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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
- 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 who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
- 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.
- Matt 13:38the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.
- Luke 6:35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
- John 8:44You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.
- 1 Jn 4:21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
- 1 Jn 3:7–8Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
- John 8:47He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
- 1 Jn 4:6We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
- Eph 5:1Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.
- 1 Jn 4:3–4and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.
- 1 Jn 2:9–10He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now.
- 1 Jn 3:14–15We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death.
- Acts 13:10and said, “Full of all deceit and all cunning, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
- Rom 8:16–17The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
- 1 Jn 2:29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been 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 5:19We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
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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