What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

But, if we live in the light [of righteousness] just like God [constantly] lives in the light [of righteousness], we can truly share a relationship with one another and [can know that] the blood of Jesus, God's Son, continues to cleanse [our spirits] from all of our sins.

If we acknowledge our sins, he is upright and can be depended on to forgive our sins and cleanse us from everything wrong.

My children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning; but if any one should sin, we have one who can plead for us with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous--

By this we can be sure that we know Him -- if we practice obedience to His commands.

but whoever practices obedience to His message really has a perfect love of God in his heart. By this we can be sure that we are in union with Him:

Do not love the world or what the world can offer. When any one loves the world, there is no love for the Father in him;

for all that the world can offer--the gratification of the earthly nature, the gratification of the eye, the pretentious life--belongs, not to the Father, but to the world.

I do not write to you because you do not know it, but because you do know it, and because no lie can come from the truth.

No one who disowns the Son can have the Father. Whoever owns the Son has the Father too.

Whoever has been begotten by God, does not work sin; because his seed abides in him; and he can not sin, because he has been begotten by God.

Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil can be recognized: All those who do not continue to do what is right do not belong to God. Also, the person who does not continue to love his brother [or sister does not belong to God].

[For] we [can] know that we have passed out of [the realm of spiritual] death and into [spiritual] life, because we [show] love for the brothers [and sisters]. The person who does not love [them] continues to be [spiritually] dead.

Anyone who keeps on hating his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer can have eternal life remaining in him.

Here is how we can know what genuine love really is: It was [demonstrated by] Jesus laying down His life [on the cross] for us. And [because of that] we [too] should [be willing to] lay down our lives for [the sake of helping] our brothers [and sisters].

But if anyone has the world's means of supporting life and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can love to God remain in him?

By this we will know [without any doubt] that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience before Him

Loved ones, if our hearts do not condemn us [i.e., because we are showing love by helping the needy], we can have boldness before God [in prayer for our own needs];

and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight.

The person who keeps his commandments abides in God, and God abides in him. This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

In this way you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spiritual utterance which owns that Jesus Christ has come in human form comes from God,

and no spiritual utterance which disowns Jesus can come from God; it is the utterance of Antichrist. You have heard that it is coming, and right now it is already in the world.

We [who preach the true Gospel] represent God; the person who knows God listens to our message; the one who does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we can know [the difference between those speaking by] the Holy Spirit of truth and [those speaking by] the spirit of [Satan's] error.

By the fact that He has given us a portion of His Spirit we can be sure that we remain in union with Him and He in union with us.

We have seen and can testify that the Father has sent the Son to be Savior of the world.

If any man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

This is how we can be sure that we love the children of God, by continuing to love God and to obey His commands.

For whoever [Note: The Greek says "whatever"] is [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God will overcome [the evil influence of] the world. And this is [how] that victory can be gained over the world: [It is through] our faith [in God].

And who is the person who can overcome [the evil influence of] the world? [It is] the one who [truly] believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

I have written these things to you people, who believe in the name [i.e., in the person and work] of the Son of God, so that you can have assurance that you have [the hope of] never ending life. [See Titus 1:2; 3:7; Mark 10:30].

And this is [how we can express] boldness in our relationship with God: Whatever we ask [of God, in prayer], so long as it is in harmony with His will for us, [we know] He hears our request.

And if we can be sure that He hears our request for whatever we ask [of Him], we can [also] be certain that we [will] have whatever we have requested from Him.

And [in addition], we know that the Son of God has come [in a physical body, See 4:2] and has given us understanding, so that we can know the True One [i.e., God], and that we are in [fellowship with] the True One, even His Son Jesus Christ. This Son is the true God and eternal life.