1 John 3:7 (LSB)

Passage

Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

Nearby Context

1 John 3:5 And you know that He was manifested in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1 John 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him.

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

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.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "No one who abides in Him sins..." into verse 8's "The one who does sin is of...", so "little" and "children" 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 "little" and "children" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.