If we say that we have never sinned, we make him a liar and his word has no place in us.

From us, it is true, they went out, but they had never belonged to us; for, if they had belonged to us, they would have remained among us. They left us that it might be made clear that they do not, any of them, belong to us.

And this is the promise which Christ [or, "God"] has given to us: [It is] never ending life. [Note: This passage may mean that God promised us "the Eternal Life," that is, Christ, See John 3:16].

As for you, the anointing [the special gift, the preparation] which you received from Him remains [permanently] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as His anointing teaches you [giving you insight through the presence of the Holy Spirit] about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as His anointing has taught you, you must remain in Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him].

Think what love the Father has had for us, in letting us be called God's children, for that is what we are. This is why the world does not know what we are??ecause it has never come to know him.

Beloved, now are we children of God, and never yet was it manifested what we shall be. We know that, if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

No one who keeps in union with him sins. Anyone who sins has never seen him or come to know him.

Every person who hates his brother is a murderer [in God's sight]; and you [surely] know that no murderer has [the hope of] never ending life remaining in his heart.

The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]

If a person says, "I love God," yet [in reality] hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot [possibly] love God, whom he has never seen.

And this is the testimony [of God]: He gave to us [the hope of] never ending life, and this life is [available through fellowship] in His Son.

I have written these things to you people, who believe in the name [i.e., in the person and work] of the Son of God, so that you can have assurance that you have [the hope of] never ending life. [See Titus 1:2; 3:7; Mark 10:30].

We know that anyone who is born of God does not sin; He who was born of God preserves him, and the evil One never catches him.