We Are God’s Children

3 See what great love the Father has for us that He would call us His children. And that is what we are. For this reason the people of the world do not know who we are because they did not know Him. ² Dear friends, we are God’s children now. But it has not yet been shown to us what we are going to be. We know that when He comes again, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. ³ The person who is looking for this to happen will keep himself pure because Christ is pure.

⁴ The person who keeps on sinning is guilty of not obeying the Law of God. For sin is breaking the Law of God. ⁵ You know that Christ came to take away our sins. There is no sin in Him. ⁶ The person who lives by the help of Christ does not keep on sinning. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen Him or has not known Him. ⁷ My children, let no one lead you in the wrong way. The man who does what is right, is right with God in the same way as Christ is right with God. ⁸ The person who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. The devil has sinned from the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No person who has become a child of God keeps on sinning. This is because the Holy Spirit is in him. He cannot keep on sinning because God is his Father. ¹⁰ This is the way you can know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. The person who does not keep on doing what is right and does not love his brother does not belong to God. ¹¹ This is what you have heard from the beginning, that we should love each other. ¹² Do not be like Cain. He was a child of the devil and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? It was because he did what was sinful and his brother did what was right.

¹³ Do not be surprised if the world hates you, Christian brothers. ¹⁴ We know we have passed from death into life. We know this because we love the Christians. The person who does not love has not passed from death into life. ¹⁵ A man who hates his brother is a killer in his heart. You know that life which lasts forever is not in one who kills.

¹⁶ We know what love is because Christ gave His life for us. We should give our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ What if a person has enough money to live on and sees his brother in need of food and clothing? If he does not help him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸ My children, let us not love with words or in talk only. Let us love by what we do and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we know we are Christians. It will give our heart comfort for sure when we stand before Him. ²⁰ Our heart may say that we have done wrong. But remember, God is greater than our heart. He knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our heart does not say that we are wrong, we will have no fear as we stand before Him. ²² We will receive from Him whatever we ask if we obey Him and do what He wants. ²³ This is what He said we must do: Put your trust in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other. Christ told us to do this. ²⁴ The person who obeys Christ lives by the help of God and God lives in him. We know He lives in us by the Holy Spirit He has given us.