Righteousness and Love

3:10

10. 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 a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

In this entire letter John presents our existence in terms of two categories: you are either a child of God or you are a child of the devil. John sees only absolutes: light or darkness, truth or the lie, God or the devil, life or death. For him there is no middle ground. There are no alternatives.

How do we know to which category we belong? John says that the proof is in our conduct: the child of God does what is right and loves his brother, but the child of the devil fails to do these things. John puts the criterion in negative form—"anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God"—so that the Christian takes note and applies himself actively to do God's will.

Practical Considerations in 3:7-10

"The devil made me do it." Although some people use these words to disclaim responsibility for their evil deeds, no court of law will accept such testimony as a valid excuse. Unless insanity can be proved, a person is responsible for his own behavior.

Yet the admission that the devil is behind sinful deeds is undeniably true. A convicted killer explicitly becomes a murderer when he takes someone's life. But implicitly he already is a murderer when he receives the instigation to kill from the devil. If he were not in Satan's power, he would not perpetrate such a crime.

The child of the devil, as John puts it, continues to commit sin because he belongs to the evil one. By contrast, the child of God will not continue to sin because he has God's nature in him. He wants to do what is right and thus he demonstrates his love to God and man. Born of God, the believer seeks to reflect his Father's virtues and excellence. When he falls into sin, he realizes that Satan has led him astray. But when he turns to God in faith and repentance, he finds forgiveness. As a child of God he is never in the power of the evil one.

Additional Remarks

Literature on I John 3:7-10 is extensive. Numerous commentators express their opinion on what they deem is the correct interpretation of these verses in the light of the entire epistle. They examine all aspects of this passage quite often from their own theological or philosophical bent. They discuss the apparent contradiction between 1:8, 10, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us"... "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar," and 3:9c, "he cannot go on sinning" (also see 5:16). Remarks Raymond E. Brown, "No other N[ew] T[estament] author contradicts himself so sharply within such a short span of writing, and inevitably much scholarly energy has been devoted to proving that no contradiction exists."

What are scholars saying about this problem? From numerous explanations here are three samples presented in summary form. First, John writes as a pastor to his people and calls them to confess their sins (1:8-10). But he also holds before them the ideal that all those who are born of God cannot sin. This view, however, represents an ideal, not reality.

Next, we should distinguish between different kinds of sin: deliberate sin (5:16-17) and involuntary sins; mortal sins and insignificant sins; and the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus over against the believer's temporary lapse into sin. Nevertheless, in the sight of God every sin is a transgression of his law (James 2:9-11).

Last, with his characteristic twofold approach, John describes the person who persistently sins because he is in the power of the evil one and the Christian who sometimes may fall into sin, but cannot sin persistently. In expressing this thought, John uses Greek verbs in the present tense that indicate continual action (for instance, "he cannot go on sinning" [3:9]). Many commentators have adopted this approach as a plausible interpretation.^[27]

Baker New Testament Commentary - Baker New Testament Commentary – Exposition of James, Epistles of John, Peter, and Jude.