The Practice of Righteousness I John 3:7-9

A. In John’s first Epistle, the Apostle John is addressing one of the early gnostic cults that was attempting to infiltrate the church in the first century.

This ancient cult was attempting to create a tolerance towards sin that undermined the idea of repentance. This would result in a soft gospel that may promise salvation but it would be a powerless gospel when it came to the idea of transformation.

This is not something that just attempted to infiltrate the early church. The Apostle Paul informs Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 that in the last days men will be lovers of themselves more than of God. And he informs him that this self love will cultivate licentiousness in the church.

And it is in verse 5 where Paul says that they will have the appearance of godliness but they will deny the power of godliness in their lives.

There is nothing new under the Sun. Regardless of whether it is the first century or in our modern day the problem is the same. People love the idea of accommodating Christianity to fit what they desire instead of accommodating their desires to fit Christianity.

They imagine that God is indifferent to the practice of righteousness and they imagine that the gospel applies something to you externally without progressively transforming the true believer from the inside out.

In our text this morning John issues an Apostolic warning to the people of God. Look back to the first half of verse 7:

I. The Apostolic Warning (7a). Little children, let no one deceive you.

Notice that he calls them little children. Now in the greater context of I John we see that he refers to them as children repeatedly this is nothing new. He even refers to them at the beginning of chapter 2 as “My little children.”

Now understand this is not John’s way of insulting them and their behavior. But he is instead making the point of his own fatherly love for them as he displays his Apostolic concern for them. But He also makes reference to God being their Father and them being His children.

I believe this is the context here in the immediate sense of I John 3 because of what we see in verse 1. This is where the love of God for us as His children makes us distinct from the world. Look up at 1 John 3:1–2 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Remember the love of the Godhead that we talked about last Sunday that is extended to us in Jesus Christ that actually made us a member of God’s family? Well John is basing his whole argument in I John upon the demonstration of the love of God in Christ extended to us and being reciprocated back towards Him and over-flowing to one another in the church.

Now let’s understand something about being sons of God or children of God. Angels are at times referred to as “sons of God” and as we know from Psalm 8:4-6 and Hebrews 2:6-7 that man is created lower than the angels.

So there are 2 questions that come to mind at this point that I believe we need to answer: First, what makes us distinct from the angels in how God counts us as Sons or as His children? And second, why does John in the immediate context back up in verse 1 seem to elevate the grand nature of the kind of love that the Father has given to us?

I believe the answer is the same to both questions. What makes us distinct and what makes the love of the Father towards us so glorious?

The First person of the Godhead has not issued an eternal decree of redemption for them. There is no plan eternally decreed by the Father for the redemption of Angels.

The Second person of the Godhead did not die for them. There is no blood atonement accomplished and applied by the Son on behalf of Angels.

The Third person of the Godhead does not live in them. There is no place of residence for Holy Spirit to live inside of Angels.

This and all that goes with it regarding our standing as children of God in our identity and the security of our inheritance as children of God is what makes us distinct from Angels and it is also what makes us distinct from the lost.

This is why John addresses them as little children. And their identity as children of God serves as the backdrop for his warning in the first half of verse 7: let no one deceive you.

John believed it was possible for Christians to be deceived. And by the way if you read the gospels you will find out that Jesus believed that too and warned against possible deception. John’s warning is in the area of deception when it came to the practice of righteousness. Look back to the second half of verse 7:

II. The Apostolic Principle (7b). Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

So John’s logic in the context of this Epistle goes something like this: If the love of God has the power to bestowed on you a new identity as children of God; and that same love has the power to secured eternal life for us then don’t be deceived into thinking that the love of God is powerless when it comes to the practice of righteousness in our lives.

Christian your practice of righteousness is reflective of the transforming power of the love of God in Christ. It mirrors the righteous character of Christ.

You don’t do this on your own. It is done by God working in you to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). You didn’t muster up the ability to practice righteousness out of your human determination and exertion of your will power.

As a matter of fact that is not the practice of righteousness at all. It is much more likely that such an act is the practice of self-righteousness

The practice of righteousness in the biblical sense is built upon and motivated by the love of God in Christ Jesus. Your new identity lived out in the certain security of your eternal hope in Christ.

This is how the high theology of the Christian faith is the sets the plot that drives drama and practice on the stage of the Christian life.

Remember Christian the righteousness that we have is an imputed righteousness and it is an alien righteousness that comes to us from outside of us and outside of this world.

The gospel is the message of this transforming power of God for our salvation. And no we are not ashamed of the gospel for this very reason. The gospel is the good news of the love of God for sinners. That He would love them so much that He would claim them as His own children through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

It is a powerful gospel to do such a marvelous thing. But to believe that and not believe that it is powerful to empower you Christian in the practice of righteousness is contradictory to the kind of power displayed in the gospel. It is a double minded perception and it is contrary to the teaching of Scripture.

The authentic gospel that saves us by grace through faith alone apart form works will produce authentic works of righteousness in our lives. This is the truth that John uses to refute the anti-nomian heresy of the first century and it still refutes the same heresy in our day. Good works are the fruit of our salvation not the root of our salvation.

Christian if we are in Christ then it should show in how we live. Not just on Sunday morning but our disposition towards sin should show up and manifest in how we live out our faith in the world.

Conclusion

Does John expect perfection in our actions? No and we know this because of 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Sin should never be our ambition in life as Christians. You may even have sin as your ambition but you put on you best behavior on Sunday or when you are around Christian people. And you have sinful actions planned for later when you are in a different crowd or alone when you think no one is watching.

And there is no conviction regarding your actions. This is your life-style and the way you live and to you it is Christianity but to God you are deceived and you are living a lie in contradiction to the gospel.

For some Christianity is nothing more than a tradition that you practice on Sunday as you jump through the hoops of religious performance. You have the form down but the power of the love of God in Christ Jesus that makes someone His child with a new identity and secures eternal life has never transformed you.

You have been deceived into thinking that Christianity is more about your work than the work of God in Christ Jesus.

Christianity is all about God initiating His love to us in Christ to make us one of the family. It is more about relationship than form. Unbeliever you need Jesus Christ as your savior and you need to be reconciled to God through Him. Believe!

Christian do not be deceived! The life of the Christian will mirror to one degree to another the practice of righteousness. Perfectly? No. But we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous who makes intercession for us. Confess your sin and know He is faithful to cleanse us of all or unrighteousness. Let’s Pray!