The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was.
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See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children - and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God.
2 My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is.
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My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself holy, even as he is holy.
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Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.
4 Everyone who is a sinner goes against the law, for sin is going against the law.
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Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law.
5 And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.
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You know that Christ appeared in order to take away sins, and that there is no sin in him.
6 Anyone who is in him does no sin; anyone who is a sinner has not seen him and has no knowledge of him.
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So everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen him or known him.
7 My little children, let no man take you out of the true way: he who does righteousness is upright, even as he is upright;
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Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
8 The sinner is a child of the Evil One; for the Evil One has been a sinner from the first. And the Son of God was seen on earth so that he might put an end to the works of the Evil One.
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Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.
9 Anyone who is a child of God does no sin, because he still has God's seed in him; he is not able to be a sinner, because God is his Father.
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Those who are children of God do not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in them; and because God is their Father, they cannot continue to sin.
10 In this way it is clear who are the children of God and who are the children of the Evil One; anyone who does not do righteousness or who has no love for his brother, is not a child of God.
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Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children.
11 Because this is the word which was given to you from the first, that we are to have love for one another;
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The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another.
12 Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good.
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We must not be like Cain; he belonged to the Evil One and murdered his own brother Abel. Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right.
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world has no love for you.
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So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you.
14 We are conscious that we have come out of death into life because of our love for the brothers. He who has no love is still in death.
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We know that we have left death and come over into life; we know it because we love others. Those who do not love are still under the power of death.
15 Anyone who has hate for his brother is a taker of life, and you may be certain that no taker of life has eternal life in him.
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Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them.
16 In this we see what love is, because he gave his life for us; and it is right for us to give our lives for the brothers.
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This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!
17 But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?
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If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God?
18 My little children, do not let our love be in word and in tongue, but let it be in act and in good faith.
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My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
19 In this way we may be certain that we are true, and may give our heart comfort before him,
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This, then, is how we will know that we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God's presence.
20 When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things.
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If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.
21 My loved ones, if our heart does not say that we have done wrong, we have no fear before him;
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And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence.
22 And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes.
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We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his law, that we have faith in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love for one another, even as he said to us.
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What he commands is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Christ commanded us.
24 He who keeps his laws is in God and God is in him. And the Spirit which he gave us is our witness that he is in us.
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Those who obey God's commands live in union with God and God lives in union with them. And because of the Spirit that God has given us we know that God lives in union with us.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.