1 John 2:3-13

3 If we obey God's commands, then we are sure that we know him.
4 If we say that we know him, but do not obey his commands, we are liars and there is no truth in us.
5 But if we obey his word, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God:
6 if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did.
7 My dear friends, this command I am writing you is not new; it is the old command, the one you have had from the very beginning. The old command is the message you have already heard. 1
8 However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.
9 If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour.
10 If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin.
11 But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind.
12 I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you have defeated the Evil One.

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Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.