⁹ But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other,^[a] for God himself has taught you to love one another.

Love One Another

¹¹ This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection,^[a] and take delight in honoring each other.

²³ And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.

Concluding Words

13 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.^[a]

³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

²¹ And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.^[a]

Faith in the Son of God

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

5 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] we don’t really need to write you.

²⁰ But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit,^[a] and all of you know the truth. ²¹ So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. ²² And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.^[b] Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.^{[c] 23} Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. ²⁵ And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

²⁶ I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. ²⁷ But you have received the Holy Spirit,^[d] and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit^[e] teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

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