The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 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.
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See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
2 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.
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Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
3 All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.
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And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
4 All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God's order.
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Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
5 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.
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And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6 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.
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Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 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.
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Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
8 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.
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But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
9 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.
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Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10 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.
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So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
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This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12 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.
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We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.
13 So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
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So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 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.
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If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.
15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together.
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Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
16 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.
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We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 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.
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If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
18 My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.
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Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
19 This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality.
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Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.
20 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.
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Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
21 And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
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Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.
22 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.
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And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
23 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.
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And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
24 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.
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Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.