1 John 3:2
1 John 3:3
1 John 3:4
1 John 3:5
1 John 3:6
1 John 3:7
1 John 3:8
1 John 3:9
1 John 3:10
1 John 3:11
1 John 3:12
1 John 3:13
1 John 3:14
1 John 3:15
1 John 3:16
1 John 3:17
1 John 3:18
1 John 3:19
1 John 3:20
1 John 3:21
1 John 3:22
1 John 3:23
1 John 3:24
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND HIS CHILDREN
Click chart to enlarge
Charts from Jensen's Survey of the NT - used by permission
Another Overview Chart - 1 John - Charles Swindoll
| BASIS OF FELLOWSHIP | BEHAVIOR OF FELLOWSHIP | ||||
| Conditions of Fellowship |
Cautions of Fellowship |
Fellowship Characteristics |
Fellowship Consequences |
||
| Meaning of Fellowship 1 Jn 1:1-2:27 |
Manifestations of Fellowship 1 Jn 2:28-5:21 |
||||
| Abiding in God's Light |
Abiding in God's Love |
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| Written in Ephesus | |||||
| circa 90 AD | |||||
| From Talk Thru the Bible | |||||
What is this? On the photograph of the Observation Worksheet for this chapter you will find handwritten 5W/H questions (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?) on each verse to help you either personally study or lead a discussion on this chapter. The questions are generally very simple and are stated in such a way as to stimulate you to observe the text to discern the answer. As a reminder, given the truth that your ultimate Teacher is the Holy Spirit, begin your time with God with prayer such as Psalm 119:12+ "Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes." (you can vary it with similar prayers - Ps 119:18, 26, 33, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, 135, 171, etc) The questions are generally highlighted in yellow and the answers in green. Some questions have no answers and are left to your observations and the illuminating/teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Some qualifying thoughts - (1) Use "As is" - these are handwritten and will include mistakes I made, etc. (2) They may not be the best question for a given verse and my guess is that on some verses you will think of a far superior 5W/H question and/or many other questions.
Dr Howard Hendricks once gave an assignment to his seminary students to list as many observations as they could from Acts 1:8. He said "So far they’ve come up with more than 600 different ones! Imagine what fun you could have with 600 observations on this passage. Would you like to see Scripture with eyes like that?" (P. 63 Living by the Book - borrow) With practice you can! And needless to say, you will likely make many more observations and related questions than I recorded on the pages below and in fact I pray that the Spirit would indeed lead you to discover a veritable treasure chest of observations and questions! In Jesus' Name. Amen
Why am I doing this? Mortimer Adler among others helped me develop a questioning mindset as I read, seeking to read actively rather than passively. Over the years I have discovered that as I have practiced reading with a 5W/H questioning mindset, it has yielded more accurate interpretation and the good fruit of meditation. In other words, consciously interacting with the inspired Holy Word of God and the illuminating Holy Spirit has honed my ability to meditate on the Scripture, and my prayer is that this tool will have the same impact in your spiritual life. The benefits of meditation are literally priceless in regard to their value in this life and in the life to come (cf discipline yourself for godliness in 1Ti 4:8+.) For some of the benefits - see Joshua 1:8+ and Psalm 1:2-3+. It will take diligence and mental effort to develop an "inductive" (especially an "observational"), interrogative mindset as you read God's Word, but it bears repeating that the benefits in this life and the rewards in the next will make it more than worth the effort you invest! Dear Christian reader let me encourage you to strongly consider learning the skills of inductive Bible study and spending the rest of your life practicing them on the Scriptures and living them out in your daily walk with Christ.
Although Mortimer Adler's advice is from a secular perspective, his words are worth pondering...
Strictly, all reading is active. What we call passive is simply less active. Reading is better or worse according as it is more or less active. And one reader is better than another in proportion as he is capable of a greater range of activity in reading. (Adler's classic book How to Read a Book is free online)
John Piper adds that "Insight or understanding is the product of intensive, headache-producing meditation on two or three verses and how they fit together. This kind of reflection and rumination is provoked by asking questions of the text. And you cannot do it if you hurry. Therefore, we must resist the deceptive urge to carve notches in our bibliographic gun. Take two hours to ask ten questions of Galatians 2:20+ and you will gain one hundred times the insight you would have attained by reading thirty pages of the New Testament or any other book. Slow down. Query. Ponder. Chew.... (John Dewey rightly said) "People only truly think when they are confronted with a problem. Without some kind of dilemma to stimulate thought, behavior becomes habitual rather than thoughtful.”
“Asking questions is the key to understanding.”
--Jonathan Edwards
That said, below are the 5W/H questions for each verse in this chapter (click page to enlarge). This is not neatly typed but is handwritten and was used for leading a class discussion on this chapter, so you are welcome to use it in this "as is" condition...
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1John 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous:
Greek - Teknia medeie planato (3SPAM) humas o poion (PAPMSN) ten dikaiosunen dikaios estin (3SPAI) kathos ekeinos dikaios estin (3SPAI) ;
KJV 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
BGT 1 John 3:7 Τεκνία, μηδεὶς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς· ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην δίκαιός ἐστιν, καθὼς ἐκεῖνος δίκαιός ἐστιν·
NET 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.
CSB 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
ESV 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
NIV 1 John 3:7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
NLT 1 John 3:7 Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
NRS 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
NJB 1 John 3:7 Children, do not let anyone lead you astray. Whoever acts uprightly is upright, just as he is upright.
NAB 1 John 3:7 Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
YLT 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who is doing the righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous,
MIT 1 John 3:7 Children, let no one deceive you. One who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
GWN 1 John 3:7 Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God's approval as Christ has God's approval.
BBE 1 John 3:7 My little children, let no man take you out of the true way: he who does righteousness is upright, even as he is upright;
RSV 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous.
