“In this the children of God
and the children of the devil are manifest:
Whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God, nor is he who
does not love his brother.”
(1 John 3:10)
To be “manifest” is to be:
Made CLEAR
Or OBVIOUS to the eye
Or the UNDERSTANDING
Or to put it another way
The Bible tells us, in 1 John 3
There will be NO DOUBT
As to whether we are:
Children of God
Or, children of the devil
For be assured of this
YOU are either one or the other
There is NO middle ground
If you are NOT for God
Then you ARE for the devil
People talk about “sitting on the fence”
For they are undecided
As to whether they believe the Gospel or not
Or they are waiting just “to be sure”
1 John 3 does NOT allow us that luxury
You ARE either one or the other
There is NO middle ground
There is NO “fence”
So HOW are the children made manifest
Whether they be of God or the devil?
“Whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God, nor is he who
does not love his brother.”
(1 John 3:10)
There appears to be two conditions
Two terms to identify the children
- practice righteousness
- love your brother
To help explain these
Let me talk about a tree
There are TWO main features of a tree
The roots which help make the tree what it is
And the fruit, which everyone sees
The roots are underground and unseen
Good roots have been established
Often over time
Spread out and gone deep
To maintain and sustain a strong healthy tree
The fruit, quite often,
Is “proof” of good roots
And the fruit hangs from the branches
Clear for all to see
Those who practice righteousness
Have their “roots” IN Jesus
For righteousness is NOT something we DO
Rather it has to do with who we ARE
Some people try to BE good
To DO good things
To be SEEN as being righteous
But “He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
Children of God are MADE
Righteous IN Him
(That is Christ)
And to love your brother
Is a “fruit” of righteousness
So often people get this one wrong
Because they compare between each other
“How can you expect me to love him
You don’t know what he did to me!”
This attitude, this view
Does NOT take into account
What Jesus has done for us all
Immanuel, God with us
Jesus the Son of God
Sinless perfection
God incarnate
Came to earth
Born as a baby – one of us
Lived and worked among His creation
Died in OUR place
Because of His great LOVE for us
And because of His LOVE…
How can we NOT love our brother?
You see
If you ARE a child of God
You WILL practice righteousness
And you WILL love your brother