1 John 3:4-13

4: Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
5: You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
6: No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.
7: Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
8: the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
9: No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10: By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

11: For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
12: not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
13: Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

*** 

John pointed out the obvious way to distinguish between the righteous and the sinner--the children of God and those who aren't. One who practices sin is lawless and does not abide in the Lord. He doesn't know Him or see Him. One who doesn't practice righteousness or love his brother is a child of the devil. Again, like Jesus said, you will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20).

Yet the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is. He came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who are born of God have His seed in them and cannot continue to practice sin. Instead, we are to obey the message Jesus gave from the beginning--to love one another just as He loved us (John 15:12).

We're not to be as Cain who killed his brother Abel because his deeds were righteous, and Cain's were evil (Genesis 4:8). One who kills the righteous because they're righteous is of the devil. They can't stand to see the righteous one's deeds because it reveals their own unrighteousness. John said not to let anyone deceive you in this--the one who practices righteousness is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil.

Our faith is more than words with no actions to back them up. It's not that we earn our salvation through our righteous deeds, but that the Seed that has been planted in our heart will grow and develop into fruit which is obvious to all. God does not plant hybrid seed. His Seed remains true and pure, and as we remain true to it, our fruit will be genuine and will hold up under scrutiny. It may be that the world doesn't like it, but that shouldn't surprise us, just continue to remain faithful and true to the Seed planted within you.



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