Dieva bērni
1 Redziet, cik lielu mīlestību Tēvs mums ir dāvājis, ka tiekam saukti Dieva bērni un tādi arī esam. Pasaule mūs neatzīst, tādēļ ka tā nav atzinusi viņu. 2 Mīļotie, tagad mēs esam Dieva bērni, un vēl nav atklājies, kas mēs būsim. Zinām, ka tad, kad tas atklāsies, mēs būsim līdzīgi viņam, mēs redzēsim viņu tādu, kāds viņš ir. 3 Bet katrs, kam ir šī cerība uz viņu, šķīsta sevi, tāpat kā viņš ir šķīsts. 4 Katrs, kas grēko, pārkāpj likumu, jo grēks ir nelikumība. 5 Un jūs zināt, ka viņš parādījās, lai paņemtu prom grēkus, un viņā nav grēka. 6 Ikviens, kas paliek viņā, negrēko, bet, kas grēko, nav viņu nedz redzējis, nedz pazinis. 7 Bērniņi, lai neviens jūs nemaldina: kas dara taisnību, ir taisns, tāpat kā viņš ir taisns. 8 Kas dara grēku, ir no velna, jo velns grēko jau no paša sākuma, un Dieva Dēls tādēļ ir parādījies, lai izjauktu velna darbus. 9 Ikviens, kas dzimis no Dieva, nedara grēku, jo Dieva sēkla paliek viņā; un viņš nevar grēkot, jo ir no Dieva dzimis. 10 Tā top redzami Dieva bērni un velna bērni – katrs, kas nedara taisnību, nav no Dieva; tāpat arī tas, kas nemīl savu brāli.
Mīliet cits citu!
11 Jo šī ir tā vēsts, ko jūs esat dzirdējuši no iesākuma – lai mēs mīlam cits citu. 12 Ne tā kā Kains, kas bija no ļaunā un nokāva savu brāli. Un kādēļ viņš to nokāva? Tādēļ, ka viņa darbi bija ļauni, bet viņa brāļa darbi – taisni. 13 Nebrīnieties, brāļi, ka pasaule jūs ienīst. 14 Mēs zinām, ka esam no nāves pārgājuši dzīvībā, tādēļ ka mēs mīlam brāļus, bet, kas nemīl, paliek nāvē. 15 Ikviens, kas savu brāli nīst, ir slepkava, un jūs zināt, ka neviens slepkava nepatur sevī mūžīgo dzīvību. 16 Mīlestību mēs esam iepazinuši no tā, ka viņš savu dzīvību par mums ir atdevis. Arī mums pienākas savu dzīvību atdot par brāļiem. 17 Ja kādam šajā pasaulē ir pārticība un viņš redz savu brāli trūkumā un noslēdz tam savu sirdi, kā lai viņā paliek Dieva mīlestība? 18 Bērniņi, nemīlēsim ar vārdiem un ar mēli, bet ar darbiem un patiesību! 19 Un tā mēs zināsim, ka esam no patiesības: iedrošināsim viņa priekšā savu sirdi! 20 Un, pat ja mūsu sirds mūs apsūdz, Dievs ir lielāks nekā mūsu sirds, un viņš zina visu. 21 Mīļotie, ja jau mūs neapsūdz sirds, tad mums ir paļāvība uz Dievu. 22 Ja mēs ko lūdzam, tad saņemam no viņa, jo mēs turam viņa baušļus un darām to, kas viņam tīkams. 23 Viņa bauslis ir, lai mēs ticam viņa Dēla Jēzus Kristus vārdā un mīlam viens otru, kā viņš mums ir pavēlējis. 24 Bet, kas viņa baušļus tur, tas paliek viņā un viņš tanī. No tā mēs zinām, ka viņš paliek mūsos, no Gara, ko viņš mums ir devis.
Children of God
1 See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children—and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God. 2 My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.
4 Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law. 5 You know that Christ appeared in order to take away sins, and that there is no sin in him. 6 So everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen him or known him.
7 Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. 8 Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.
9 Those who are children of God do not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in them; and because God is their Father, they cannot continue to sin. 10 Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children.
Love One Another
11 The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain; he belonged to the Evil One and murdered his own brother Abel. Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right.
13 So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you. 14 We know that we have left death and come over into life; we know it because we love others. Those who do not love are still under the power of death. 15 Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them. 16 This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others! 17 If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God? 18 My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
Courage before God
19 This, then, is how we will know that we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God's presence. 20 If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything. 21 And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence. 22 We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 What he commands is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Christ commanded us. 24 Those who obey God's commands live in union with God and God lives in union with them. And because of the Spirit that God has given us we know that God lives in union with us.
