5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God. Whoever loves someone who is a parent loves the child born to the parent. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep God’s commandments. ³ This is the love of God: we keep God’s commandments. God’s commandments are not difficult, ⁴ because everyone who is born from God defeats the world. And this is the victory that has defeated the world: our faith. ⁵ Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s Son?

Testimony about Jesus

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. Not by water only but by water and blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ The three are testifying— ⁸ the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and the three are united in agreement. ⁹ If we receive human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because this is what God testified: he has testified about his Son. ¹⁰ The one who believes in God’s Son has the testimony within; the one who doesn’t believe God has made God a liar, because that one has not believed the testimony that God gave about his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony: God gave eternal life to us, and this life is in his Son. ¹² The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have God’s Son does not have life.

Confidence in prayer

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son so that you can know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. ¹⁵ If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. ¹⁶ If anyone sees a brother or sister committing a sin that does not result in death, they should pray, and God will give life to them—that is, to those who commit sins that don’t result in death. There is a sin that results in death—I’m not saying that you should pray about that. ¹⁷ Every unrighteous action is sin, but there is a sin that does not result in death.

Be on guard

¹⁸ We know that everyone born from God does not sin, but the ones born from God guard themselves,^[a] and the evil one cannot touch them. ¹⁹ We know we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ We know that God’s Son has come and has given us understanding to know the one who is true. We are in the one who is true by being in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Little children, guard yourselves from idols!