Božja djeca
1Gledajte koliku nam je ljubav Otac darovao: da se možemo nazvati Božjom djecom, a to i jesmo. Ali ljudi koji pripadaju ovom svijetu ne poznaju Boga, pa ne mogu ni razumjeti da smo mi njegova djeca. 2Da, ljubljeni moji, već smo sada Božja djeca, a što ćemo biti poslije, još se nije očitovalo. Ali jedno znamo: kad se očituje, bit ćemo njemu slični jer ćemo ga vidjeti onakvim kakav on doista jest. 3Tko ima tu nadu u njega, čisti se od grijeha, kao što je i on čist.
4Tko god čini grijeh, krši Božji zakon, jer je grijeh protivan Božjemu zakonu. 5Znate da je Isus došao da odnese naše grijehe i da u njemu nema grijeha. 6Tko god ostaje u njemu, ne čini grijeh. A tko griješi, nije ga ni vidio ni upoznao.
7Djeco draga, ne dopustite da vas itko glede toga zavede. Tko čini pravdu, čini je zato što je pravedan kao što je i Krist pravedan. 8Nastavlja li tko živjeti u grijehu, to pokazuje da pripada đavlu koji je u grijehu od početka. Ali Božji Sin je došao uništiti đavolska djela. 9Tko je rođen od Boga, ne živi u grijehu jer je u njemu Božje sjeme, pa više u grijehu i ne može živjeti; u njemu je započeo novi život—rođen je od Boga. 10Božja se djeca od đavolske raspoznaju po ovome: tko ne čini pravde i tko ne voli svoju braću, ne pripada Bogu.
Ljubav prema drugima
11Jer tu smo poruku, da volimo jedni druge, primili još na početku. 12Ne smijemo biti poput Kajina, koji je pripadao Zlome i ubio svojega brata. Zašto ga je ubio? Jer su mu djela bila zla, a djela njegova brata pravedna. 13Ne čudite se stoga, draga braćo, ako vas svijet mrzi.
14Volimo li svoju braću, znat ćemo da smo prešli iz smrti u vječni život. Onaj tko ih ne voli, još je uvijek mrtav. 15Tko god mrzi svojeg brata, u srcu je ubojica, a znate da nijedan ubojica u sebi nema trajnoga, vječnog života. 16Pravu smo ljubav spoznali jer je Krist za nas dao svoj život. Tako smo i mi dužni dati život za svoju braću. 17Ali ima li tko zemaljskih dobara te dobro živi, a vidi svojeg brata u potrebi i ostane pred njim tvrda srca—kako da ljubav Božja ostane u njemu?
18Nemojmo, djeco draga, voljeti samo riječju i jezikom, već djelom i iskreno. 19Po tome ćemo znati da smo od istine i umirit ćemo pred Gospodinom svoje srce 20ako nas ono u bilo čemu osuđuje. Jer Bog je veći od našeg srca i znade sve.
21Dragi moji, ako nas savjest ne osuđuje, možemo hrabro i s pouzdanjem doći k Bogu 22i dobit ćemo od njega sve što zatražimo jer vršimo njegove zapovijedi i činimo što mu je drago. 23A njegova je zapovijed: da vjerujemo u ime njegova Sina Isusa Krista i da volimo jedni druge kao što nam je on zapovjedio. 24Tko je poslušan Božjim zapovijedima, živi u Bogu i Bog u njemu. A da on živi u nama, znamo po Duhu kojega nam je poslao.
1See what amazing love the Father has given us! Because of it, we are called children of God. And that’s what we really are! The world doesn’t know us because it didn’t know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God. He still hasn’t let us know what we will be. But we know that when Christ appears, we will be like him. That’s because we will see him as he really is. 3Christ is pure. All who hope to be like him make themselves pure.
4Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, breaking the law is sin. 5But you know that Christ came to take our sins away. And there is no sin in him. 6No one who remains joined to him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has seen him or known him.
7Dear children, don’t let anyone lead you astray. The person who does what is right is holy, just as Christ is holy. 8The person who does what is sinful belongs to the devil. That’s because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the devil’s work. 9Those who are God’s children will not keep on sinning. God’s very nature remains in them. They can’t go on sinning. That’s because they are God’s children. 10Here is how you can tell the difference between God’s children and the devil’s children. Anyone who doesn’t do what is right isn’t God’s child. And anyone who doesn’t love their brother or sister isn’t God’s child either.
More Instructions About Loving and Hating One Another
11From the beginning we have heard that we should love one another. 12Don’t be like Cain. He belonged to the evil one. He murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because the things Cain had done were wrong. But the things his brother had done were right. 13My brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you. 14We know that we have left our old dead way of life. And we have entered into new life. We know this because we love one another. Anyone who doesn’t love still lives in their old condition. 15Anyone who hates their brother or sister is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life.
16We know what love is because Jesus Christ gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17Suppose someone sees a brother or sister in need and is able to help them. And suppose that person doesn’t take pity on these needy people. Then how can the love of God be in that person? 18Dear children, don’t just talk about love. Put your love into action. Then it will truly be love.
19Here’s how we know that we hold to the truth. And here’s how we put our hearts at rest, knowing that God is watching. 20If our hearts judge us, we know that God is greater than our hearts. And he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not judge us, we can be bold with God. 22And he will give us anything we ask. That’s because we obey his commands. We do what pleases him. 23God has commanded us to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. He has also commanded us to love one another. 24The one who obeys God’s commands remains joined to him. And he remains joined to them. Here is how we know that God lives in us. We know it because of the Holy Spirit he gave us.
