New International Version
1 John 3:10
10This 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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
8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 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. 11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were 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 5:2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
- Luke 6:35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
- Romans 8:16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
- Ephesians 5:1Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
- Matthew 13:38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one,
- John 8:44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
- Acts 13:10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
- 1 John 3:7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
- 1 John 2:29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
- 1 John 4:3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
- 1 John 5:19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
- John 8:47Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
- 3 John 1:11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
- 1 John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
- 1 John 2:9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
- 1 John 4:8Whoever 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
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