⁶ Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

³ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

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.

¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command.

¹³ For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. ¹⁴ For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[a]

Love Fulfills God’s Requirements

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. ⁹ For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.”^[a] These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b]

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, obey^[a] my commandments.

⁵ I am writing to remind you, dear friends,^[a] that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.