God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(A) continue in him, so that when he appears^(B) we may be confident^(C) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(D)

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous,^(E) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(F)

3 See what great love^(G) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(H) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(I) 2} Dear friends,^(J) now we are children of God,^(K) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](L) we shall be like him,^(M) for we shall see him as he is.^{(N) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(O) just as he is pure.^(P)

⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^{(Q) 5} But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(R) And in him is no sin.^{(S) 6} No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(T) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(U) or known him.^(V)

⁷ Dear children,^(W) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(X) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(Y) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(Z) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(AA) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(AB) 9} No one who is born of God^(AC) will continue to sin,^(AD) because God’s seed^(AE) 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^(AF) are and who the children of the devil^(AG) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(AH) their brother and sister.^(AI)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹ For this is the message you heard^(AJ) from the beginning:^(AK) We should love one another.^{(AL) 12} Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(AM) and murdered his brother.^(AN) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{(AO) 13} Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[b] if the world hates you.^{(AP) 14} We know that we have passed from death to life,^(AQ) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{(AR) 15} Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(AS) is a murderer,^(AT) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(AU)

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(AV) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(AW) 17} If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(AX) how can the love of God be in that person?^{(AY) 18} Dear children,^(AZ) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(BA)

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends,^(BB) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{(BC) 22} and receive from him anything we ask,^(BD) because we keep his commands^(BE) and do what pleases him.^{(BF) 23} And this is his command: to believe^(BG) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(BH) and to love one another as he commanded us.^{(BI) 24} The one who keeps God’s commands^(BJ) lives in him,^(BK) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(BL)

Psalm 148