1 John 3:10 (WEB)

Passage

In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

Nearby Context

1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

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

1 John 3:12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "revealed", "devil", "whoever", "doesn", "righteousness", and "neither". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "revealed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Whoever is born of God doesn t..." into verse 11's "For this is the message which you...", so "children" and "revealed" 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 "revealed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.