3. We know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands.
4. Suppose someone says, "I know him." But suppose that person does not do what God commands. Then that person is a liar and is not telling the truth.
5. But if anyone obeys God's word, then God's love is truly made complete in that person. Here is how we know we belong to him.
6. Those who claim to belong to him must live just as Jesus did.
7. Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command. Instead, I'm writing one you have heard before. You have had it since the beginning.
8. But I am writing what amounts to a new command. Its truth was shown in how Jesus lived. It is also shown in how you live. The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining.
9. Suppose someone claims to be in the light but hates his brother or sister. Then he is still in the darkness.
10. Those who love their brothers and sisters are living in the light. There is nothing in them to make them fall into sin.
11. But those who hate a brother or sister are in the darkness. They walk around in the darkness. They don't know where they are going. The darkness has made them blind.
12. Dear children, I'm writing to you because your sins have been forgiven. They have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done.
13. Fathers, I'm writing to you because you have known the One who is from the beginning. Young people, I'm writing to you because you have won the battle over the evil one. Dear children, I'm writing to you because you have known the Father.
14. Fathers, I'm writing to you because you have known the One who is from the beginning. Young people, I'm writing to you because you are strong. God's word lives in you. You have won the battle over the evil one.