1 John 3:10

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• 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.

Context of 1 John 3:10

8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 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. 11For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

1 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

• By thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• childrenτέκνονteknon · childG5043
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• of the devilδιάβολοςdiabolos · devilish/the DevilG1228
• are obviousφανερόςphaneros · clearG5318
• anyoneπᾶςpas · allG3956
• who does not practiceποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• norκαίkai · andG2532
• does not loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• 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 observe 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 Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
• Romans 8:16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
• Ephesians 5:1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
• Matthew 13:38and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
• 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 does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• Acts 13:10and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?
• 1 John 3:7Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
• 1 John 2:29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is 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, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
• 1 John 5:19We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
• John 8:47He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
• 3 John 1:11Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
• 1 John 3:14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
• 1 John 2:9The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.
• 1 John 4:8The one who does not love does not know God, for 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

• Adoption
• Commandments
• Depravity of Man
• Hatred
• Holiness
• Malice
• Perfection
• Righteousness
• Satan
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Children of God
• Appear
• Assure
• Condemn
• Pleasing
• Sin
• Word
• Brotherly Kindness; Brotherly Love

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