Children of God 1 UST Think about how much God our Father loves us! He says that we are his children. In a spiritual sense, this is completely true. That is why people who are unbelievers do not understand us. It is because they have not understood who God is{, and we are like him just as children are like their parents}. BSB BSB: Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
2 UST Dear friends, at present we are God’ s spiritual children. He has not yet shown us what we will be{ in the future}.{ However,} we know that when Jesus comes back again, we will become like him because we will see him as he truly is. BSB BSB: Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
3 UST So all those who confidently expect to see Jesus as he truly is make themselves free from sin because Jesus himself is free from sin. BSB BSB: And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
4 UST But everyone who continues to sin is refusing to obey God’ s laws, because that is what sinning is; it is refusing to obey God’ s laws. BSB BSB: Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.
5 UST You know that Jesus came in order to make us free from our sins.{ You know} also{ that} he himself never sinned. BSB BSB: But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6 UST Those who share life with Jesus are the ones who do not continue sinning. But all those who continue to sin are the ones who have not understood who Jesus is and they do not really know him. BSB BSB: No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
7 UST So I urge you who are very dear to me not to let anyone deceive you{ by telling you that it is all right to sin}. If you continue doing what is right, that will please God, just as Jesus always does what pleases God. BSB BSB: Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
8 UST But anyone who continues to sin is behaving like the devil, because the devil has always been sinning, ever since the world began. The very reason that God’ s Son became a human being was to undo this work of the devil{ that kept people continually sinning}. BSB BSB: The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
9 UST People do not continue sinning if they have become spiritual children of God because God has made them to be like him. They cannot continually sin, because they are God’ s spiritual children. BSB BSB: Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10 UST People who belong to God are clearly different from people who belong to the devil. Those who do not do what is right do not belong to God. Those who do not love their fellow believers also do not belong to God. BSB BSB: By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Love One Another (John 13:31–35; Romans 12:9–13)
11 UST { You should recognize this because} the message that you heard when you first believed in Jesus is that we should love each other. BSB BSB: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12 UST We should not hate others as{ Adam’ s son} Cain did. He belonged to{ Satan,} that evil being. Cain murdered his{ younger} brother{ Abel}. I will tell you why he did that. It was because Cain behaved in an evil way, and{ he hated his younger brother because} his younger brother behaved in the right way. BSB BSB: Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
13 UST Therefore, my fellow believers, you should not be amazed when unbelievers hate you. BSB BSB: So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
15 UST Anyone who hates one of his fellow believers is doing something just as bad as murdering him. And you know that someone who murders another person is not living in the new way that God enables us to live. BSB BSB: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
16 UST Jesus taught us how to truly love each other when he willingly died for us. For our part, we should also be willing to do anything for our fellow believers, even die for them. BSB BSB: By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 UST Many of us have the things that are necessary for life in this world. But suppose that we become aware that a fellow believer does not have what he needs. Suppose also that we refuse to provide for him. Then we are not loving him the way that God taught us to love{ people}. BSB BSB: If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
18 UST You who are as dear to me as though you were my own children, let us not{ merely} say that we love{ each other}. Let us love{ each other} genuinely by helping{ each other}. BSB BSB: Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
19 UST By doing that, we can know that we belong to God, who is the source of everything that is true. When we are in God’ s presence, we may feel that we do not belong to God because of our sins. When that happens, we can reassure ourselves that we truly do belong to him. This is because God is more trustworthy than our feelings and he knows everything about us{, including that we have trusted in him}. BSB BSB: And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence:
21 UST Dear friends, when we feel that God does not condemn us{ for having sinned}, then we can pray confidently to God. BSB BSB: Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,
22 UST We find that when we pray confidently to God and ask for something, he gives it to us.{ We pray confidently like this} because{ as people who belong to him,} we do what he commands us to do, and we do what pleases him. BSB BSB: and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
23 UST I will tell you what God commands us to do. We must trust in his Son, Jesus the Messiah. We must also love each other just as Jesus commanded us to do. BSB BSB: And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.
24 UST The people who do what God commands share life with God, and God shares life with them. I will tell you how we can be sure that God is sharing life with us. We can be sure of that because we have God’ s Spirit, whom he gave to us. BSB BSB: Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.