² Dear friends,^(A) now we are children of God,^(B) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](C) we shall be like him,^(D) for we shall see him as he is.^{(E) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(F) just as he is pure.^(G)

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour;^(A) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(B) even now many antichrists have come.^(C) This is how we know it is the last hour.

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(A) continue in him, so that when he appears^(B) we may be confident^(C) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(D)

⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(A) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(B) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^(C)

³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^(A) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^(B)