Love and Righteousness – I John 3:10 - 12 TEXT: 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. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous (1 John 3:10 – 12 NASB). TRUTH: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God. COMMENTARY: When it comes to grouping people, the Bible has no gray area; you are either children of God and are practicing righteousness or you are children of the devil and are practicing sin. The fruit that is produced by your practice should make its obvious to which you belong. When children of God become friendly with the world and their fruit to the glory of God diminishes it is then not so obvious to which group they belong. As a Christian this is a sad state to be in and one in which there is great loss in life. They may think life is going well, but they are missing out on the kindness of God’s grace and that is a big loss. Jesus makes it very clear that he doesn’t like those who are not clearly in one group or the other. He refers to them as being lukewarm and has this to say about them; “I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit [vomit] you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15 – 16 NASB). John makes it very clear by listing two conditions that are seen as evidence that one is a child of God; the practice of righteousness and loving his brother. A practical aspect of practicing righteousness is to love one another (1 John 4:7 – 13). Since God is love the one who is of God should also love. The one who doesn’t love is showing that his or her relationship with God is not right. Before John develops what love is really like, he gives an example of what it is not like. He identifies Cain as a child of the evil one who slew his brother Able. Cain was the first born of Adam and Eve and became a tiller of the ground and produced fruit from the ground. Able, the second born, was a keeper of flocks. Sometime later in life both Cain and Able brought an offering to God. Cain’s offering was from the fruit of the ground, but Able’s was from the first offspring of his flock. Which offering was better? After Adam and Eve sinned, God took an animal and used its skin to make a garment to cover their nakedness. He didn’t use material from a plant. This is significant when it comes to providing an offering to God. From the beginning God established a relationship between the sacrifice of life and the covering of the effects of sin. Because of this God accepted the offering from Able and not the one from Cain. Cain’s way was not the correct way and was rejected and as a result Cain was offended and felt jealous resentment toward Able’s act of righteousness. This jealous resentment developed into anger toward Able and was noticed by God and he warned him that sin was crouching nearby and that he needed to be careful. Cain did not heed the warning and one day took an opportunity to slay his brother Able (Genesis 4:2 – 8). Application: Why does the world hate Jesus Christ and his followers so much? It is the same as Cain’s hatred toward Able. Those who practice sin can’t tolerate, because of the feeling of guilt, those who practice righteousness. The fruit of their practice is to harm those who practice righteousness, but those who practice righteousness, the fruit is to love one another. Which fruit is your life producing? Prayer: Father, I think of how our words contain life or death to the one who hears them (Proverbs 18:21). In a similar way our behavior or what we practice can produce the fruit of harm or the fruit of love for one another. Father, I pray that my practice will increase you love within me and produce the characteristics of love which are joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:04:37 +0000
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