Open English Translation 1YHN (1JHN) Chapter 3

3 [ref]Consider the amazing live that the father has given to us in order that we can be called God’s children, and indeed we are. 2 Dear friends we are God’s children now, but it’s not yet revealed what we will become. We know that when Yeshua is revealed, we will be similar to him because then we’ll be seeing him exactly as he is. 3 Everyone who trusts their future to him needs to purify themself just like he is pure.

4 Everyone who regularly sins is demonstrating lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 [ref]You all know that Yeshua was revealed in order to take away sins, and there’s no sin in him. 6 Everyone who remains in him doesn’t sin—everyone who keeps sinning has neither really seen Yeshua nor known him.

7 So new believers, don’t let anyone deceive you: the person faithfully obeying Yeshua’s teaching will be declared not guilty just as he is not guilty. 8 Anyone who regularly sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

9 Everyone who’s been reborn in God, doesn’t regularly sin because God’s seed of life remains in them and that person isn’t able to sin because they have been reborn in God. 10 You can distinguish God’s children and the devil’s children like this: everyone who doesn’t faithfully obey Yeshua’s teaching or doesn’t love their fellow believers, that person doesn’t belong to God.

11 [ref]Yes, this is the message that you all heard from the beginning: to be loving each other—12 not living like Cain who belonged to the evil one and went on to murder his brother.[ref] And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were evil, but his brother Abel followed God’s instructions.

13 And friends, don’t be surprised if the world hates you. 14 [ref]We know that we have transferred from death to life because we are loving our fellow believers. Anyone who doesn’t love others is stuck in death. 15 Everyone who hates another person is a murderer, and you all know that murderers don’t have eternal life in them. 16 We know about real love because we saw that Yeshua gave up his life for us, and we should give up our lives for our fellow believers. 17 But anyone who’s enjoying being alive and notices that a fellow believer is in need yet shuts that other believer’s needs out of their conscience, how can God’s love be living in that person? 18 So you new believers, don’t just proclaim that you’re loving people, but actually demonstrate it in actions and in fact. 19 That’s how we’ll know that the truth really is in us.

At the same time, we need to tell ourselves 20 that if we are feeling condemned, God is greater than our feelings and he knows everything. 21 Then dear friends, if we’re not feeling condemned, we have confidence in God 22 and confidence that whatever we are requesting from him, we will receive it because we are following his instructions and doing the things that please him. 23 [ref]And this is his command: We need to believe in the authority of his son, Yeshua the messiah, and we should love each other as per the command that Yeshua gave to us. 24 Anyone who follows his commands is living in him, and he is living in them and we have confirmation that he is living in us, because we have the spirit that he gave to us.