6. So the person who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. If he goes on sinning, he has never really understood Christ and has never known him.
7. Dear children, do not let any person lead you the wrong way. Christ is righteous. To be like Christ, a person must do what is right.
8. The devil has been sinning since the beginning. Anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work.
9. When God makes someone his child, that person does not go on sinning. The new life God gave that person stays in him. So he is not able to go on sinning, because he has become a child of God.
10. So we can see who God’s children are and who the devil’s children are. Those who do not do what is right are not children of God. And anyone who does not love his brother is not a child of God.
11. This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other.
12. Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One. Cain killed his brother. He killed his brother because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were good.
13. Brothers, do not be surprised when the people of this world hate you.
14. We know that we have left death and have come into life. We know this because we love our brothers in Christ. Whoever does not love is still in death.
15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
16. This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers.
17. Suppose a believer is rich enough to have all that he needs. He sees his brother in Christ who is poor and does not have what he needs. What if the believer does not help the poor brother? Then the believer does not have God’s love in his heart.
18. My children, our love should not be only words and talk. Our love must be true love. And we should show that love by what we do.