¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^(A)children of God, even ^(B)to those who believe in His name,

⁵² and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also ^(A)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

²⁹ Being then the children of God, we ^(A)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself ^(A)testifies with our spirit that we are ^(B)children of God,

²¹ that ^(A)the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are ^(A)children of God, but the ^(B)children of the promise are regarded as ^[a]descendants.

¹⁵ so that you will ^[a]prove yourselves to be ^(A)blameless and innocent, ^(B)children of God above reproach in the midst of a ^(C)crooked and perverse generation, among whom you ^[b](D)appear as ^[c]lights in the world,

Children of God Love One Another

3 See ^[a](A)how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called ^(B)children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^(C)it did not know Him. ^2 (D)Beloved, now we are ^(E)children of God, and ^(F)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(G)appears, we will be ^(H)like Him, because we will ^(I)see Him just as He is.

¹⁰ By this the ^(A)children of God and the ^(B)children of the devil are obvious: ^[a]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(C)does not love his ^(D)brother.