²³ Whoever ·does not accept [denies; repudiates] the Son does not have the Father. But whoever ·confesses [acknowledges; accepts] the Son has the Father, too.

²⁴ [^LAs for you] Be sure you ·continue to follow [abide/remain in] ·the teaching [^Lwhat] you heard from the beginning [^Cwhen they first became Christians; 1 Tim. 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13; Titus 1:9; 2 Pet. 3:2; Jude 17, 20]. If you ·continue to follow [abide/remain in] what you heard from the beginning, you will [^Lalso; indeed] ·stay [abide; remain] in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is ·what the Son [^Lthe promise which he himself] promised to us—·life forever [eternal life; 1 Tim. 4:8; 2 Tim. 1:1].