NKJ 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
ASV 1 John 3:7 My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:
Wuest - Little born-ones, stop allowing anyone to be leading you astray. The one who habitually does righteousness is righteous, just as that One is righteous. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission)
- Make sure - 1Jn 2:26,29 Ro 2:13 1Co 6:9 Ga 6:7,8 Eph 5:6 Jas 1:22 2:19 5:1-3
- The one who practices - Ps 106:3 Eze 18:5-9 Mt 5:20 Lu 1:75 Ac 10:35 Ro 2:6-8,13 Ro 6:16-18 Eph 5:9 Php 1:11 1Pe 2:24
- Just as - 1Jn 3:3, 2:1 Ps 45:7 72:1-7 Heb 1:8 7:2 1Pe 1:15,16
- 1 John 3 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE!
Little children (teknion "my dear children"), make sure no one deceives (planao - present imperative with a negative) you - Little children is literally My "born ones", and designates a little child so is used by John with "fatherly firmness" to warn those who are true followers of Jesus. From John's repetitive use of teknion in this epistle, one might say it is an epistle for little children! But the subjects with which John deals are not "child's play," but have serious implications regarding one's spiritual life, now and in the life to come! Make sure no one deceives a command with a negative can imply that they were already being deceived. What is the deception? The false teaching that you can profess faith in Jesus and spend the remainder of your life living like the devil! This is a lie from the pit of hell and it will take those who fall for it to that dread destination! John is abundantly clear that "the one who practices righteousness is righteous." This is a mark of a true believer. Lenski says the idea is "Let no one engage in deceiving you, i.e., even try it!" "They would be led astray if they were to think that righteousness need not find its expression in righteous conduct such as they saw in the life of Jesus himself (1 John 2:6; 1 John 3:5)."
The test of a man’s real character must be what he does, not what he professes;
not what he boasts of, but what is really the manner of his life.
-- C H Spurgeon
Spurgeon on little children - Because you are little, you are apt to be deceived. There is a great blessedness in being little children, but there is also some danger connected with such a condition, so we must beware of those who would deceive us.
The tenderness of the address is called out
by the peril of the situation.
--B F Westcott
Hiebert explains that "The warning, “let no one deceive you” calls on them to be alert constantly to the danger from the false teachers, apparently those who had left their assemblies (1Jn 2:19) but were aggressively promulgating their false views. While the negative (me) with the present imperative generally calls for cessation of an action already in progress, John did not mean that his readers were already being deceived. He called on them to be alert against the danger. In 1Jn 2:26+ the warning was against doctrinal deception; here the warning is against moral deception. John well knew that “the false teachers with their sophistry were capable not merely of condoning sin, but of making it seem virtuous.” To avoid deception they needed to discern the moral identity of the individual. The criterion for a true believer is stated in the words, “the one who practices righteousness is righteous”. The test is not the believer’s performance of an occasional righteous deed, but rather his habitual practice of “righteousness,” literally, “the righteousness” which is the product of the new birth (cf. 1Jn 2:29+). The practice of righteousness does not make him righteous but reveals his inner nature. It is the test of Matthew 7:16+, “you will know them by their fruits.” It refutes any claim by the heretical teachers to be righteous because of their professed esoteric knowledge."
True followers of Christ do not recklessly and habitually
violate what their anointing (1Jn 2:20, 27) has planted within them
-- ESV Study Bible
Wuest - Smith comments: “An affectionate warning against Nicolaitan Antinomianism. The apostle cuts away vain pretences by a sharp principle: a righteous character expresses itself in righteous conduct. Christ (ekeinos = “that One”) is the type. He was ‘the Son of God,’ and if we are ‘children of God,’ we must be like Him.” (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission)
Deceives (4105)(planao from plane which describes "a wandering" > English "planet"; same verb is used in 1Jn 1:8+and 1Jn 2:26-+) means literally made to wander and so to go (active sense) or be led (passive sense as of sheep in Mt 18:12-13) astray. In spiritual terms, planao means to be made to err from the right way, the highway of truth and holiness. Straying in the spiritual sense occurs when one does not adhere to the truth (James 5:19) and/or forsakes the right way (see 2Peter 2:15+) Planao is in the present imperative which calls for continual vigilance, continual practice (to not be led astray), something that ultimately can only be accomplished as we rely on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and the clarifying Word of Truth. John is aware of the penchant for false teachers to lead the sheep astray and so counters their erroneous teaching with truth - the need for obedience, the need for love, and the need for a proper view of Christ. Truth always trumps a lie.
John Stott - The heretics appear to have indulged in the subtly perverse reasoning that somehow you could ‘be’ righteous without necessarily bothering to ‘practise’ righteousness. John roundly denies the possibility. (BORROW The Letters of John page 128)
The false teachers with their sophistry were capable
not merely of condoning sin, but of making it seem virtuous.
--F F Bruce
John Trapp has a pithy comment - Let no man deceive you] As if you might pass e cœno in cœlum; fly to heaven with dragon's wings; dance with the devil all day, and sup with Christ at night; live all your lives long in Delilah's lap, and then go to Abraham's bosom when you die. These are the devil's dirt-daubers that teach such doctrine, his upholsterers that sew such pillows, Ezek. 13:18.
