I John 3:7  Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Once again God reminds us that those who are saved are “little children” in His sight. We are dependent upon Him. We need to listen to Him and follow Him. The hope of the saved person is in God and God alone. God directed John to write these words for his time but also for all ages. The true child of God’s hope is in Him alone. We need to seek His face in our decisions. We need to seek His face when we are challenged by ungodly laws. We can know true peace when we rest in our Father’s loving and holy hand.
In verse 7 we are warned not to allow any man to deceive us. I spoke with a man this week who has been dabbling in many different religions. He has no anchor. God is drawing Him to Himself, but he needs to listen and submit to God. He has not found what he is looking for in the different religions he has experimented with. That is a good thing. That is the reality for all people. False religion is obviously able to deceive man, but in their heart they know they are still missing something. No one will ever find what they need in a false religion. That is why we see people who attend secular churches, but they are not faithful. They know they will not really miss anything if they skip a service or two. The more they skip, the more comfortable they become with skipping services. They try to find what their soul is longing for in various ways, but they still cannot find it.
God reminded us again that we can tell who the true saints are. The person that does righteousness is righteous. It takes more than words from our mouth. It requires actions that agree with the truth. We are also reminded here that the standard of righteousness is Jesus Christ. It is not the preacher or some other professing Christian. The standard is Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 19 the Pharisees came to Jesus tempting Him. They wanted to know if divorce was acceptable for any cause. Jesus took them back to the beginning and reminded them of God’s standard. They continued to question Him. They wanted to know why Moses commanded divorce under certain circumstances. Jesus reminded them that Moses did not command divorce, but he suffered it. Jesus also reminded them again that even though Moses suffered divorce, in the beginning it was not so.
Moses was a man of God. God the Father spoke highly of him. Jesus Christ also spoke highly of him. However, Moses did not have the authority to change God’s standard of righteousness. In fact Moses could not enter the land of Canaan because he broke a very important picture regarding salvation. It is important for us to understand that we as people cannot alter God’s Word. Many people think they can, and they will be held accountable for trying to change God’s Word. The reality is that even though men change the truth into a lie, the truth is still the truth and It is what we will be judged by.
In verse 8 we are again reminded of the fact that the born again Christian cannot live in sin. The context here is the same as what we looked at yesterday. The devil is the influencer of sin. Man must choose whom he will follow. Sin entered the world through Adam. He chose to follow the lie of the devil, rather than the truth of God. The person who wants to continue on in sin is of the devil. We are born in sin. We have a sin nature from the moment of conception. God works in the heart of each person to bring him to see his need of salvation. This is another verse that exposes the lies of the New Evangelical crowd. They have made a mockery of the holiness of God. They scoff at the holiness of God. They will be shocked and very sorrowful one day. It will not go well with them.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one is held in bondage by the devil. There are people today who are possessed of the devil. There were people in Bible times who were possessed of devils. They chose that place. Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary and He died there to demonstrate the fact that sinners can be forgiven and saved. Satan has power but it is limited. The lost sinner can be set free from bondage to sin. Jesus demonstrated that while He was on this earth. He cast out devils and delivered people from the bondage they were under.
The need of man is salvation. We learn what true salvation is through the Word of God. A true local church will make much of true Biblical salvation. A true church will not apologize for the truth. It will make the truth known and seek to help people to believe the truth.
In verse 9 we see further that the person who is born of God does not commit sin. God’s seed remains in him. It is contrary to the new nature to live in sin. Jesus reminded different people He healed to go and sin no more. That is the standard. God has made provision for His child to be forgiven when he sins and that is by confessing the sin to God and being cleansed of it. God has also made provision for His child not to commit sin.

I Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

The true child of God cannot live in sin. It cannot happen. It is contrary to the new nature. I spoke with a man this week regarding music. He likes some of the world’s music. He tried to defend some rapper by suggesting that this particular person speaks the truth in his music. Then he illustrated his point by saying this rapper spoke of how the woman brought sin into this world. I showed him from the Bible that it was not the woman who brought sin into the world. God accused Adam of bringing sin into the world. Adam failed in his responsibility to God and to his wife. He did not protect her from the attack of the devil. He allowed her to convince him to eat what he knew was sin. This rapper corrupted the truth and the man I spoke with did not see that. I needed to point that out to him. There is no such a thing as a true Christian rapper. There are people who profess to be such, but they are deceived and they are also deceivers.
In verse 10 we see that God exposes the frauds from the true saints. He makes sure that others will know who the true believers are. The person that does not do righteousness is not of God. If a person wants to continue in sin, that person is telling everyone who they truly are. They can say whatever they want, but their actions prove who they are. The same is true for the person who does not love his brother. If I love my brother I want to help him to know the truth. I cannot allow him to continue to believe a lie without being challenged. That is what true love is all about. It is seeking to help another person to know the truth. Our minds are powerful. We can convince ourselves that sin is okay. God’s Word shows us that sin is never okay. It is always against the will of God. It is the transgression of the law.
Today is the Lord’s day. I trust that each person reading this will get ready and attend a true local church today. God has a blessing in store for each person. Don’t miss out on that blessing.
Pastor Bartel