Chapter
1 2 3 4 5
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 John 3:10
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.
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.
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.
CSB This is how God's children and the devil's children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or 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.
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.

What does 1 John 3:10 mean?

John summarizes his teachings in verses 1 through 9 with two characteristics. First, a person who does not "practice righteousness" is not from God. In other words, a believer will seek to live according to God's ways. They may fail, sometimes miserably (Psalm 51:1–4), but they will not persist in deliberately "walking" in darkness.

This is the general position of the Bible, and John's letter supports that notion. At the same time, his specific audience is the Christian believer. It is possible for Christians to sin, and all sin involves rejecting God in favor of Satan. This does not mean salvation can be lost. It does mean that certain attitudes or actions can never be excused for the saved believer. A person who does not love other believers fails to show the primary sign of the faith: love (John 13:35). Believers are brothers and sisters in Christ and are children of God. A believer's top goals are to fully love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37–40). Those who show no desire to love others, especially their fellow believers, cannot truly claim to be a child of God.
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