1 John 3:10 (LSB)

Passage

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother.

Nearby Context

1 John 3:8 The one who does sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

1 John 3:12 not 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "devil", "manifested", "everyone", "does", "righteousness", and "well". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "devil", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Everyone who has been born of God..." into verse 11's "For this is the message which you...", so "children" and "devil" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "children" and "devil" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.