8 The one who commits 3:8 Or practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God 3:8 Mk 1:11 was revealed 3:8 Jn 21:1; 2Co 4:11; 1Pt 5:4; 1Jn 5:20 for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God 3:9 1Jn 2:29 does not sin, 3:9 Or not practice sin because his seed 3:9 1Pt 1:23 remains in him; he is not able to sin, 3:9 Or to keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister. 3:10 1Jn 2:10; 3:14–17; 4:20–21
Love in Action
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, 12 unlike Cain, 3:12 Gn 4:1; Jd 11 who was of the evil one 3:12 2Th 3:3 and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.