1 John 3:7, 8 says,...

Today's verses are 1 John 3:7, 8, which read,

v.7 - "Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;..."

One thing to remember in this passage is that John is making a distinction between the sin and confession of that sin by the genuine Christian and compares that to the habitual sin or someone practicing sin as a way of life that leads to dismissal of sin.  This will be helpful to remember with the next devotional, too.

The false teachers of the world will try to lead you astray to the facts about Jesus for they already don't believe Jesus is who He says He is and they disregard sin as something to abuse and/or redefine.  This is the main drive of the false teacher and they have a "great" teacher as their leader.

John flips the coin.  Before he said, "Everyone who practices sin..." in verse 4 meaning all who make it a habit or way of life to sin and now he says "..the one who practices righteousness..." meaning those who make it a habit and way of life to live in accordance to God.  We have received a new Teacher and Leader and we follow Him.  Our righteousness is because of Jesus and we live our lives in light of that righteousness.

v.8 - ..."the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."

John names the leader of the false teachers and leaders.  It is the devil.  Our actions show where our allegiance lies.  If we make it a practice to sin, dismiss sin, and redefine it, then our actions say that we are with the devil.  If we make it a practice to live according to God even if we sin but are continuing to confess (agree with another) it to God then our actions say that we are with God.  The devil, the great deceiver has been doing this from the beginning of opposing God with his pride and then leading Adam and Eve astray in the Garden of Eden at the tree.
"The Son of God appeared..." is another Christmas phrase.  God sent His only begotten Son to this world to do something, save sinners.  We are not to practice sin because it is the very thing that Jesus came to nail to the cross so that we could stand before a holy God.  The devil will have many works to get us to think and act otherwise. Jesus is active to continue to destroy the hold that the devil has on this world and to see to his final destruction.

A famous line in a popular film is "Who's your daddy?"  John is saying that our actions show who we are following.  He is showing us the comparison not only of our actions and its outcomes but also a comparison of Jesus and the devil and the reasons and motives of both.  You should be seeing that Jesus is definitely the clear winner here.

"Lord, make it clear when I have taken a step in the wrong direction.  May the Holy Spirit convict me to correct course to have a clearer picture of You and the cross.  May I have more discernment to the devil's schemes to draw me away from Your words and Your displayed love for me.  Amen."
  
Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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