Steven Cole - Whenever the Bible warns us not to be deceived, we need to perk up and pay attention. (ILLUSTRATION) Deception is like a fisherman’s bait: we think we’re going to get what we want (a juicy meal), but we end up getting hooked and becoming the meal! John plainly spells out the truth: “the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”John Stott observes (p. 124), “The heretics appear to have indulged in the subtly perverse reasoning that somehow you could ‘be’ righteous without necessarily bothering to ‘practise’ righteousness. John roundly denies the possibility.” The error that John here warns against is rampant in our day. (ED: THIS IS INTERESTING AS PASTOR COLE GRADUATED FROM A SEMINARY WHERE THIS ERROR WAS TAUGHT! AT LEAST HE DID NOT GET HOOKED!) In part, it is the fruit of those that teach that you may accept Christ as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord. Several years ago, I saw a tragic example of how this bad theology works out in people’s lives. We were in a motel (which is the only time I watch such TV shows) and there was a show about an up and coming actress. It clearly portrayed her as a sex symbol. Since then, I have seen her picture in sensual poses on many of the supermarket tabloids and the headlines have told about her marital breakup. But in spite of the overtly sensual portrayal in that program, the actress’ father assured the interviewer that she was a devout Christian! (1 John 3:4-10 The Believer and Sin)
A RIGHTEOUS LIFE BEARS THE
MARK OF THE RIGHTEOUS ONE
The one who practices (poieo - present tense as the general direction of his life) righteousness (dikaiosune) is righteous (dikaios), just as (kathos) He is (present tense - continuously) righteous (dikaios) - Practice does not make perfect but practice does proof one is the "real deal!" Or stated another way, righteous acts do not make one righteous, but do prove one is righteous before God, "being justified (declared righteous) as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." (Ro 3:24+). Just as (kathos) is a term of comparison. The of God Who Himself is perfect righteousness will naturally (actually supernaturally) practice righteousness. Just as Jesus walked, so too will His sons and daughters (cp 1Jn 2:6+, 1Pe 2:21+). Peter had a similar thought in his exhortation to the saints (1Pe 1:1+) exhorting them…
Like (cp just as) the Holy One who called you, be (aorist imperative) holy yourselves also in all [your] behavior; because (term of explanation) it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” (1Pe 1:15-16+). Comment: And so just as He is righteous, so too we should be righteous!
Doing is the test of Being.
--Robert Law
Practices righteousness (present tense = as the general direction of one's life) - As reflected in his good (God) works. Such a practice does not make one righteous but shows that one is "in" the Righteous One, in Christ Jesus, and His Spirit in in them giving them the desire and power (Php 2:13NLT+) to accomplish (supernatural) good works (one of the believer's purposes in Christ - Eph 2:10+, cf Titus 2:14+). John is saying in essence that if one is declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ (Ro 3:22+, cf Eph 2:8-9+), this root of righteousness will be seen by the fruit righteousness in our lives. Remember the present tense of practices is not speaking of perfection but of direction.
THOUGHT - This truth begs the question of us all -- "Do my daily thoughts, words and deeds reflect a life headed generally in the direction of righteousness or unrighteousness?"
"The grace that does not change my life
will not save my soul."
--Charles Spurgeon
Sam Storms - 1Jn 3:7 simply restates the basic idea of 1Jn 2:29+ with an added refutation of the claim of the false teachers that somehow you could "be" righteous without necessarily "practicing" righteousness. (Sermon Notes)
A righteous character expresses itself
in righteous conduct.
-- David Smith
Daniel Akin writes "John provides a counter-argument to such deception that is quite simple and to the point: "The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous." Deception is defeated by a righteous life that gives tangible, visible evidence that we have been born again through faith in Christ. We will live out who we are. It is inevitable. Now, doing what is right is not what enables us to be righteous, but again, it is proof that we are righteous, just as Jesus, in whom we now abide, is righteous. Christ is my righteousness positionally and experientially—determining what I am in the eyes of God and directing how I act here on earth. He is my redemption and my sanctification. Christ is my pattern (1Jn 2:6) and my power (1Jn 4:4) for righteous living. Galatians 2:19-20-+ provides a very helpful insight on this truth: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Do not be deceived into thinking you can practice sin and be righteous before God. That is a great, big, satanic lie!" (See Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John - Page 68)
Practices means to do something and in the present tense expresses an action that continues. To reiterate, John is not saying we are "made righteous" by our own righteous acts. When we were saved by grace through faith in Christ, we were justified at that point and declared positionally righteous. Righteous acts have no effect on our justification which is a once for all time event. However, now our righteous acts deeds (enabled by the Spirit) are the fruit of His righteous root! Practically one who practices righteousness does what is right, in relation to both God and man. Righteous acts initiated and carried out in our own fleshly energy and calculated to impress others, do not impress God! Righteousness before men to be noticed by them is self righteousness. Righteousness that God accepts is His character reproduced in and through us by His Holy Spirit for His good pleasure and His glory (Mt 5:16+). In sum, righteousness of God could be succinctly stated as all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves, all that He provides through Christ (Click Ray Pritchard's interesting analysis of righteousness in Matthew).
Works are
the fruits of grace.
Spurgeon on the one who practices righteousness - That is the sign of it. Works are the fruits of grace. “He is righteous,”- not in himself; for mark how graces come in here-”He is righteous, even as HE is righteous.” It will not allow our righteousness to be our own, but it brings us to Christ again. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous,” not according to his own works, but “even as HE is righteous.” Good works prove that; have perfect righteousness in Christ; they do not help the righteousness of Christ, nor yet in any way make me righteous. Good works are of no use whatever in the matter of justification: the only use they are, is, that they are for our comfort, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of God. “He that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil.”… He is practically righteous, he is truly righteous; but let no man talk about being righteous before God while he is willfully indulging in sin. This cannot be; thou must be divorced from sin, or thou canst not be married to Christ. The gospel demands and also creates holiness of character; and wherever it works effectively upon the heart and conscience, it produces purity in the life… You must judge a tree by its fruit; if it brings forth good fruit, it is a good tree, and if it brings forth evil fruit, it is an evil tree. Do not be deceived about that matter, for there have been some, who have dreamed of being righteous, and of being the children of God, yet they have lived in sin as others do. They have been self-deceived; it has been a mere dream on which they have relied. Practical godliness is absolutely needful to a true Christian character, and a man is not righteous unless he does that which is righteous. (Exposition of 1 John 3)
Conduct is the result of what a person is.
What one is, his conduct shows, and vice versa.
