Love One Another

¹¹For vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, wthat we should love one another. ¹²We should not be like xCain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? yBecause his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³Do not be surprised, brothers,3 zthat the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that awe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that cno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶By this we know love, that dhe laid down his life for us, and ewe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷But fif anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet gcloses his heart against him, hhow does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸Little children, let us not ilove in word or talk but in deed and jin truth.

¹⁹By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, kif our heart does not condemn us, lwe have confidence before God; ²²and mwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ndo what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, othat we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and plove one another, qjust as he has commanded us. ²⁴rWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God,4 and God5 in him. And sby this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

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Test the Spirits

¹Beloved, tdo not believe every spirit, but utest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for vmany wfalse prophets xhave gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: yevery spirit that confesses that zJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit athat does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and bnow is in the world already. ⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for che who is in you is greater than dhe who is in the world. ⁵eThey are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and fthe world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. gWhoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know hthe Spirit of truth and ithe spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷Beloved, jlet us love one another, for love is from God, and kwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸lAnyone who does not love does not know God, because mGod is love. ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that nGod sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, onot that we have loved God nbut that he loved us and sent his Son to be pthe propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²qNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and rhis love is perfected in us.

¹³sBy this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And twe have seen and testify that uthe Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of vthe world. ¹⁵wWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶So xwe have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. yGod is love, and zwhoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷By this ais love perfected with us, so that bwe may have confidence for the day of judgment, because cas he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but dperfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not abeen perfected in love. ¹⁹eWe love because he first loved us. ²⁰fIf anyone says, “I love God,” and ghates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot1 love God hwhom he has not seen. ²¹And ithis commandment we have from him: jwhoever loves God must also love his brother.

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Overcoming the World

¹kEveryone who believes that lJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and meveryone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ²nBy this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³For othis is the love of God, that we pkeep his commandments. And qhis commandments are not burdensome. ⁴For reveryone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—sour faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes tthat Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

⁶This is he who came uby water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And vthe Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. ⁷For there are three that testify: ⁸the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ⁹xIf we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ythat he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰Whoever believes in the Son of God zhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ahas made him a liar, bbecause he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony, that God gave us ceternal life, and dthis life is in his Son. ¹²eWhoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³I write fthese things to you who gbelieve in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴And this is hthe confidence that we have toward him, that iif we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and jGod1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. kThere is sin that leads to death; lI do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷mAll wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸We know that neveryone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ohe who was born of God pprotects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹We know that we are from God, and qthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come and rhas given us understanding, so that we may know shim who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and teternal life. ²¹Little children, ukeep yourselves from idols.

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