Either a Child of God or the Devil; Your Fruit Will Reveal It

Either a Child of God or the Devil; Your Fruit Will Reveal It Big Picture: This section of scripture has one major theme running through it again and again the revelation of Jesus in history past and in the future. John says that Jesus came in order to destroy the work that the Devil had created in this world and that when he comes back again, we will have confidence to stand before him since we are sons of God. Like many of the other passages, John focuses a lot on sin and righteousness. Notice how often purity and righteousness are mentioned, as well as sin and lawlessness. Finally, there is a lot of father/son terminology used in this passage to describe our relationship with God. Notice how it shows the care and concern that God has for us. Instructions: Read 1 John 2:28-3:10 2:28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back. 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him. 3:1 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God s children and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. 3:2 Dear friends, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3:3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure). 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. 3:5 And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 3:6 Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. 3:8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. 3:9 Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness the one who does not love his fellow Christian is not of God. Verse by Verse Commentary with 2:28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back. 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him. Again John urges his readers to continue to remain in Jesus, but now he gives yet another reason we should do so: so that when Jesus return to earth, we will have confidence. It is an 1 P a g e

interesting picture of Jesus returning that some shrink away from him in shame and others run to him in joy. When you think about Jesus return, we will be able to run to him and have confidence in that because we have kept our relationship strong. The word for Jesus return is parousia. This word has a lot of meaning and is only used once in John s writings (much more in Paul 1 Cor. 15:12; 1 Thess. 2:19, 3:13, 2 Thess. 2:1, etc.) The word was used to describe a visit of a ruler to some part of his kingdom and was a celebration and rejoicing. In a day of TV and the internet we see our rulers all the time, but still if the President of the US or the Queen of England were to turn out for a visit in Lafayette, IN, there would be a lot of celebrating and planning that would go into that event. People would be taking off of work and trying to get a glimpse of the leader. That is the idea that John is giving his readers when he talks about Jesus return. A time when he would come back and there would be great celebration and rejoicing. When the great king returns and visits his people (parousia), those that have been functioning in a way that is not consistent with his rule will have much to fear. But those who have been living the way the King has called them to will not. Furthermore, those who are children of the great king and have been living the way he has called them to will have even greater reason to rejoice. Think back to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. Those who had done well with what was entrusted had great reason to look forward to the king s return. An interesting statement by John is that those who practice righteousness are fathered by God. This is a new idea that John has introduced in his epistle. He is bringing in the idea of spiritual birth. He says that those who do what is right are the ones who have been fathered, and therefore born of God. This doesn t mean that we are required to follow the dietary laws of the Old Testament or obey any of God s law perfectly and therefore we will not be his children. Those who follow that law are indeed God s children since that again is the proof (refer back to Lesson 2 where we saw the same type of test being shown the Moral test). Jesus says elsewhere in John that if we love him, we will follow his commands (John 14:15). The theme of following the law is not a new one at all. Are you looking forward to Jesus return with excitement and joy? Does your life reflect that or are you taking more hope in this world? What would cause followers of Christ to run in shame when he comes back? Are you seeking to be a person who follows the commands that have been laid out in scripture? Have you begun to produce the fruit that you talked about in lesson 2? 3:1 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God s children and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.

There is a rarely used Greek word in this verse and many translations capture it in different ways. See what sort of has the connotation of how great and awesome it is. After calling for us to be righteous and remain in him (Gospel Imperatives), John then moves to an indicative statement and tells us about how great the Father s love is for us. It is a truly remarkable thing that God has chosen to call the rebellious people who killed his Son Jesus his children. Simply put, most people in this would not even be able to talk with the person who killed their son, let alone call them family. We are given a hint as to why the world looks at us strange when they see all of our ministry activity, and how we give our time, money and energy to the church. It is because they didn t know Jesus, so they will not know us. This is not the first time that we have been warned of this (John 16:1-4; 15:4). So we need to not be so caught off guard when we are persecuted and not treated the way we want. Are you regularly standing in awe of the love of God that he would make you his child? Do you become discouraged when the world treats you poorly because you are a Christian? Do you expect them to treat you better? 3:2 Dear friends, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3:3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure). John, after cementing the truth once more that we are God s children in the here and now, draws our attention to the fact that in the future we will be something even greater. While God has not told us exactly what that will be (an important note that John does not go beyond what was revealed to him), he says that it will be even better (c.f. 1 Cor. 2:9) The privileges, strengths, joys and everything else that we enjoy right now in partiality in this life, we will enjoy in totality when he returns. What we do know is that when Jesus does return, then we will see him as he is. And by seeing him as he is, we will be like him. All Christians are in the process of sanctification and when he comes (or we go to Heaven) we will be fully like him. We will share in his glory (Rom. 8:17-19; Phil. 3:21; Col. 3:4) as we see him in his glory (John. 17:1) and we will reflect his glory perfectly (2 Cor. 3:18). This is a great thought and should encourage and warm any soul as they reflect on what is to come. We are then told that as we keep our eyes focused on Jesus that we are purifying ourselves, becoming pure just as Jesus himself is pure. There are so many things in this life that can

