1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born again because of what God has done. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children as well.
2. How do we know that we love God's children? We know it when we love God and obey his commands.
3. Here is what it means to love God. It means that we obey his commands. And his commands are not hard to obey.
4. That's because everyone who is a child of God has won the battle over the world. Our faith has won the battle for us.
5. Who is it that has won the battle over the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6. Jesus Christ is the one who was baptized in water and died on the cross. He wasn't just baptized in water. He also died on the cross. The Holy Spirit has given a truthful witness about him. That's because the Spirit is the truth.
7. There are three that give witness about Jesus.
8. They are the Holy Spirit, the baptism of Jesus and his death. And the three of them agree.
9. We accept the witness of people. But the witness of God is more important because it is God who gives it. He has given witness about his Son.
10. Those who believe in the Son of God have accepted that witness in their hearts. Those who do not believe God's witness are calling him a liar. That's because they have not believed his witness about his Son.
11. Here is God's witness. He has given us eternal life. That life is found in his Son.
12. Those who belong to the Son have life. Those who do not belong to the Son of God do not have life.
13. I'm writing these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. I'm doing it so you will know that you have eternal life.
14. There is one thing we can be sure of when we come to God in prayer. If we ask anything in keeping with what he wants, he hears us.
15. If we know that God hears what we ask for, we know that we have it.
16. Suppose you see your brother or sister commit a sin. But that sin is not the kind that leads to death. Then you should pray for them. And God will give life to them. I'm talking about someone whose sin does not lead to death. But there is a sin that does lead to death. I'm not saying that you should pray about that.
17. Every wrong thing we do is sin. But there are sins that do not lead to death.
18. We know that those who are children of God do not keep on sinning. The Son of God keeps them safe. The evil one can't harm them.
19. We know that we are children of God. We know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
20. We also know that the Son of God has come. He has given us understanding. Now we can know the One who is true. And we belong to the One who is true. We also belong to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God. He is eternal life.