1 John 3:7

Little children From the point of view of the present section, viz. the Divine parentage, the Apostle again warns his readers against the ruinous doctrine that religion and conduct can be separated, that to the spiritual man all conduct is alike. The renewed address, -Little children", adds solemnity and tenderness to the warning.

let no man deceive you Better, as R. V., let no man lead you astray: see on 1 John 1:8. The word implies seduction into error of a grave kind.

he that doeth righteousness As in 1 John 3:6, we have the present participle; he who habituallydoes righteousness, not merely one who does a righteous act. If faith without works is dead (James 2:17; James 2:20), much more is knowledge without works dead. There is only one way of proving our enlightenment, of proving our parentage from Him who is Light; and that is by doingthe righteousness which is characteristic of Him and His Son. This is the sure test, the test which Gnostic self-exaltation pretended to despise. Anyone can say that he possesses a superior knowledge of Divine truth; but does he act accordingly? Does he do divine things?

even as he is righteous As in 1 John 3:3, we are in doubt whether -He" means the Father or Christ. It is the same pronoun (ἐκεῖνος) as in 1 John 3:3, but there is not here any abrupt changeof pronoun. Here also it seems better to interpret -He" as Christ (1 John 2:2), rather than God (1 John 1:9).