-- R C H Lenski
Henry Mahan - Do not be deceived by false prophets and wicked persons who preach that it does not matter how a person lives, provided he believes the gospel, or that knowledge of theology is sufficient without obedience to the lordship of Christ in conduct. This is not true. One cannot separate faith and conduct. As Christ our Lord showed himself to be a righteous man by doing good, obeying the Father and demonstrating love and compassion, so those who are united to him by faith, justified by his grace and regenerated by his spirit will seek to imitate their Lord. As a tree is know by its fruit, so a righteous man is known by his works. Good fruit does not make a tree good, but shows it to be good; so good works do not make us righteous (only Christ can do that), but show us to be so (James 2:14-20; James 2:26). (1 John 3 Commentary)
The individual’s conduct is certain evidence of his nature.
The one who practices righteousness does so
because he has been granted the righteousness of God
Daniel Akin comments on John's uses of the definite article ("the" = Greek "ten") - “the righteousness” (tēn dikaiosunēn) indicates that a particular righteousness is in view. It emphasizes the completeness and unity of this righteous quality. Obviously the reference is to that righteousness that is characteristic of Christ. It is a distinguishing trait of God’s family and is a product of regeneration. Notice that the practice of righteousness is not what makes the individual “righteous”(dikaios), but it reveals the inner nature of the one who is practicing righteousness. One practices righteousness because of his righteous character. “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Mt 7:16+). The individual’s conduct is certain evidence of his nature. The one who practices righteousness does so because he has been granted the righteousness of God… John warns against the deception of the false teachers, who claim to be righteous based on some avowed esoteric knowledge but whose lives are marked by continual sin. (Ed comment: Which is exactly what some so-called "evangelical" commentators of our day say -- they claim that a "professed" believer can live habitually in sin and still be saved! Do not be deceived! Instead be a Berean! See comment by Scofield below as an example of the necessity to always be a Berean. See The Unusual Teachings of Zane Hodges) (See 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition)
As an aside let me make a comment on C I Scofield's comment (Scofield's Study Notes) on 1Jn 3:7. Scofield wrote "Righteousness here, and in the passages having marginal references to this, means the righteous life which is the result of salvation through Christ. The righteous man under law became righteous by doing righteously; under grace he does righteously because he has been made righteous Rom 3:22."
THOUGHT - HERE IS MY QUESTION DEAR BEREAN -- Is what Scofield said true? Did a righteous man under law become righteous by doing righteously? Clearly this statement is erroneous, for the ONLY way a sinner ever became righteous is by grace through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Scofield's statement is clearly in opposition to Paul's statement that "by the works of the Law no (absolute negation) flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." This example is given only to remind the reader to always maintain a Berean mindset (Acts 17:11+), even in the notes that you are currently reading. Only God's Word is inerrant!
John MacArthur - The genuine believer’s habitual lifestyle of righteousness stands in sharp contrast to those false teachers who practiced sin (cf. 1Jn 3:4, 6). Since Christ died on the Cross to transform sinners, those truly born again have replaced the habit of sin with the habit of righteous living (Ro 6:13, 14+). (SEE MacArthur Study Bible OR here)
William MacDonald - There should be no confusion on this point—a man cannot have spiritual life and go on living in sin. On the other hand, a man can only practice righteousness through having the nature of Him Who is righteous ("just as He is righteous."). (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary)
Newness of life is
testified by good works
John Calvin - Here the apostle shows that newness of life is testified by good works. The likeness of which he has spoken (that is, between Christ and his members) appears only by the fruits they produce. It is like saying, 'Since it behooves us to be conformed to Christ, the truth and evidence of this must appear in our life.' Many people would gladly persuade themselves that they have this righteousness buried in their hearts, while iniquity evidently occupies their feet and hands and tongue and eyes.
Steven Cole notes that "There should be a period at the end of verse 7, because verse 8 is parallel to verse 4. It begins the second section.
Related Resources:
- What does it mean to pursue righteousness?
- What is righteousness?
- Why does Christ's righteousness need to be imputed to us?
- Torrey Topical Textbook Righteousness of God, the Righteousness Imputed Righteousness
- American Tract Society Righteousness
- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Righteousness
- Baker Evangelical Dictionary Righteousness
- Charles Buck Dictionary Righteousness
- Easton's Bible Dictionary Righteousness
- Holman Bible Dictionary Righteousness
- Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Righteousness
- Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Righteousness Righteous, Righteousness
- Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary Righteousness
- Vines' Expository Dictionary Righteousness
- Watson's Theological Dictionary Imputed Righteousness Righteousness
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Righteousness
- McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Righteousness
- The Jewish Encyclopedia Crowns of the Righteous Right and Righteousness
Little children (5040)(teknion diminutive of teknon) is literally My "born ones", the diminutive expresses affection ("my dear children"). Teknion is used by John to address true followers of Jesus. From John's repetitive use of teknion in this epistle, one might say it is an epistle for little children! Clearly the subjects with which John deals are not "child's play," but have serious implications regarding one's spiritual life, now and in eternity future! Teknion is John's way of lovingly appealing to his readers as a spiritual father would do as he sought to encourage his children to give an authentic expression of the love of God.
Harris on little children - It indicates the warmth of affection the author feels for the recipients of the letter—he is genuinely concerned for their spiritual welfare. (Exegetical Commentary on 1 John 3:11-24)
Little children (8x only by John - John 13:33; 1Jn 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) - John is fondly addressing the believers as a father would his children.
