I John 3:7-11
The Bible says
in I John 3:7-11, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. 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. 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. 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. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another.”
In John chapter
3 we are told of the great love of God which is revealed through Christ. Christ
died for our sins and he rose again from the grave. And because of Christ’s
shed blood we can be sons of God. And we are told in verse 2 that those who are
NOW the sons of God; that “it
doeth not yet appear what we shall be”. But the ultimate end is to be transformed into the image of
Christ. Also the verses in I John
chapter 3 go on to explain some important details concerning the love of God,
which is bestowed and manifested to us.
The first thing
that the apostle John says in verse 7 is to not be deceived. The word deceive
can carry with it many ideas. The basic
idea is to stray from the truth. And the truth is that salvation is solely by
grace through faith in Jesus. A person either has the righteousness of Christ
through faith in Christ or a person does not have the righteousness of Christ
at all. So what is it that John is warning us to not be deceived about? He is
warning us not to be deceived about Salvation. He that doeth righteous is
righteous; even as Christ is righteous.
Satan is the
great deceiver of this world. His goal is to lead people astray from the truth.
And what is the most important truth? Salvation through
Jesus. Now, I John chapter 3 is
talking about the great love which the father has bestowed upon us. Such great love, that we should be called the
sons of God. God is love. And the devil is hate. And because the devil is hate;
he hates God and he hates us. The devil does not want us to see the love of
God. And how is the love of God manifested; though His Son Jesus. This then is where the deceiving of the devil
comes in. Concerning the righteousness of Christ, Satan has 2 basic ways in
which he is deceives people. He deceives the lost into thinking they are saved.
He deceives the saved into thinking they are lost.
Now the other
important truth to understand about the word “deceive” is that it carries with
it the idea of an intentional and skillful trapping: in the same sense that a
hunter might hunt and trap its prey. The
traps that a hunter sets are intentional traps, and the purpose of those traps and
the end result of those traps is to take the life of
the animal. The deceiving which is being spoken of in verse 7 is a deceiving
with words. If you listen to and then
believe the wrong words, you may very well become trapped and ensnared in false
and vain religious teachings which will doom your soul for eternity. And the
trap themselves are snares. Once you are trapped and once you are deceived;
it’s very hard to escape. False teachings are like quicksand that slowly sucks
a person deeper and deeper, until that person is completely in darkness. The
goal is to stay on the straight and narrow path. All it takes is accepting one
little white lie or one little half truth. When your mind latches onto that
false teaching of mislead liberalism or legalism, you will begin taking a
crooked path and will no longer be walking the straight and narrow path.
Remember there is only one straight and narrow path and that is Jesus Christ, He
is the way the truth and the light and no man comes to
the Father but by Him.
Now it is
obvious in I John 3 that John is speaking to saved people, and in this chapter John
explains the difference between a saved person and a lost person. I John 3:8-9 says, “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. 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.”
Sin is of the
devil and righteousness is of God. As we read these verses it’s not hard to see
two distinct descriptions of what a man can be: righteous or sinful. For the
true believer in Jesus there is the old man and the new man. When we come to
trust Christ, we are given a new nature and a new life; old things are passed
away and all things are become new. This, my friend, is the power of the resurrection.
Therefore it is important to understand that when verse 9 says “whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin” this verse is speaking
of the new man. The new man cannot sin because this new man is of God and God
is holy. This does not mean that a Christian can never sin. A child of God
still has the old man to struggle against, until that blessed day of hope when
Christ returns. However, Jesus said by
your fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Therefore those who are dead in trespasses and sins cannot possibly bring forth
good fruit; their nature is entirely of the old man. Yes the lost can show great
measures of natural human kindness and affection, but that’s far from the
spiritual fruits of love which are bent only towards bringing glory to Christ.
We know that
there is a new man, a new nature, which the children of God have. And we know that there is an old man, which
is in all; for all have sinned. We also
know that this new man comes from God; for it is in a sense the image of God re-given
to man, who was made in the image of God. John said, “For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” The old man exists as a result of the
devil’s work. When Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, all of
mankind was affected. But of course Adam and Eve’s mistake does not undermine
your own free will. It is up to you to choose to trust Jesus. But this is what
is meant when John says that Jesus was sent to destroy the works of the devil.
The work of the devil is to destroy. And that is exactly what the old man is;
the destroyed man. But Jesus has destroyed that work by dying on the cross for
the sins of all men and He is building a new kingdom through the new man.
