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

This is how we can be sure that we know him??y obeying his commands.

but whoever obeys his message really has the love of God in perfection in his heart. This is the way we can be sure that we are in union with him;

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 acknowledges the Son has the Father too.

This is how the children of God and those of the devil can be distinguished: No one who does not act uprightly or who does not love his brother is a child of God.

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer can have eternal life remain in his heart.

But if someone who is rich sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can he have any love for God in his heart?

From that we can be sure that we are on the side of the truth, and satisfy our consciences in God's sight,

You can tell the Spirit of God in this way: all inspiration that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in human form comes from God,

We are God's children. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not a child of God will not listen to us. In this way we can tell what is inspired by truth from what is inspired by error.

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

This is how we can be sure that we love the children of God: it is by loving God and obeying his commands.