In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Parallel translations
- WEB In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
- BSB By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
- NKJV In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
- NASB By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.
- NLT So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Children of God and children of the devil are distinguished by righteousness and love. Right living and brotherly love mark the truly born again.
Overview
John gives two combined tests: doing righteousness and loving fellow believers. Those lacking these are not of God. This verse summarizes the moral and relational evidence of genuine faith and transitions into an extended treatment of love. Both holiness and love together reveal who truly belongs to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- 1 Jn 4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
- 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
- Matt 13:38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
- Luke 6:35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
- John 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
- 1 Jn 4:21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
- 1 Jn 3:7–8Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
- John 8:47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
- 1 Jn 4:6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
- Eph 5:1Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
- 1 Jn 4:3–4And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
- 1 Jn 2:9–10He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
- 1 Jn 3:14–15We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
- Acts 13:10And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
- Rom 8:16–17The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
- 1 Jn 2:29If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
- 1 Jn 5:2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
- 1 Jn 5:19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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