¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed^(A) in his name,^(B) he gave the right to become children of God^(C)—

⁵² and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.^(A)

²¹ that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay^(A) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.^(B)

¹⁵ so that you may become blameless^(A) and pure, “children of God^(B) without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a](C) Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

3 See what great love^(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(C) 2} Dear friends,^(D) now we are children of God,^(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](F) we shall be like him,^(G) for we shall see him as he is.^(H)

¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(A) are and who the children of the devil^(B) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(C) their brother and sister.^(D)

² This is how we know^(A) that we love the children of God:^(B) by loving God and carrying out his commands.

¹⁹ We know that we are children of God,^(A) and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.^(B)