1 John 3:2-12

2 Beloved, we are ¹God’s children ²now, and what we will be ³has not yet appeared; but we know that ⁴when he appears^{[a] 5}we shall be like him, because ⁶we shall see him as he is.

3 And everyone who ⁷thus hopes in him ⁸purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ⁹sin is lawlessness.

5 You know that ¹⁰he appeared in order to ¹¹take away sins, and ¹²in him there is no sin.

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ¹³no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

7 Little children, ¹⁴let no one deceive you. ¹⁵Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

8 ¹⁶Whoever 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 ¹⁷to destroy the works of the devil.

9 ¹⁸No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s^[b] 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, ¹⁹nor is the one who ²⁰does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For ²¹this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ²²that we should love one another.

12 We should not be like ²³Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ²⁴Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Cross References

• 1. 3:2 [See ver. 1 above]
• 2. 3:2 Rom. 8:15; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:5
• 3. 3:2 [Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17]
• 4. 3:2 ch. 2:28
• 5. 3:2 Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:11; Phil. 3:21; 2 Pet. 1:4
• 6. 3:2 John 17:24; 1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:4
• 7. 3:3 Rom. 15:12
• 8. 3:3 2 Cor. 7:1
• 9. 3:4 [ch. 5:17; Rom. 4:15]
• 10. 3:5 Heb. 9:26; See ch. 1:2
• 11. 3:5 [Isa. 53:11, 12]
• 12. 3:5 See 1 Pet. 2:22
• 13. 3:6 ch. 2:4; 4:8; 3 John 11
• 14. 3:7 ch. 2:26
• 15. 3:7 ch. 2:29
• 16. 3:8 Matt. 13:38; John 8:44
• 17. 3:8 Heb. 2:14; [Gen. 3:15; Luke 10:18; John 16:11]
• 18. 3:9 ch. 5:18
• 19. 3:10 ch. 4:8
• 20. 3:10 ch. 4:20, 21
• 21. 3:11 ch. 1:5; 2:24
• 22. 3:11 See John 13:34
• 23. 3:12 Gen. 4:4, 8; Heb. 11:4; Jude 11
• 24. 3:12 Ps. 38:20; Prov. 29:10

Footnotes

• [a] 3:2 Or 'when it appears'
• [b] 3:9 Greek 'his'