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Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;
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and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
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And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands.
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He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart.
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But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him.
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The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived.
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My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received.
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And yet I *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine.