For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.