Here is the message we learned from him and announce to you: 'God is light and in him there is no darkness, none.'

And here is how we can be assured that we know Jesus [i.e., that we are saved]: [It is] by obeying what He commands us.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].

Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil are recognized; anyone who does not practise righteousness does not belong to God, and neither does he who has no love for his brother.

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].

And God lives in the heart of the person who [continually] obeys His commands, and he lives in [fellowship with] God. And here is [another] way we know that God lives in our hearts: It is by [means of] the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to us. [See Rom. 8:9, 11; James 4:5; I Cor. 6:19].

Here is how to know [who is speaking from] the Holy Spirit of God: Every spirit [i.e., person] who proclaims that Jesus Christ has come [to earth] in a physical body is [speaking] from God. [See I Cor. 12:3].

and any inspired utterance that does not acknowledge Jesus does not come from God; it is the inspiration of the Antichrist. You have heard that it was coming, and here it is already in the world.

Here is the way God's love for us was demonstrated; He sent His one and only Son into the world so that we could have [spiritual] life through Him.

Here is [the essence of] love: [It is] not that we loved God [first], but that He loved us [See Rom. 5:6-8] and sent His Son to be a "covering over" [i.e., atonement, 2:2] for our sins.

Love attains perfection in us, when we have perfect confidence about the Day of Judgment, because here in this world we are living as he lives.

Little children, beware of images. Amen. {Here ends the First General Epistle of John}