Deceives (leads astray, misleads) (4105)(planao) from plane which describes "a wandering" and gives us our English word "planet") means literally made to wander and so to go (active sense) or be led (passive sense as of sheep in Mt 18:12-13) astray. Note that John is not saying the readers have already fallen prey to these predators. The purpose of these things written to the readers is to buttress them with Truth, the Word of God, always the best antidote for counterfeits. Remember Paul's clear warning - "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Gal 6:7-8+) Deceive in 1Jn 2:26 is present tense indicating this is the continual goal of these men, and the active voice indicates they are consciously choosing to mislead the readers of this letter. In John 7:12 some of the unbelieving Jews actually accused Jesus of leading "the multitude astray (planao)!" Woe! It will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment then it will be for these souls! (Mt 11:23-24+)
Planao - 39x in 37v - Matt. 18:12; Matt. 18:13; Matt. 22:29; Matt. 24:4; Matt. 24:5; Matt. 24:11; Matt. 24:24; Mk. 12:24; Mk. 12:27; Mk. 13:5; Mk. 13:6; Lk. 21:8; Jn. 7:12; Jn. 7:47; 1 Co. 6:9; 1 Co. 15:33; Gal. 6:7; 2 Tim. 3:13; Tit. 3:3; Heb. 3:10; Heb. 5:2; Heb. 11:38; Jas. 1:16; Jas. 5:19; 1 Pet. 2:25; 2 Pet. 2:15; 1 Jn. 1:8; 1 Jn. 2:26; 1 Jn. 3:7; Rev. 2:20; Rev. 12:9; Rev. 13:14; Rev. 18:23; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:3; Rev. 20:8; Rev. 20:10
Righteousness (1343)(dikaiosune from dikaios = being proper or right in the sense of being fully justified being or in accordance with what God requires) is the quality of being upright. In its simplest sense dikaiosune conveys the idea of conformity to a standard or norm and in Biblical terms the "standard" is God and His perfect, holy character. In this sense righteousness is the opposite of hamartia (sin), which is defined as missing of the mark set by God. Dikaiosune is rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men. Righteousness of God could be succinctly stated as all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves, all that He provides through Christ (Click here to read Pastor Ray Pritchard's interesting analysis of righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew).
In Biblical terms righteousness is that which is determined not by man or external standards but only by God and as such is that which is acceptable to God and in keeping with what God is in His holy character.
Righteousness is in general use represents conformity to a standard, Thayer adds that righteousness is "the state of him who is such as he ought to be".
Righteousness in simple terms is God’s uprightness or standard, without reference to any particular form of its embodiment, to which man is expected to conform.
Practically righteousness means to do what is right, in relation to both God and man. Righteousness is attitude and action which conforms to a standard and can be either man's imperfect standard (as exemplified by the self-righteous Pharisees) or God's standard of perfect holiness. Righteous acts initiated and carried out in our own fleshly energy and calculated to impress others, do not impress God! Righteousness before men to be noticed by them is self righteousness. Righteousness that God accepts is His character reproduced in and through us for His good pleasure.
Jesus Thy Blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head. (Play)
DIKAIOSUNE USES BY JOHN - Jn. 16:8; Jn. 16:10; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 3:7; 1 Jn. 3:10; Rev. 19:11; Rev. 22:11
Righteous (1342) dikaios from dike = right, just) defines that which is in accordance with high standards of rectitude. It is that which is in right relation to another and so in reference to persons defines the one who is morally and ethically righteous, upright or just. Dikaios pertains to to being in accordance with high standards of rectitude, and so describes one who is upright or fair. The meaning of the root word dike is based on the assumption that men expect a certain standard of behavior and if this is not attained judgment may result. It follows that the basic meaning of the adjective dikaios describes that which is proper, right, fitting, fair, righteous, just (acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good). From a forensic or legal viewpoint dikaios refers to one who is law-abiding (doing all that law or justice requires), honest and good in behavior and from a religious viewpoint one who is rightly related to God. Those who are truly righteous have God’s verdict in their favor; they are acquitted and pronounced just. In simple terms this trait describes being in accordance with what God requires. The righteous man does what he ought. He is the person who conforms to the standard, will or character of God. For example, Luke describes Zacharias and Elizabeth (John the Baptist's parents) as "both righteous (dikaios) in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. (Lk 1:6+, see Luke 2:25+ "Simeon… was righteous") They were rightly related to God and because of that right relationship, they walked accordingly. Again we see righteous character is associated with righteous conduct. That's what Paul is calling for in those men who would lead God's church.
Ligon Duncan - In 1Jn 3:7-9 John is saying, ‘You do what you are. Your deeds reveal your heart. Your actions reveal your character. It’s the same thing that Jesus said to His disciples in the presence of the Pharisees in Matthew 15:11, 18. Do you remember when the Pharisees were arguing about the disciples’ obedience of the ceremonial law? They were questioning issues about unclean food and various other ceremonial observances, and in Matthew 15:11, Jesus says to His disciples, “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; it’s what comes out of your mouth that defiles you.” Now, later on, He explains that in verse 18. He says, ‘What comes out of the mouth has come out of the heart.’ In other words, in this case the things that a person says are a reflection of what is already in the heart, and that is what makes you unclean. Jesus is saying that our actions are a public display of what we are like on the inside. And so, He says, you do what you are. And John is saying the same thing, “The one who practices righteousness is righteous.” John is not saying that we are saved by being righteous. He’s not saying, ‘If you practice righteousness, God will accept you as righteous.’ He’s not saying that ‘if you practice righteousness, you will be saved.’ Nor is he saying, ‘You must both believe and practice righteousness, and then you will be saved.’ No, what he is saying is this: if God has done a work of grace in your heart, if you have truly believed on Christ alone for salvation as He is offered in the gospel, if by faith alone you have rested in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins—then this is the way you will live. The evidence of God’s grace working in your heart will be seen in your life. Your righteousness wrought by the Holy Spirit will be evidenced in what you do, in how you talk, in how you live. “The one who practices righteousness is righteous.” So it’s not that God will accept us as righteous as long as we make ourselves to be righteous, nor that God will accept us as righteous if we will both believe and do works, but that when we believe on Christ and are accepted by God, declared right because of what Christ has done, then it ushers forth into a life of righteousness.’ (1 John 2:29 - 3:10 The Test of Righteousness)
Oswald Chambers -Signs of the New Birth
You must be born again. — John 3:7
How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. . . . Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’” (John 3:4–5). When someone dies to every self-righteous impulse, to their religion and their virtues and everything they’ve been leaning on apart from Jesus Christ, then they may be born of the Spirit and receive into themselves a life that was never there before. This new life manifests itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness.
