Book of 1 John Chapter 3 Vs. 10

 Father hath Bestowed

I John 3:10 " 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."

In this (ἐν τούτῳ)

Lit., in this. Characteristic of John. See John 8:35; 15:8; 16:30; 1Jhn. 2:5; 3:24; 4:13; 5:2; 3:16; 3:19; 4:2. The expression points to what follows, if we keep His commandments, yet with a covert reference to that idea as generally implied in the previous words concerning fellowship with God and walking in the light. See on 1Jhn. 2:3.

children of God... Two classes of people (Mat. 13:38):

1. The children of God

2. The children of the devil

This summary verse is the key to verses 4-10. Only two kinds of children exist in the world: children of God and children of Satan.

are manifest, and... Who is a child of God?

hereby we do know that we know him: Twenty-one reasons we do know that we know Him:

1. By personal fellowship (1Jhn. 1:3-7; 2:13)

2. Fullness of joy in the heart (1Jhn. 1:4)

3. Keeping His commandments (1Jhn. 2:3; 3:22)

4. Walking even as He walked (1Jhn. 2:6)

5. Love of the brethren (1Jhn. 2:9-11; 3:10-19, 3:23; 4:7-21; 5:1)

6. Overcoming the world and Satan (1Jhn. 2:13-14; 5:4, 5:18)

7. Hatred of the world (1Jhn. 2:15-17)

8. Being one with Christians (1Jhn. 2:19)

9. Holy Spirit anointing (1Jhn. 2:20-27)

10. Knowing the truth that sets free (1Jhn. 2:21; John 8:32-36)

11. Acknowledging God and Christ (1Jhn. 2:22-25)

12. Doing righteousness (1Jhn. 2:29; 3:7-10; 5:1-4, 5:18)

13. Purifying ourselves (1Jhn. 3:3)

14. Being born again (1Jhn. 2:29; 3:9; 5:1-18)

15. Cleansing from sin (1Jhn. 1:7-9; 3:5-10)

16. Freedom from condemnation (1Jhn. 3:20-24)

17. The indwelling Spirit (1Jhn. 3:24; 4:4, 4:13)

18. Faith (1Jhn. 2:23; 5:1, 5:10)

19. Confessing Christ (1Jhn. 4:14-15)

20. Receiving Christ (1Jhn. 5:10-13; John 1:12)

21. Answered prayer (1Jhn. 3:21-22; 5:14-15)

No one can belong to both families simultaneously. Either one belongs to God’s family and exhibits His righteous character or one belongs to Satan’s family and exhibits his sinful nature.

children of the devil (τέκνα τοῦ διαβόλου)

The only occurrence of the phrase. Compare Acts 13:10 and see John 8:44.

whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God:

Twenty-one Evidence that One Is a Child of Satan

1. Walking in darkness (1Jhn. 1:5-6; 2:11)

2. Saying that one has no sin (1Jhn. 1:8, 1:10)

3. Failing to please God and keep His commandments (1Jhn. 2:3-4; 3:22-24; 5:14-15)

4. Failing to walk as Christ did (1Jhn. 2:6)

5. Hating anyone (1Jhn. 2:9; 3:10-19; 4:20)

6. Failing to overcome Satan (1Jhn. 2:13-14)

7. Loving the world and the things in it (1Jhn. 2:15-17; 3:1, 3:13; 4:5)

8. Leaving Christian fellowship (1Jhn. 2:19)

9. Ignoring truth (1Jhn. 2:20-27)

10. Denying God and Jesus (1Jhn. 2:22-23)

11. Doing unrighteousness (1Jhn. 2:29; 3:10)

12. Making no effort to purify self (1Jhn. 3:3)

13. Committing sin (1Jhn. 3:8-10; 5:18)

14. Murdering (1Jhn. 3:12, 3:15)

15. Shutting bowels of compassion (1Jhn. 3:17)

16. Lacking faith (1Jhn. 3:20-22; 5:14-15)

17. Being destitute of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1Jhn. 3:24; 4:4, 4:13)

18. Being of the word and having fellowship with it (1Jhn. 4:5)

19. Having no personal acquaintance with God or knowledge of eternal life (1Jhn. 4:7-10; 5:10-13, 5:20-21)

20. Making no confession of Jesus (1Jhn. 4:14-18)

21. Being overcome by the world (1Jhn. 5:4-5)

Righteousness

Here the article is wanting, compare 1Jhn. 3:7. Righteousness is regarded, not in its completeness, but as bearing a particular character. It will be interesting to follow out the same distinction between the following words with and without the article: ἀμαρτία sin; ἀγάπη love; ζωή life; ἀλήθεια truth.

he that loveth... This phrase introduces the readers to the second aspect of the moral test, i.e., the test of love (as in 2:7-11). John develops this thought through verses 11-24. The false teachers not only had an erroneous view of Christ’s nature and displayed disobedience to God’s commands, but they also displayed a distinct lack of love for true believers, who rejected their heretical teaching.

For John a mere profession of faith in Christ was insufficient if not accompanied by the outward marks of divine parentage. Further, he links love for other Christians closely with righteous living (see John 13:35).

The walk we take through life reveals to the world whether we belong to the devil, or to God. God created every one of us, and His desire was that we would all be His. He gave us a free will, however, and some chose to follow the devil, instead of God.

The fruit we bear reveals who we are. People who habitually sin are of the devil. Those who choose not to sin are of God. This does not mean that a Christian might not commit a single sin; it means that is not their way of life.

Literally, the first phrase of this verse is, by this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil. The words by this probably refer back to the whole previous discussion. By sharply differentiating between sin and righteousness, John made plain the fundamental way in which God’s children are manifest over against the children of the devil. The key to his idea is the word manifest in which the ideas presented in 1Jhn. 2:29 and 1Jhn. 3:1 are touched again. Because a child of God is sinless at the core of his being, he can never be manifest through sin as can a child of the devil. While an unsaved person can display his true nature through sin, a child of God cannot. When a Christian sins, he conceals who he really is rather than making it manifest. If the readers perceive someone doing real righteousness, then - but only then - can they perceive this action as a true product of new birth (1Jhn.2:29) and can thus behold God’s love (1Jhn. 3:1). This consideration is crucial to John’s advancing argument.

Discerning love for the brethren.

John now left behind the subject of new birth which he did not mention again until 1Jhn. 4:7. The function of the section that begins here is to define righteousness primarily in terms of Christian brotherly love and to show how such love properly expresses itself.

What Love Is Not.

Rather than taking 1Jhn. 3:10 as introductory to 1Jhn. 3:10, it is better to regard 1Jhn. 3:10 as the conclusion of the previous paragraph and 1Jhn. 3:10 as the beginning of a new one. The words a child in 1Jhn. 3:10 are not in the Greek. Thus the statement would better read, Anyone who does not do what is right is not… of God. The Greek expression for of God ek tou theou need mean no more than that a person so described does not find the source of his actions in God. He is not… of God in what he does. A failure to perform righteousness and a failure to love one’s brother can never be traced to God. John had already said that all sin can be traced to the devil (1Jhn. 3:8). John also used this phrase ek tou theou of God seven other times (1Jhn. 4:1-4, 4:6-7; 3Jhn. 1:11).

By joining together, the idea of righteousness mentioned in 1Jhn. 2:29-3:7 with love not mentioned in 1Jhn. 3:2-9, John formed a bridge to a new discussion. He now considered love as the appropriate expression of the regenerate life of which he had been speaking. Love is righteousness in action.