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.