Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him.
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What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
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But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him - and in seeing him, become like him.
3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
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All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.
4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.
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All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God's order.
5 You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.
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Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program.
6 Whoever remains in him doesn't sin. Whoever sins hasn't seen him, neither knows him.
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No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They've got him all backwards.
7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
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So, my dear children, don't let anyone divert you from the truth. It's the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah.
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
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Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil's ways.
9 Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God.
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People conceived and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they? God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin.
10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother.
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Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't love brother or sister. A simple test.
11 For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
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For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
12 unlike Kayin, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
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We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous.
13 Don't be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
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So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn't love his brother remains in death.
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The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
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Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together.
16 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
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This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.
17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his compassion from him, how does the love of God remain in him?
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If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
18 My little children, let's not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
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My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.
19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,
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This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality.
20 because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
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It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
21 Beloved, if our hearts don't condemn us, we have boldness toward God;
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And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
22 and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his mitzvot and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
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We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him.
23 This is his mitzvah, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, and love one another, even as he commanded.
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Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command.
24 He who keeps his mitzvot remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
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As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.