Faith in the Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^[a] has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

⁴² Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.

¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers,^[a] it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.

²⁹ Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer,^[a] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

Loving One Another

⁷ Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

²² And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.^[a] Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.^{[b] 23} Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

¹⁰ Anyone who loves a fellow believer^[a] is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.