“To all who did receive him . . . he gave the right to become children of God” (1:12). Is my knowledge of Jesus based on personal spiritual perception or on what I’ve heard others say? Do I have something in my life that connects me to Jesus Christ as my savior? The bedrock of any spiritual history must be personal knowledge. To be born again means that I see Jesus with my own eyes.
“No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (3:3). The new birth brings with it a new power of vision that enables me to discern God’s rule. Am I discerning it? Or am I merely hunting for miraculous signs of his kingdom? When I am born again, I see that his rule was there all along.
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin” (1 John 3:9). Have I stopped sinning, or am I merely trying to stop sinning? To be born of God means that I have received from him the supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” It says emphatically that no one born of God will continue to sin. The effect of the new birth in us isn’t simply that we receive the power to stop sinning; it’s that we actually stop sinning. First John 3:9 doesn’t mean that we can’t sin; it means that if we obey the life of God in us, we needn’t sin. (See My Utmost for His Highest)
Plumer - Whatever does not lead to a holy life is worthless in the sight of God. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. All religious profession which ends in mere show, is at the best Pharisaism dressed up in evangelical attire—the heart remains unchanged. All pretenses to piety which do not lead to a godly life—are utterly vain. Men people do not obey God—because they do not love God.
There is no folly greater than double-dealing with God. "A hypocrite is hated by the world for pretending to be a Christian; and hated of God for not being one."
Daily Light on the Daily Path - “You will recognize them by their fruits.”
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.—Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.—Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.”—“The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”—What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
Matt. 7:20; 1 John 3:7; James 3:11–13; 1 Pet. 2:12; Matt. 12:33; Matt. 12:35; Isa. 5:4
Johnny Hunt - Lord, I thank You for a new week and a new day. As I begin, I pray that You will speak to my heart in new ways. Reveal to me the areas of my life that are out of sync with You. Give me the courage to be quiet and listen, and then to obey what You reveal to me. I know there are areas of my life that need a course correction. Change me, oh God, from the inside out. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.1 JOHN 3:7
Have you ever been deceived? Have you ever discovered that you didn’t have all the facts in a situation or that you were missing the big-picture perspective?
The word deceive means “to lead astray or to seduce.” We can deceive ourselves by entertaining fantasies, ignoring truth, or bypassing common sense. We can also be deceived by others—people who flatter us or twist words to their own advantage. Either way, deception leads to betrayal and hurt. The road to healing and wholeness is often a long road.
So how do we protect ourselves from deceit? The Bible tells us to pursue righteousness. A righteous person is one who conforms to the character of God. By pursuing Christ and emulating His character, we become righteous. He is the standard. We are the students. This pursuit of Christ and His standard for truth builds safeguards against deception. As you begin this week, consider this: are you actively pursuing Christ and His righteousness and truth? What are the characteristics of Christ that need to be emulated in your life?
EVENING
Lord, I want to live in a right relationship with You. Open my eyes to see the areas of my life where I have deceived myself. Open my eyes to see the conversations, relationships, and practices in which I have been deceived. Help me to respond to truth with obedience. Give me the strength to forgive others because You have forgiven me. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and live in complete surrender to Your will and Your way. I long to be like You in both my thoughts and my actions. Amen.
Marks/Tests of a true Christian, from 1 John
1 John 5:13 THESE THINGS I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
THESE THINGS: This phrase has reference to all that John has written in his letter. (The MacArthur Bible Commentary)
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
The popular idea of the Apostle John is strangely unlike the real man. He is supposed to be the gentle Apostle of Love, the mystic amongst the Twelve. He is that, but he was the 'son of thunder' before he was the Apostle of Love, and he did not drop the first character when he attained the second. No doubt his central thought was, 'God is Love'; no doubt that thought had refined and assimilated his character, but the love which he believed and the love which he exercised were neither of them facile feebleness, but strong and radiant with an awful purity. None of the New Testament writers proclaims a more austere morality than does John. And just because he loved the Love and the Light, he hated and loathed the darkness. He can thunder and lighten when needful, and he shows us that the true divine love in a man recoils from its opposite as passionately as it cleaves to God and good.
Again, John is, par excellence, the mystic of the New Testament, always insisting on the direct communion which every soul may have with God, which is the essence of wholesome mysticism. Now that type of thinking has often in its raptures forgotten plain, pedestrian morality; but John never commits that error. He never soars so high as to lose sight of the flat earth below; and whilst he is always inviting us and enjoining us to dwell in God and abide in Christ, with equal persistence and force he is preaching to us the plainest duties of elementary morality.
He illustrates this moral earnestness in my text. The 'little children' for whom he was so affectionately solicitous were in danger, either from teachers or from the tendencies native in us all, to substitute something else for plain, righteous conduct; and the Apostle lovingly appeals to them with his urgent declaration, that the only thing which shows a man to be righteous -- that is to say, a disciple of Christ -- is his daily life, in conformity with Christ's commands. The errors of these ancient Asiatics live to-day in new forms, but still substantially the same. And they are as hard to kill amongst English Nonconformists like us as they were amongst Asiatic Christians nineteen centuries ago.
I. So let me try just to insist, first of all, on that thought that doing righteousness is the one test of being a Christian.
