CHILDREN OF GOD TO BE RIGHTEOUS
1 John chapter 2:28 to 3:6
The little children in verse 28 means all God's children, irrespective of maturity. They are already abiding in Christ, and the words abide in Him are a statement of fact: a better translation is you are abiding in Him. The reference is again to fellowship. To abide in the Lord Jesus is to live in fellowship, or in communion with Him.
We do not know when the Lord is coming for us. If we knew the exact date, some time in the future, we might be tempted to relax in our vigilance and be careless in our living, even though we know we also might die at any time. A believer ought to live in the light of the imminent coming of Christ so that he will not be caught doing something he would be ashamed of.
If we are living in a way which does not honour our Lord, we shall not have confidence, or rather, we shall shrink away in guilty surprise. He said I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (Revelation 22:12). Many may find that they haven't got any reward, for if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).
It is very important to have a life that commends the Gospel. False doctrine and false living go together, just as true doctrine and true living go together. It is not uncommon to hear of a cult leader who is guilty of adultery, or of embezzlement, or of some other offence, for false doctrine leads to false living. There is nothing that will affect our life as much as the knowledge that we are going to stand in the presence of Christ and give an account of our works.
Every believer will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). The issue of salvation has already been settled because we are His children and in His presence; it is not a question of whether we are saved or lost but of whether or not we are going to get any reward or recognition. Some will not get any recognition. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord Paul persuaded men (2 Corinthians 5:11). The Rapture is not going to be a very thrilling event for many believers, because of the lives they have been living down here.
If we know that the Lord Jesus is righteous, we also know that everyone who practises righteousness is born of Him: this is the evidence to confirm that a person is a true believer. The Word of God is the real test: God's children look like the Father for they take after their Father. Doing righteousness is proof of the new birth, so if they don't take after the Father, they must not be the Father's children.
The love of the Father for us, who believe in His Son, is such that He has appointed us His children: we do not just hope or expect to become the sons of God, we actually are already the sons of God. We can exult and rejoice and constantly thank Him because of this. We are boasters not in ourselves, but we are boasting of the wonderful Shepherd that we have.
t is made perfectly clear here that if we are born again children of God, we are going to exhibit lives that conform to the Father. Because of this the world does not even begin to understand us, because it did not understand Him in the first place.
We have a present dignity and duty, but there is greater glory to come: we are given the assurance that when the Lord Jesus appears, we shall be like him, who is like God (2 Corinthians 4:6). This is a wonderful prospect!
The story is told that when a great big piece of marble was brought in to him, Michelangelo walked around it, looking at it, and then said, "My, isn't it beautiful!" One of his helpers who was standing there said, "Well, all I see is a great big piece of marble … that's all." Michelangelo exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot. You don't see what I see. I see a statue of David there." The helper looked again and replied, "Well, I don't see it." Michelangelo said, "That is because it is now in my own mind, but I am going to translate it into this piece of marble." And that is what he did.
God says, it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but He sees what He is going to make out of us someday. We are discouraged when we look at each other as we are now, but God sees us as we shall be when His Son shall appear, and we shall be like the glorified Christ. We are not going to be equal to Him, but we are going to be like Him in our own way, with our own personalities, our own individualities, our own selves. He is going to bring us up to the full measure, the stature where we will be like Him.
For example, in heaven we will love everybody and everybody is going to love us! And we shall see Him as He is: no longer just in the eyes of faith, but in reality. This is another great incentive to Christian living.
Because we believe that the Lord Jesus is coming and that someday we are going to be like Him, it follows that we should wish to live a pure life down here. We are not wonderful now, but we shall be wonderful someday. The study of Bible prophecy provides great incentive to holy living: we are going to accomplish our goal someday.
The New Jerusalem where we will live is going to be a place where He will wipe away all tears. There will be no sorrow, no suffering, but the most wonderful thing is that He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5). We are going to be able to start all over again, to grow in grace and the knowledge of Him, not only in this life, but for all eternity. It's going to be wonderful someday, so let us not be discouraged with one another when we find we are not yet perfect now!
Whoever lives continually and habitually in sin is insubordinate to the will of God, as expressed in the commandments given through Moses and confirmed in the New Testament. For example, God did say, "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), and He means that today also.
All of this present free, "new way" of looking at things is not a new way at all but goes back to paganism. God gave us the Law so that we can know that we are sinners, and so that we can know what He requires. Sin is basically and fundamentally that which is contrary to the will of God, and a sinner is one who is insubordinate to the will of God. It is to be carnally minded, and this is death (Romans 8:5), meaning separation from God.
You cannot have fellowship with Him and be a carnal Christian because the carnal mind is enmity against God (that is, disobedient to God): for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8:6-7).
Only the Lord Jesus can take away the practice of sin in the life of the believer. He is the "propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (chapter 2:2). He died a redemptive death, a sin offering, to pay the penalty of our sin, but He also died that He might deliver us from the power of sin right here and now. He was without sin, as the Levitical lamb sacrificed as a sin offering had to be without spot or blemish. Therefore, He is able to remove the guilt of sin and to provide the power to deliver us from the habit of sinning. He has given to us a new nature that we might live for Him today.
The believer who abides in Christ does not keep on sinning, as a practice: he doesn't live in it because he has a new nature, and he cannot live a sinful life. He is a son of the Father, and he takes after his Father. His Father is righteous, and the son wants to live that kind of life and will never be content in a sinful state. God provides the power to obtain deliverance from the habit of sinning.
R David Jones
Chapter 2
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him.
Chapter 3
1 See what love the Father has given 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; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
4 Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.