1 John 3:4-19

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

More on Love and Hatred

11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[a] if the world hates you.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:

Cross References

• 1. 1 John 5:17
• 2. ver 8; S John 3:17
• 3. S 2 Corinthians 5:21
• 4. ver 9; 1 John 5:18
• 5. 3 John 11
• 6. S 1 John 2:4
• 7. S 1 John 2:1
• 8. 1 John 2:26
• 9. 1 John 2:29
• 10. ver 10; John 8:44
• 11. S Matthew 4:3
• 12. Hebrews 2:14
• 13. S John 1:13
• 14. ver 6; Psalms 119:3; 1 John 5:18
• 15. 1 Peter 1:23
• 16. ver 1,2; S John 1:12
• 17. ver 8
• 18. 1 John 4:8
• 19. S 1 John 2:9
• 20. 1 John 1:5
• 21. S 1 John 2:7
• 22. John 13:34,35; John 15:12; 1Jn 4:7,11,21; 2 John 5
• 23. S Matthew 5:37
• 24. Genesis 4:8
• 25. Psalms 38:20; Proverbs 29:10
• 26. John 15:18,19; John 17:14
• 27. John 5:24
• 28. S 1 John 2:9
• 29. S 1 John 2:9
• 30. Matthew 5:21,22; John 8:44
• 31. Galatians 5:20,21; Revelation 21:8
• 32. John 10:11
• 33. John 15:13; Philippians 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:8
• 34. Deuteronomy 15:7,8; James 2:15,16
• 35. 1 John 4:20
• 36. S 1 John 2:1
• 37. Ezekiel 33:31; Romans 12:9

Footnotes

• [a]. The Greek word for "brothers and sisters" ("adelphoi" ) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.