When you understand
the difference between the new man and the old man, you will have come a long
ways toward understanding the difference between the saved and the lost and how
it is that “whosoever is
born of God doth not commit sin”.
And this is the
great deception which the devil uses to lead believers to think they are not
saved; by keeping them void of understanding the
difference between the new man and the old man. However, if you know Christ as
your Savior and therefore have experienced that great and endless power of the
eternal resurrection, you have the only foundation needed to grow into an
understanding of the difference between the new man and the old man. The new
man does not sin because “whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin”.
Now when we
think of deception and of deceivers, we will often think of the devil and the
world. But we must also think of ourselves. One of the reasons that the apostle
Paul is talking about the old man and the new man is because the old man is
also a deceiver. Sometimes the deceiving is not done by the devil or the false
teachers of the world, but instead; we sometimes deceive ourselves. Every time we,
of our own free will, choose to do something that is sinful; then we have
deceived ourselves. Our old man has deceived us into thinking that it’s good
and fun and acceptable. Of course the
way to keep the old man from deceiving yourself is the same way that we should
use to protect ourselves from other deceivers.
Now then, the
other great deceit of the devil is to keep the lost “lost”. The Bible says in I
John 3:9-10, “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. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another.”
If you spend
enough time in Christian churches and organizations you will quickly learn just
how true it is, when Jesus said there would always be tares among the wheat.
Some of those tares are wolves in sheep’s clothing. But many others are there (as
those in false religions) thinking they are righteous and on their way to
heaven. How is it that a person who is guilty of hell, fire, and brimstone
could possibly make the mistake of thinking they stand justified before God,
when they do not? You would think it
would be easier for a man to mistake himself for a dog or a frog on a log, than
the former. But it’s just as John warned the believers in verse 7, such people
have let themselves be deceived.
Verse 10 says that “whosever doeth not righteous is
not born of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother”. How does one “do righteous” if man is
weak and sinful by nature. It’s
simple; of himself man cannot “do righteous.” To “do righteous” you must first
be saved. The phrase “to do righteous” implies works: the act of doing
something. In context, it is the act of doing what God wants a person to do. A
man once asked Jesus how he might work the works of God and this is what Jesus
said to that man, “This is
the work of God, that he believe on Him whom He hath
sent.” And we know that “God sent His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
Thus for a
person to do righteous really only requires one thing; that you believe in
Jesus Christ. If you can do this one thing, believe in Jesus; then you will do
righteous. So how can one be sure that they are saved, if there are so many who
are deceived and even ones who Jesus Himself said will have called, “Lord,
Lord” and still not enter the
There is only
one way to be sure and this is by what the Word of God says. The Word of God
says that “whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. It’s that simple. However, there is a measuring stick
which we can use to help us to judge. And that measuring stick is the actions
of men. Look at what verse 11 says, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another.”
It’s not hard
to go into churches and religious organizations and find people who do not love
their brothers: people who are quick to wrath, quick to speak evil or people
who are prideful, divisive and bitter. Such things are not a sign of one who
knows the power of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. This does not mean such a
person is not saved. But if the qualities of the old man rule in a person’s
life; if a person is living as if they are not saved then only God knows the
true state of that individual. Certainly for a believer who lets his life be
ruled by the old man, it will be very easy to be deceived into thinking he is
not saved.
Thus there is a
clear distinction in this passage between the old man and the new man. The new
man does righteously and the old man does the works of the devil. And the
warning the apostle John gave is to not be deceived.
In other words there are deceivers who
will come your way. They have their trap of words they lay for people; to snare,
to destroy their faith and their souls. But the choice is yours; what you
choose to believe. Jesus used the same word deceive in Matthew
Now then you have been warned and you
know that the deceivers are coming your way. The goal of the deceivers is to
keep you from being saved and to keep you from living for Christ. Their goal is
to destroy through lies. They are coming. It may be today. If you are deceived, it is
because you let them deceive you and because you did not heed the warning here
in God’s Word.
You too will err, if you do not know
the scriptures. Be warned, the false teachings are coming your way; the wolves
in sheep’s clothing are coming to deceive you, but do not let them. Do not err
by not knowing the scriptures because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God. The challenge is to study to show thyself
approved. It is your responsibility and no one else’s to ensure that you learn
God’s Word. If you don’t know God’s Word you will be deceived.
There is only one way to do righteous
and that is to have the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on the altar of your
soul, because Christ is righteous. If you do not know Jesus as your Savior,
then you can pray to Him right now to forgive you of your sins and to come into
your heart and He will save you.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2005 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved