God's True Children Practice Righteousness

As we move ahead in 1 John, we read that those who are God's children practice righteousness and those who practice sin belong to the evil one. This is very sobering and flies in the face of what countless preachers teach.

Please note that the New Testament is written primarily to God's children, yet when speaking to a crowd, many teachers speak to all of the crowd as if they are God's children. As we read what John writes, we can see this is horrible and misleads the people. John makes a clear distinction between those who practice righteous and and those who practice sin.

The temptation to please the crowd and be wealthy, has countless teachers with blood on their hands. Many will be told by Jesus he never knew them.  

1 John 3  ISV

1See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are!a For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

2Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiahb is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. 

• 3And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, 
• just as the Messiahc is pure. 

4Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. 

• In fact, sin is disobedience. 
• 5You know that the Messiahd was revealed to take away sins,e and there is not any sin in him. 
• 6No one who remains in union with him keeps on sinning. 
• The one who keeps on sinning hasn’t seen him or known him.

7Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. 

• The person who practices righteousness is righteous, just as the Messiahf is righteous. 
• 8The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. 
• The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing. 
• 9No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God’sg seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God. 
• 10This is how God’s children and the devil’s children are distinguished.h 

No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.