1
My dear children, I write this letter to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper in the presence of the Father -- Jesus Christ, the One who does what is right.
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He is the way our sins are taken away, and not only our sins but the sins of all people.
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We can be sure that we know God if we obey his commands.
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Anyone who says, "I know God," but does not obey God's commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
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But if someone obeys God's teaching, then in that person God's love has truly reached its goal. This is how we can be sure we are living in God:
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Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.
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My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you but an old command you have had from the beginning. It is the teaching you have already heard.
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But also I am writing a new command to you, and you can see its truth in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
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Anyone who says, "I am in the light," but hates a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.