1 John 3:8-10 - A child of God, or a child of the devil?

This verse clarifies what has just been said. If someone makes a practice of sinning then they are of the devil. John, along with all the New Testament writers, is not afraid to draw a sharp distinction between those who are of God and those who are not. Sin is the nature of the devil. So someone who makes a practice of sinning (ie who is deliberately and consistently living a sinful life) is reflecting the nature of the devil. Whose nature do we want to reflect, Christ’s or Satan’s? Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil. Ie to bring an end to sinful behaviour.

3:9

John repeats the point of the previous verse, but in reverse. If we are born of God, we will not keep on sinning. It is important to note that it is habitual sinning, indeed deliberate sinning. As John said in 1:10 and 2:1 there is a recognition that we will sin, none of us are anything like perfect yet, nor will we be until Christ returns. But if we are truly born of God then sin will not be acceptable to us, it will not be seen as a desirable thing. If we are born of God then the nature of God is in us. This is quite an amazing thing. The seed of God is in us! But this is no different from what Genesis 1:27 says, we were created in the image of God. Then man sinned, and sin started to take over our lives. Now we have been born of God, and the righteousness of God is starting to take over our lives.

3:10

So there is a very clear test for who is a child of God, and who is a child of the devil. The test is the nature of our lives. If we do not practice righteousness and do not love our brothers, then we are not of God. Note again the very clear distinction that John draws. We are either of God or of the devil. It is perhaps significant that he says “the one who does not practice righteousness is not of God”, rather than “the one who practices righteousness is of God”. I guess that most of us is asked “do you practice righteousness” would give a very hesitant yes. Ie we are all too aware of the sin that remains, of our weaknesses and failings. In reading these verses we need to always keep in mind the background, John is reacting against a group that manifestly was not practising righteousness, indeed taught that one did not need to bother. Similar criticisms could perhaps be levelled against so-called “hyper-grace” teaching today, or at least some forms of it.