But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.

But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him:

The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.

The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.

No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.

So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.

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Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.

Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.

Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.

This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.

unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.

If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?

This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence,

Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us.

The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God.

In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world.

We love because He first loved us.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.

This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands.

Jesus Christ—He is the One who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

If we accept the testimony of men, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that He has given about His Son.

(The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him. The one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about His Son.)

Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not bring death, he should ask, and God will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. There is sin that brings death. I am not saying he should pray about that.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One. We are in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.