Exploring 1 John: Righteousness will Show in Our Lives
1 John 3:7 - Seek righteousness and the presence of God and good in your lives.
“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;”
1 John 3:7 NASB1995
John once again addresses the believers as little children. They have been born again and are learning, like small children, what it means to follow Christ. He cautions them about being deceived and to practice righteousness. Let’s do word studies on deceives and righteousness (I’m certain these have been done before, but repetition is a marvelous tool for understanding the Bible):
Deceives comes from the Greek word πλανάω or planáō with the following Biblical usages; Strong’s G4105 is used 39 times in the New Testament:
to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way
to go astray, wander, roam about
metaph.
to lead away from the truth, to lead into error, to deceive
to be led into error
to be led aside from the path of virtue, to go astray, sin
to sever or fall away from the truth
of heretics
to be led away into error and sin
Righteousness comes from the Greek word δικαιοσύνη or dikaiosýnē with the following Biblical usages; Strong’s G1343 is used 92 times in the New Testament:
in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God
the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God
integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting
in a narrower sense, justice or the virtue which gives each his due
So when you practice righteousness, you are in a state as you ought to be, a condition acceptable to God. Being deceived leads you away from virtue, from the truth and from a state of righteousness and into error and sin.
I thought this commentary from Enduring Word was quite effective in explaining this state of righteousness:
Let no one deceive you: This tells us that John wrote against a deception threatening the Christians of his day.
He who practices righteousness is righteous: John did not allow us to separate a religious righteousness from a life of righteousness. If we are made righteous by our faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22), it will be seen by our righteous lives.
The most important thing a person can ever do is make sure he is righteous before God. This simply means he is held in right standing before God. It’s more than saying, “not guilty.” It is more like saying, “Not guilty and in right standing.” It speaks of the presence of good, not just the absence of evil.
John is not saying that we are made righteous before God by our own righteous acts – the Bible clearly teaches that we are made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ – yet that righteousness in Jesus will be evident in our lives.
Apparently, there were those who taught that you could be righteous before God with no evidence of righteousness in your life – John is rebuking this idea. Charles Spurgeon said it well: “The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul.”
Just as He is righteous: We can live lives characterized by righteousness, not sin, because we have been given the righteousness of Jesus, and He is righteous. We have the resource we need to live righteously!
When we first come to Jesus and ask Him to redeem us, we are pleading guilty. His sacrifice on the Cross exchanged His perfect holiness and righteousness for our sins. But after we accept Him, we then, with His grace, will move towards His righteousness. We should have the presence of good, not just the absence of evil in our lives; we will then be in a right standing with God as we are sanctified. That grace MUST change your life to save your soul.
Deception is running rampant in so-called Christian churches today, where many are deceived about the nature of sin or are deceived about how belief can lead to prosperity or are deceived about thinking they are under His grace when no change is evident in their lives and they continue to happily and frequently sin. People want to be comfortable at their churches; comfort is certainly not the aim of the believer who knows and pursues God! We pursue and practice righteousness with His help and do this with utter humility, so that we also do not become self-righteous. I like this description from Gotquestions.org on what this means to pursue righteousness (links go to BibleRef):
…today we are justified by the faith that leads us to Jesus (Romans 3:28; 5:1; 10:10). Those who are in Christ continue seeking God in order to please Him (Colossians 3:1). When we come to faith in Christ, He gives us the Holy Spirit who empowers us to pursue righteousness for its own sake (Acts 2:38). He commands us to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25). Walking in the Spirit means we live a lifestyle of total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We cultivate the ability to hear God and the habit of obeying His voice in everything.
We pursue righteousness when we pursue the character of Christ and desire holiness more than fleshly indulgence. We avoid the temptation to become self-righteous when we understand that true righteousness begins with godly humility (Psalm 25:9). We remember that Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). When we spend time in the presence of God, we become more aware of our own sin and shortcomings. A dingy shirt looks white beside a dark wall. But, when compared with snow, the same shirt looks dirty. Pride and self-righteousness cannot remain in the presence of a holy God. Pursuing righteousness begins when a humble heart seeks the continual presence of God (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6). The humble, believing heart leads to a lifestyle of righteous action acceptable to God (Psalm 51:10).
Humbly seek the continual presence of God in your hearts! If you are feeling comfortable in your faith, then you are not pursuing righteousness.
My next devotional examines 1 John 3:8-9 - They who sin are of the devil.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to move towards righteousness every day that I am in Your presence. I want to be in right standing with You and move towards the ultimate good. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 5/12/2024 to review the lexicon for deceives and righteousness.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
“What is righteousness?” was accessed from Got Questions ministry on 5/12/2024.