21. Do you think I am writing this letter because you don’t know the truth? No, I am writing because you do know the truth. And you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22. So who is the liar? It is the one who says Jesus is not the Messiah. Whoever says that is the enemy of Christ—the one who does not believe in the Father or in his Son.
23. Whoever does not believe in the Son does not have the Father, but whoever accepts the Son has the Father too.
24. Be sure that you continue to follow the teaching you heard from the beginning. If you do that, you will always be in the Son and in the Father.
25. And this is what the Son promised us—eternal life.
26. I am writing this letter about those who are trying to lead you into the wrong way.
27. Christ gave you a special gift. You still have this gift in you. So you don’t need anyone to teach you. The gift he gave you teaches you about everything. It is a true gift, not a false one. So continue to live in Christ, as his gift taught you.
28. Yes, my dear children, live in him. If we do this, we can be without fear on the day when Christ comes again. We will not need to hide and be ashamed when he comes.
29. You know that Christ always did what was right. So you know that all those who do what is right are God’s children.