⁶ No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(A) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(B) or known him.^(C)

⁷ Dear children,^(D) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(E) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(F) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(G) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(H) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(I) 9} No one who is born of God^(J) will continue to sin,^(K) because God’s seed^(L) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(M) are and who the children of the devil^(N) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(O) their brother and sister.^(P)

2 My dear children,^(A) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^(B) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^(C) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^(D)

³¹ Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

6 What shall we say, then?^(A) Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?^{(B) 2} By no means! We are those who have died to sin;^(C) how can we live in it any longer?

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?^(A) By no means!

The Law and Sin

⁷ What shall we say, then?^(A) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!^(B) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.^(C) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^[a](D)

¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.^(A)

¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good^(B) to bring about my death,^(C) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.