Now that word 'righteousness' is a theological word, and by much usage the lettering has got to be all but obliterated upon it; and it is worn smooth like sixpences that go from pocket to pocket. Therefore I want, before I go further, to make this one distinct point, that the New Testament righteousness is no theological, cloistered, peculiar kind of excellence, but embraces within its scope, 'whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are fair, whatsoever things are of good report'; all that the world calls virtue, all which the world has combined to praise. There are countries on the earth which are known by different names to their inhabitants and to foreigners. The 'righteousness' of the New Testament, though it embraces a great deal more, includes within its map all the territories which belong to morality or to virtue. The three words cover the same ground, though one of them covers more than the other two. The New Testament 'righteousness' differs from the moralist's morality, or the world's virtue, in its scope, inasmuch as it includes our relations to God as well as to men; it differs in its perspective, inasmuch as it exalts some types of excellence that the world pooh-poohs, and pulls down some that the world hallelujahs and adulates; it strips the fine feathers of approving words off some vices which masquerade as virtues. It casts round the notion of duty, of morality, of virtue, a halo, and it touches it with emotion. Christianity does with the dictates of the natural conscience what we might figure as being the leading out of some captive virgin in white, from the darkness into the sunshine, and the turning of her face up to heaven, which illuminates it with a new splendour, and invests her with a new attractiveness. But all that any man rightly includes in his notion of the things that are 'of good report' is included in this theological word, righteousness, which to some of you seems so wrapped in mists, and so far away from daily life.
I freely confess that in very many instances the morality of the moralist has outshone the righteousness of the Christian. Yes! and I have seen canoe-paddles carved by South Sea Islanders with no better tools than an oyster-shell and a sharp fish-bone, which in the minuteness and delicacy of their work, as well as in the truth and taste of their pattern, might put to shame the work of carvers with better tools. But that is not the fault of the tools; it is the fault of the carvers. And so, whilst we acknowledge that Christian people have but poorly represented to the world what Christ and Christ's apostles meant by righteousness, I reiterate that the righteousness of the gospel is the morality of the world plus a great deal more.
That being understood, let me remind you of two or three ways in which this great truth of the text is obscured to us, and in some respects contradicted, in the practice of many professing Christians. First, let me say my text insists upon this, that the conduct, not the creed, makes the Christian. There is a continual tendency on our part, as there was with these believers in Asia Minor long ago, to substitute the mere acceptance, especially the orthodox acceptance, of certain great fundamental Christian truths for Christianity. A man may believe thirty-nine or thirty-nine thousand Articles without the smallest intellectual drawback, and not be one whit nearer being a Christian than if he did not believe one of them. For faith, which is the thing that makes a man a Christian to begin with, is not assent, but trust. And there is a whole gulf, wide enough to drown a world in, between the two attitudes of mind. On the one side of the gulf is salvation, on the other side of the gulf there may be loss. Of course, I know that it is hard, though I do not believe it is impossible, to erect the structure of a saving faith on a very, very imperfect intellectual apprehension of Scripture truth. That has nothing to do with my present point. What I am saying is that, unless you erect that structure of a faith which is an act of your will and of your whole nature, and not the mere assent of your understanding, upon your belief, your belief is impotent, and is of no use at all, and you might as well not have it.
What is the office of our creed in regard to our conduct? To give us principles, to give us motives, to give us guidance, to give us weapons. If it does these things then it does its work. If it lies in our heads a mere acceptance of certain propositions, it is just as useless and as dead as the withered seeds that rattle inside a dried poppy-head in the autumn winds. You are meant to begin with accepting truth, and then you are meant to take that truth as being a power in your lives that shall shape your conduct. To know, and there an end, is enough in matters of mere science, but in matters of religion and in matters of morality or righteousness knowing is only the first step in the process, and we are made to know in order that, knowing, we may do.
But some professing Christians seem to have their natures built, like ocean-going steamers, with water-tight compartments, on the one side of which they keep their creed, and there is no kind of communication between that and the other side where their conduct is originated. 'Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous.'
Again, my text suggests conduct and not emotion.
Now there is a type of Christian life which is more attractive in appearance than that of the hard, fossilised, orthodox believer -- viz., the warmly emotional and fervent Christian. But that type, all experience shows, has a pit dug close beside it into which it is apt to fall. For there is a strange connection between emotional Christianity and a want of straightforwardness in daily business life, and of self-control and government of the appetites and the senses. That has been sadly shown, over and again, and if we had time one could easily point to the reasons in human nature, and its strange contexture, why it should be so. Now I am not disparaging emotion -- God forbid -- for I believe that to a very large extent the peculiarity of Christian teaching is just this, that it does bring emotion to bear upon the hard grind of daily duty. But for all that, I am bound to say that this is a danger which, in this day, by reason of certain tendencies in our popular Christianity, is a very real one, and that you will find people gushing in religious enthusiasm, and then going away to live very questionable, and sometimes very mean, and sometimes even very gross and sensual lives. The emotion is meant to spring from the creed, and it is meant to be the middle term between the creed and the conduct. Why, we have learnt to harness electricity to our tramcars, and to make it run our messages, and light our homes, and that is like what we have to do with the emotion without which a man's Christianity will be a poor, scraggy thing. It is a good servant; it is a bad master. You do not show yourselves to be Christians because you gush. You do not show yourselves to be Christians because you can talk fervidly and feel deeply. Raptures are all very well, but what we want is the grind of daily righteousness, and doing little things because of the fear and the love of the Lord.
May I say again, my text suggests conduct, and not verbal worship. You and I, in our adherence to a simpler, less ornate and aesthetic form of devotion than prevails in the great Episcopal churches, are by no means free from the danger which, in a more acute form, besets them, of substituting participation in external acts of worship for daily righteousness of life Laborare est orare -- to work is to pray. That is true with explanations, commentaries, and limitations. But I wonder how many people there are who sing hymns which breathe aspirations and wishes that their whole daily life contradicts. And I wonder how many of us there are who seem to be joining in prayers that we never expect to have answered, and would be very much astonished if the answers came, and should not know what to do with if they did come. We live in one line, and worship in exactly the opposite. Brethren, creed is necessary; emotion is necessary; worship is necessary! But that on which these three all converge, and for which they are, is daily life, plain, practical righteousness.
