English Standard Version
1 John 3:10
10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
- New King James Version (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.
- New Living Translation (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.
Context of 1 John 3:10
8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
Read all of 1 John 31 John 3:10 word by word
ἐν τούτῳ φανερά ἐστιν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ τέκνα τοῦ διαβόλου. πᾶς ὁ μὴ ποιῶν δικαιοσύνην οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- the childrenὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the childrenτέκνονteknon · childG5043
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- manifestφανερόςphaneros · clearG5318
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- of the devilδιάβολοςdiabolos · devilish/the DevilG1228
- whosoeverπᾶςpas · allG3956
- doethποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
- notμήmē · notG3361
- righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
- notοὐou · noG3756
- ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
- he that lovethἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
- hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- brotherἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
Cross-references for 1 John 3:10
- 1 John 5:2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
- Luke 6:35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
- Romans 8:16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
- Ephesians 5:1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
- Matthew 13:38The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
- John 8:44You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
- Acts 13:10and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
- 1 John 3:7Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
- 1 John 2:29If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
- 1 John 4:3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
- 1 John 5:19We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
- John 8:47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."
- 3 John 1:11Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
- 1 John 3:14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
- 1 John 2:9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
- 1 John 4:8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Commentaries on 1 John 3:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10In this the children of God are manifest - Here is a fearful text. Who is a child of the devil? He that commits sin. Who is a child of God? He that works righteousness. By this text we shall stand or fall before God, whatever our particular creed may say to the contrary. Neither he that loveth not his brother - No man is of God who is not ready on all emergencies to do any act of kindness for the comfort, relief, and support of any human being. For, as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10In this the children of God are manifest - That is, this furnishes a test of their true character. The test is found in doing righteousness, and in the love of the brethren. The former he had illustrated; the latter he now proceeds to illustrate. The general idea is, that if a person is not truly a righteous person, and does not love the brethren, he cannot be a child of God. Perhaps by the phrase in this, using a pronoun in the singular number, he…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-10Verses 3-10 The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful, humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine law. In him, that is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-10To practice righteousness means to live in a right relationship with God. This is different from what the false teachers claimed. They taught that their spiritual life was not affected by what they did in their physical bodies. Living righteously does not mean that we live perfect lives (1:8). It means we confess our sins and stay in a right relationship with God (1:9).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. children of the devil--(See on 1Jo 3:8; Ac 13:10). There is no middle class between the children of God and the children of the devil. doeth not righteousness--Contrast 1Jo 2:29. he that loveth not his brother--(1Jo 4:8); a particular instance of that love which is the sum and fulfilment of all righteousness, and the token (not loud professions, or even seemingly good works) that distinguishes God's children from the devil's.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 3:10
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries