Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 3:7 - 3:12

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 3:7 - 3:12


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Doing righteousness:

v. 7. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth. righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.

v. 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.

v. 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.

v. 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.

v. 11. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

v. 12. Not as Cain, who was of that Wicked One and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.

So much depends upon the genuineness of Christian conduct that the apostle warns against every form of deceit: Little children, let no one deceive you: he that practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; he that commits sin is of the devil, for from the beginning the devil sins. This clear statement is intended to remove all misunderstandings and prevent every form of deception. The righteous disposition of the heart, the Christian character as it is molded by faith, is bound to express itself in righteous conduct. Christ the Lord is the type, the example, the pattern of righteousness, of a life of perfect holiness. A spiritual child of God will have His character, a disciple of Christ will follow the Master. On the other hand, a person that deliberately commits sin, that is a servant of sin, thereby shows himself an apt pupil, a very child of the devil, a workshop of Satan, for he works in the children of disobedience, uses them as his tools for committing every form of trespass, Eph_2:2; Joh_8:44. For the devil sins from the beginning. The very first sin which is recorded was caused by him, since he had even before that rebelled against God; and he has, from that time, induced men to sin, made them his slaves, the servants of unrighteousness and damnation. It is a terrible picture which the apostle paints, one from which a Christian may well turn with shuddering.

All the greater, then, is the comfort in the next words: For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. This glorious object was achieved as one of the aims of Christ's salvation. He was manifested, He came into the world. He assumed true humanity, in order that as our Substitute He might altogether dissolve and thus destroy every work by which the devil exerted his power, loose the bonds of sin in which men were held captive, take away the power and influence of the devil by which he tried to drag us down forever into his kingdom, deliver us from his sovereignty by virtue of which all the unconverted perform the works of darkness.

And there is another glorious truth: Every one that is born of God does not commit sin, for His offspring remain in Him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. The birth out of God takes place through the Gospel and through the power of the Holy Ghost in the Gospel. When this regeneration, this new birth, has been achieved, then it is true that such a child of God, according to the new, divine nature which he has in himself, cannot sin, cannot be forced back into the slavery of sin. It is natural for the children, the offspring, of God to remain in Him, and thus to do only that which is pleasing to Him. Moreover, the seed of the Word of God, which wrought regeneration in the Christian in the first place, continues in him, has its home in his heart, makes his heart fruitful in all good works. The new birth in God is the reason why such a person cannot sin; for by becoming a servant of sin, he would be guilty of deeds which would deny and destroy the new birth. Thus the attitude of every person with regard to sin and righteousness reveals his offspring: In this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil: every one that does not practice righteousness is not of God, and he that does not love his brother. Every one that does not make righteousness his goal, does not strive after perfection with all the power at his command, does not make the will of God the sphere of his activity, thereby offers unmistakable evidence of not being born of God, of still being a child of the devil—a terrible condition!

And the same test may be applied with regard to the practice of brotherly love: For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. The apostle reverts to this topic time and again, To him brotherly love is the very essence and substance of the Christian life. The tree is known by its fruit, and the faith of the Christian must be revealed in love. That, according to the Word of God, according to the last instructions of Jesus, is the outstanding trait and characteristic of the believer: he must show his appreciation of the wonderful blessings of Christ of which he has become a partaker in his love toward his fellow-Christians and toward all men. The very antithesis of such unselfish love is shown in the example of Cain: Not like Cain, who was of the Evil One and slew his brother; and for what reason slew he him? Because his works were wicked, but those of his brother just. Cain, the first murderer, received the inspiration for his evil deed from the devil himself, who is a murderer from the beginning, Joh_8:44. Having rejected that which was good, he became a servant of selfishness and sin. At the same time, he was jealous of the pure character of his brother Abel, just as the unbelievers in our days resent the fact that the Christians refuse to join them in their blasphemy of God and in their various transgressions of the holy will of God, 1Pe_4:4. That was the reason why he slew his brother, because he could not bear the comparison in favor of Abel, because it angered him that God accepted Abel's sacrifice rather than his own.