1 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 the children of God are manifest ... has the meaning that Christians may be identified by their conduct. Any and all transgressions of the law of Christ deny such transgressors any status whatever as children of God. Those who speak loudest about their "faith in Christ," but who do not display the type of behavior set forth in the New Testament as Christian conduct, may in no sense establish by their profession a status which their unchristian lives deny. People who do not make a serious and consistent effort to do what the New Testament teaches that Christians should do are "the children of the devil." As Plummer said:

This teaching about the devil is not at all agreeable to those who dwell exclusively upon the sunny aspects of the world and of life, and would shut ttheir eyes to what is dark an terrible. They like to hear of a Being who is all gracious and loving ... "the devil ... ?" They wish to suppose that he belongs to the world's infancy, and disappears as we know more![21]

Children of God ... children of the devil ... This is the only place in the New Testament where these two expressions stand side by side"[22] and they correspond perfectly with the grand cleavage of humanity into two, and only two classes: the wheat and the chaff, the good and the bad, the sheep and the goats, those on the right hand and those on the left, the good fishes and the rejects, the builder on the rock and the builder on the sand, lovers of God and lovers of mammon, the wheat and the tares, the ready and the unready, the faithful and the unfaithful, the children of God and the children of the devil. It is easy to rationalize sin as "goodness" in the making, etc.; but it appears in the New Testament that these two classes are radical opposites and totally irreconcilable.

Neither he that loveth not his brother ... This is cited as a particular instance of Christian character, and not as the sum total of it, much in the same manner that Paul often spoke of "faith in Christ."

His brother ... Does this mean every man on earth, or does it have special reference to the Christian's brother in the faith? Despite learned opinion to the contrary, the conviction here is that it is the "brother in Christ" which is meant. Plummer said it means: "mankind at large,"[23] citing the example of the good Samaritan as Jesus' example of "who is my neighbor?" Macknight also stated that the passage, "signifies all mankind, who are all brethren by virtue of their common nature and their descent from Adam."[24] The brotherhood of man is, of course, a fact "in Adam"; but the particular viewpoint of the New Testament is that of the "brotherhood in Christ"; and there is a world of difference in these. Significantly, Paul did not go about among the churches raising a collection for the oppressed heathen in the ghettos of Rome, but for the "poor saints" in Jerusalem. Although, there is a true sense in which the Christian loves every man on earth, it can never be the same as that for the beloved "in Christ."

Love of the world in general will issue in deeds, charities and benefits to "all people," to the extent that these may contribute to their redemption; but the apostolic restriction is sternly laid on this in the words, "As we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). In this last clause, there is clearly a difference between the love of brethren and the love of the whole world. From these considerations, we believe that Blaney is correct in the view that, "Brother here means a brother Christian, as a representative of all Christians, rather than of all men."[25] The love of Christians is a mutual love (1 John 3:11), and no such love is possible for the world which hates Christians (1 John 3:13).

[21] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 73.

[22] Charles C. Ryrie, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 1020.

[23] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 73.

[24] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 72.

[25] Harvey J. S. Blaney, op. cit., p. 380.