love One Another
11 For
25this is the message that you have heard from the beginning,
26that we should love one another.