8. The devil has been sinning since the beginning. Anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this: to destroy the devil’s work.
9. Those who are God’s children do not continue to sin, because the new life God gave them stays in them. They cannot keep sinning, because they have become children of God.
10. So we can see who God’s children are and who the devil’s children are. These are the ones who are not God’s children: those who don’t do what is right and those who do not love their brothers and sisters in God’s family.
11. This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other.
12. Don’t be like Cain. He belonged to the Evil One. Cain killed his brother. But why did he kill him? Because what Cain did was evil, and what his brother did was good.
13. Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised when the people of this world hate you.
14. We know that we have left death and have come into life. We know this because we love each other as brothers and sisters. Anyone who does not love is still in death.