II. Now let me say, secondly, that being righteous is the way to do righteousness.
One of the great characteristics of New Testament teaching of morality, or rather let me say of Christ's teaching of morality, is that it shifts, if I may so put it, the centre of gravity from acts to being, that instead of repeating the parrot-cry, 'Do, do, do' or 'Do not, do not, do not,' it says, 'Be, and the doing will take care of itself. Be; do not trouble so much about outward acts, look after the inward nature.' Character makes conduct, though, of course, conduct reacts upon character. 'As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,' and the way to set actions right is to set the heart right.
Some of us are trying to purify the stream by putting in disinfectants half-way down, instead of going up to the source and dealing with the fountain. And the weakness of all the ordinary, commonplace morality of the world is that it puts its stress upon the deeds, and leaves comparatively uncared for the condition of the person, the inward self, from whom the deeds come. And so it is all superficial, and of small account.
If that be so, then we are met by this experience: that when we honestly try to make the tree good that its fruit may be good we come full front up to this, that there is a streak in us, a stain, a twist -- call it anything you like -- like a black vein through a piece of Parian marble, or a scratch upon a mirror, which streak or twist baffles our effort to make ourselves righteous. I am not going, if I can help it, to exaggerate the facts of the case. The Christian teaching of what is unfortunately called total depravity is not that there is no good in anybody, but that there is a diffused evil in everybody which affects in different degrees and in different ways all a man's nature. And that is no mere doctrine of the New Testament, but it is a transcript from the experience of every one of us.
What then? If I must be righteous in order that I may do righteousness, and if, as I have found out by experience (for the only way to know myself is to reflect upon what I have done) -- if I have found out that I am not righteous, what then? You may say to me, 'Have you led me into a blind alley, out of which I cannot get? Here you are, insisting on an imperative necessity, and in the same breath saying that it is impossible. What is left for me?' I go on to tell you what is left.
III. Union with Jesus Christ by faith makes us 'righteous even as He is righteous.'
There is the pledge, there is the prophecy, there is the pattern; and there is the power to redeem the pledge, to fulfil the prophecy, to make the pattern copyable and copied by every one of us. Brethren, this is the very heart of John's teaching, that if we will, not by the mere assent of our intellect, but by the casting of ourselves on Jesus Christ, trust in Him, there comes about a union between us and Him so real, so deep, so vital, so energetic, that by the touch of His life we live, and by His righteousness breathed into us, we, too, may become righteous. The great vessel and the tiny pot by its side may have a connecting pipe, and from the great one there shall flow over into the little one as much as will fill it brim full. In Him we too may be righteous.
My friend, there are men and women who are ready to set to their seals that that is true, and who can say, 'I have found it so. By union with Jesus Christ in faith, I have received new tastes, new inclinations, a new set to my whole life, and I have been able to overcome unrighteousnesses which were too many and too mighty for myself.' It is so; and some of us to our own consciences and consciousness are witnesses to it, however imperfectly. God forgive us! We may have manifested the renewing power of union with Christ in our daily lives.
'Even as He is righteous' -- the water in the great vessel and the little one are the same, but the vase is not the cistern. The beam comes from the sun, but the beam is not the sun. 'Even as' does not mean equality, but it does mean similarity. Christ is righteous, eternally, essentially, completely; we may be 'even as He is' derivatively, partially, and if we put our trust in Him we shall be so, and that growingly through our daily lives. And then, after earth is done with, 'we know that, when He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.'
May we each, dear brethren, 'be found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.'
I. DOCTRINAL TESTS
1. Scriptural views of SIN
Confesses sin.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2. Scriptural views of JESUS
Believes Jesus is man.
1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God
Believes Jesus is God.
1 John 4:15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
Believes Jesus is the Messiah.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God
II. ETHICAL/MORAL TESTS
1. Obeys God
Obeys/Keeps God's commands.
1 John 2:3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.
Does God's will.
1 John 2:17 the one who does the will of God lives forever.
2. Lives a righteous life (a life of holiness)
Walks in the light.
1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Walks as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.
Practices righteousness.
1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.
1 John 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous
Purifies himself.
1 John 3:3 And every one who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Does not practice sin.
1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him
1 John 5:18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin
3. Loves the brethren
Loves the brethren.
1 John 2:10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:12 if we love one another, God abides in us
Meets his brother's needs.
1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Loves with actions and truth.
1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
4. Does not love the world
Does not love the world.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Overcomes the world.
1 John 5:4 every one born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5. Perseveres
Remains with us.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Overcomes false teachers/teaching.
1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Listens to God's people.
1 John 4:6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
6. Has the Holy Spirit
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
1 John 3:24 And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
1 John 3:24 And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
I. DOCTRINAL TESTS
1. Unscriptural views of SIN
Claims to be without sin.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
2. Unscriptural views of JESUS
Denies that Jesus is the Messiah.
1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
Denies Jesus.
1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Does not believe testimony about Jesus.
1 John 4:3 every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God
1 John 5:10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
II. ETHICAL/MORAL TESTS
1. Does not obey God
Does not do what Jesus commands.
1 John 2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
2. Lives a sinful life.
Walks in the darkness.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth
Practices sin.
1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.
1 John 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil
Does not practice righteousness.
1 John 3:10 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.
3. Does not love the brethren
Hates the brethren.
1 John 2:9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.
1 John 2:11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
Does not love the brethren.
1 John 3:10 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.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Shows no mercy to needy brethren.
1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
4. Loves the world
Loves the world.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Has worldly values.
1 John 4:5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
5. Does not persevere
Abandons the brethren.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Does not listen to God's people.
1 John 4:6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.
6. Does not have the Holy Spirit
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
1 John 3:24 And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
1 John 3:24 And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us