Please see 1st John 3:7-10 directly below.
1st John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
1st John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
1st John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1st John 3:10 n 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.
This phrase "Little children" is a favorite of John's. It expresses his pastoral care and sense of belonging together in the family of God and the new life that God had given to those he was writing to.
John asks them to not allow anyone to deceive them ( 3:7 ) And, then clarifies for them what was apparently being put on them, that was deceptive. Here's what he said. "he who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous" There is a similarity in God's children to the Lord Himself. A family resemblance as one commentator said. God's children look like Him in the way that they live
Apparently, there was a false teaching going around that stated one could be considered right with God, even though their life was not right in terms of how they lived. But, John states otherwise here.
Then, to further clarify what the truth is, he says, " He who sins is of the devil" In other words, the person who is practicing, or living a consistently un-righteous life, and is sinning as a habit, that person is not of God, but rather is of the devil.
And, concerning the devil John says, "for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil" And, the person who has been born of God does not sin, ( as a rule, as a habit, as a way of life etc, they do not practice sin as it were ) They will sin, but, that's not what characterizes their life and lifestyle. The reason God's children don't practice sin, is because they are born of Him.
They do not sin as a way of life, because, God's seed remains in them. They can't sin, because they have been born of God. So, if a person has truly been born of God, or born again, saved, changed by God, through faith in Jesus Christ, then they have a new life, and it's not one of sin, but rather one of "not sinning"
Again, not perfection but, general tenor, the way they are most of the time, what characterizes them, the kind of life they live, etc, etc.
He sums up this thought in 3:10. This is how you can see if someone is of God or of the devil. The person who has been born of God, practices righteousness, is of God. The person who does not practice righteousness is not born of God, and then John add, nor he who does not love his brother.
So, these two characteristic's ......practicing righteousness, and loving your brother are 2 marks of the christian.
John has more to say along this line.......we will try and deal with the rest of the chapter in the next few days.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
