1 John 2:3-13

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.

4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.

5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.

8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.

10 Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

11 But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek hates his brother; also in 2:11 .
• [b]. Greek loves his brother.
• [c]. Greek through his name.
• [d]. Or to you fathers; also in 2:14 .