Dear children,(A) do not let anyone lead you astray.(B) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.(C) The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,(D) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God(E) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.(F) No one who is born of God(G) will continue to sin,(H) because God’s seed(I) 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(J) are and who the children of the devil(K) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love(L) their brother and sister.(M)

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Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:9 Greek because his seed.
  2. 3:10 Greek does not love his brother.