1Jo 2:28-4:17 | ESV | STEP | And now , little children , abide in him , so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming .

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^awhen he appears ^bwe may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^ccoming. 29 If you know that ^dhe is righteous, you may be sure that ^eeveryone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3

1 See ^fwhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^gchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why ^hthe world does not know us is that ⁱit did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are ^jGod’s children ^know, and what we will be ^lhas not yet appeared; but we know that ^mwhen he appears ^{▼▼Or when it appears} ^owe shall be like him, because ^pwe shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who ^qthus hopes in him ^rpurifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^ssin is lawlessness. 5 You know that ^the appeared in order to ^utake away sins, and ^vin him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^wno one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, ^xlet no one deceive you. ^yWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 ^zWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^aato destroy the works of the devil. 9 ^abNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s ^{▼▼Greek his} seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^adnor is the one who ^aedoes not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For ^afthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^agthat we should love one another. 12 We should not be like ^ahCain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^aiBecause his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church; also verses 14, 16} ^akthat the world hates you. 14 We know that ^alwe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 ^amEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^anno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that ^aohe laid down his life for us, and ^apwe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But ^aqif anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^arcloses his heart against him, ^ashow does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not ^atlove in word or talk but in deed and ^auin truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, ^avif our heart does not condemn us, ^awwe have confidence before God; 22 and ^axwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^aydo what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, ^azthat we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^balove one another, ^bbjust as he has commanded us. 24 ^bcWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God, ^{▼▼Greek him} and God ^{▼▼Greek he} in him. And ^bfby this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

1 John 4:1-17

Test the Spirits

1 Beloved, ^bgdo not believe every spirit, but ^bhtest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^bimany ^bjfalse prophets ^bkhave gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: ^blevery spirit that confesses that ^bmJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit ^bnthat does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^bonow is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^bphe who is in you is greater than ^bqhe who is in the world. 5 ^brThey are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^bsthe world listens to them. 6 We are from God. ^btWhoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^buthe Spirit of truth and ^bvthe spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, ^bwlet us love one another, for love is from God, and ^bxwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 ^byAnyone who does not love does not know God, because ^bzGod is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ^caGod sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, ^cbnot that we have loved God ^ccbut that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^cdthe propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 ^ceNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^cfhis love is perfected in us.

13 ^cgBy this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And ^chwe have seen and testify that ^cithe Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^cjthe world. 15 ^ckWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So ^clwe have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^cmGod is love, and ^cnwhoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this ^cois love perfected with us, so that ^cpwe may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^cqas he is so also are we in this world.