Have you heard someone say “The apple doesn’t fall far away from the tree”, as in we tend to show the behaviour of where we are from, our tree. John is saying just that here. He continues to provide distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil. This is not for God to come into a realization of who the true believers are, but for us, so that we will not fall into the traps of deceptive leaders, and so that we can examine ourselves.
In our earlier blog, we discussed how Christ’s manifestation was intended to destroy the works of the devil. These works include the dominion of sin over humanity, and through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, our “body of sin” has been crucified (Romans 6:6), ensuring that sin no longer has power over us.
Righteousness Shows
This is a truth that is inside us. How do others know? Well, it shows. John declares in 1 John 3:10-12:
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.
John’s explanation is simple. He says whoever doesn’t practice righteousness is not of God. The word translated as “practice” here is the Greek ποιέω (poieō), which means “to do” or “to create.” This means a righteous person always produces righteousness and an unrighteous person produces unrighteousness. This is why Jesus said on the cross Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. How many times have we gone on rants about the unrighteous not realizing that they are incapable of doing anything but unrighteous. During the Olympics opening ceremony in 2024, there were so much of hoopla over the opening ceremony. The real question isn’t why they do it, but rather why are we so attached to it?
Producers of Righteousness
Christ’s victory over sin empowers us to resist live and produce righteousness. Sin is below us, and does not have any dominion over us. Paul reminds us in Romans 6:14:
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
In Gal 5, it says fruit of the Spirit, as opposed to works of the flesh. A fruit is something that is a natural occurrence of the being. For instance, we don’t see an apple tree moaning and struggling to produce a fruit. Rather, it just produces it, and thus we are just to produce it.
Flesh Can Creep in
Yes, Christ destroyed the works of the devil, but the devil still uses the old mindsets to deceive us to live according to the flesh. But, believers must actively choose to reject sin. Though the power of sin has been broken, old mindsets—called the “flesh”—can still lead us to sin if we let them. Gossip, slander, envy, or even unbelief are examples of living according to the flesh. John is not saying that believers don’t fall into sin by living according to the flesh, because he already discussed the potential sin of believers in 1 John 1:10. He is not saying that if our external actions are not perfect always, then we are not children of God, but rather he points a key way to identify a child of God as opposed to the child of the devil- love.
The Evidence of Love
John emphasizes a critical hallmark of a child of God: love. He writes in 1 John 3:11:
“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
Love is more than an action; it originates from the heart. 1 Corinthians 13 describes love’s attributes: patience, kindness, and selflessness. While anyone can perform loving actions through discipline, true love—agapē love—flows naturally from a heart transformed by God. As Paul writes in Philippians 3:9:
“…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
This love is evidence of the new nature imparted to us through the Holy Spirit. It is the most rudimentary fruit of the believer, the evidence that Christ is in them, because He is love. John’s point is clear- even when we struggle with feelings of frustration or annoyance toward others, there is always an innate love within a believer; maybe never expressed, but it is there.
The Contrast with the Children of the Devil
In stark contrast, the children of the devil generate hate, a self-serving and political form of love that lacks the selflessness of agapē love. Their “love” is transactional, based on what benefits them. John’s teaching challenges us to examine our lives: Are we marked by genuine love and righteousness, or by hate and selfishness?
Let us walk in this freedom, living righteously by faith and loving others as Christ has loved us. These fruits of the Spirit not only testify to our identity as children of God but also glorify our Father in heaven.
After all, the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
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