take our focus, but we are told that if we focus our eyes on Jesus we will see God (c.f. Matt. 5:8). Have you ever noticed that as you focus on Jesus, the other things that you used to want just seem to not matter as much? When you are struggling with sin, drawing your focus to Jesus will help you grow in your purity. How focused are you on becoming transformed into the image of Jesus? How are you doing at focusing your attention on Jesus? Do you literally focus your eyes on things that they should not be? Are you making sure that you focus your heart on things that they should be? In verses 4-9 we will see the same argument restating the same point. Both sections will rehears the same truth that we have seen before, that the true Christian will be evident by the radically different life that he lives. The table below is just a visual way of seeing how the argument will be repeated twice in the lines below. Introduction Everyone who sins (v4) He who does what is sinful (v8) Them The nature of sin is lawlessness The origin of sin is the devil (8) (v4) Purpose of Jesus appearing Logical Conclusion Jesus appeared to take away our sin (v5) No-one who lives in him keeps on sinning (v6) The reason Jesus appeared was to destroy his works (8) No-one who is born of God will keep on sinning (9) 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. There are other definitions in scripture on what sin is (Rom. 14:23; James 4:17; 1 Jn. 5:17), but this is the most basic and descriptive. The person who sins is going against the law. Meaning that they are going against the high and holy calling of life that God has called us to live. While the law cannot give anyone salvation and life, it does describe how God wants his people to live. Those who sin run counter to the high standard that God has set and we are called to live by. John is attempting to get at the fact that many would teach back then (and today) that we can be above morality. That we do not need to worry about things like morality because now we know God. Our society even prizes and honors those who have shed more and more morality: celebrating sexual practices that go against scripture, endorsing new family structures, applauding those who have removed themselves from moral constraints. This was a problem in John s day as well (there is truly nothing new under the Sun- Ecc. 1:9) What is the place for the law that God has outlined in scripture for us today?

John likens our sin to going against the law, how does this impact how you view the law? 3:5 And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Jesus came to take away the sins of the world (his work) is now linked with his identity that there is no sin in Him. How is it that Christ is able to take away the sins of the world? He is able to do so because he himself is sinless. 3:6 Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. John then concludes this small section by highlighting that you can t continue to live a life that is filled with sin if you claim to know him. Again, we see that one of the tests of whether someone is s genuine follow of Jesus is if they are choosing to live a life that is full of sin. John chooses his words very intentionally and declares that those who continue to sin simply do not know him. It is important to balance this verse and what John is saying with the earlier verses in this very chapter where we are told that if we do sin, we have Jesus as our propitiation. So John is not saying that if we fail once then we simply are not a follower of Jesus, but rather if we sin and we do not care, if we choose to follow the path of sin; then simply put we can t be a follower of God. Are there areas of sin in your life that you are simply not willing to give up? Is there a sin that you have that you are not choosing to turn over to God? Have others confronted you on you sin and they would say that you have not changed? 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. 3:8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. As mentioned above, we have a restatement of what we just discussed, but with a slightly different twist on it. John mentions that there are some who would be deceiving the true followers into believing that they could actually sin and be found in Christ. We see this same problem running today with preacher who talk about the prosperity gospel, who teach you do not need personal holiness, rather what is important is that God will give you everything you want. This has been one of the devil s favorite heresies to permeate the church with.

We then have the measure again, we have the fruit that we can see that will tell us if someone is a true follow of Jesus: if you practice righteousness (follow the law), then this is a good indication. Again results are tied to the identity and work of Jesus as John declares Jesus is righteous. Of course he is not teaching that you must be righteous to be saved, but that the indication that someone is saved is that they will live a righteous life. John also goes straight for the jugular: if you practice sin, then you are of the devil. John, never one to mince words, points to the fact that you are either following Jesus or you are following the devil. You can t serve two masters. John also notes that the devil has been sinning from the beginning, highlighting the fact that he has been since human history started against God. Again, we are shown in different words why Jesus came, he came to destroy the work of the devil. Just as in the verse above when he came to handle sin, now the devil is synonymous with that. Jesus came to handle the problem of sin and therefore the devil. When Christ first came he made it possible for us to overcome the devil and sin by Jesus death and the sending of the Holy Spirit. It is not until he returns again that we will truly be free of the influence that sin and the devil will have over us and this world. 3:9 Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness the one who does not love his fellow Christian is not of God. These verses summarize the entire section that we just discussed. There are two types of Children talked about here: the children of God and the children of the devil. Both are known by their fruit. The children of God are known by righteousness, the children of the devil are known by sin. What does your life say about what type of child you are? Is your Christian faith more than just a proclamation? What fruit would you say needs to change in your life? What fruit would you say indicates that you are following Jesus? What practical steps of change do you need to take today in order to make your calling and election sure?