3
Christ is pure, and all who have this hope in Christ keep themselves pure like Christ.
4
The person who sins breaks God's law. Yes, sin is living against God's law.
5
You know that Christ came to take away sins and that there is no sin in Christ.
6
So anyone who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. Anyone who goes on sinning has never really understood Christ and has never known him.
7
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you the wrong way. Christ is all that is right. So to be like Christ a person must do what is right.
8
The devil has been sinning since the beginning, so anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil's work.
9
Those who are God's children do not continue sinning, because the new life from God remains in them. They are not able to go on sinning, because they have become children of God.
10
So we can see who God's children are and who the devil's children are: Those who do not do what is right are not God's children, and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not God's children.
11
This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other.
12
Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were good.
13
Brothers and sisters, do not be surprised when the people of the world hate you.