1 John 2:3-13

3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands.

4 Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his commands is a liar - the truth is not in him.

5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him.

6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command. On the contrary, it is an old command, which you have had from the beginning; the old command is the message which you have heard before.

8 Yet I am writing you a new command, and its reality is seen both in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in this light while hating his brother is still in the dark.

10 The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip.

11 But the person who hates his brother is in the dark - yes, he is walking in the dark, and he doesn't know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 You children, I am writing you because your sins have been forgiven for his sake.

13 You fathers, I am writing you because you have known him who has existed from the beginning. You young people, I am writing you because you have overcome the Evil One.