Everyone who does what is right has been born of God
1 John 2v29
24th July 2020
1 John 2v29
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has
been born of him.
We can't fully understand God, but we do know certain things about God, and one thing we all know about God is that He is righteous. We know with certainty that God is absolutely pure, absolutely good, absolutely wise. God is always right. He always does the right thing. For us to think otherwise about Him would be absurd. God's character and God's precepts are the very definition of righteousness. God created the universe. God set the rules. When the creatures that God made act in accordance with His character, then - and only then - they're acting righteously.
We also know that all men are sinners. We know that men's hearts are dark and selfish. We know because the Holy Spirit and the Bible convince us, and because we see how people behave, and we see the darkness in our own hearts.
Many of us know, if we're honest about our pasts, that before we knew God's forgiveness and power, we were both unwilling and unable to live righteously. Many of us would once have believed that the Biblical view morality was just plain wrong.
Since we know that God is righteous, then we know that worldly society, and every individual within it, is unrighteous. People are blind to what is right and wrong, and would prefer to use their own judgement about such things. That's ridiculous, because fallen humans don't have either the right or the capability to make a good job of inventing morality for themselves. That's why every generation of godless society defines morality differently.
And we also know that without the Bible and the Holy Spirit, we'd be in the same state.
Christians know what is righteous, and we choose what is righteous, because we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him, as John says. We know that without being born again as a child of God, and so receiving all the revelation that God gives to His children, we cannot understand what is righteous, and without God's power we cannot live accordingly.
We need God's Holy Spirit every day to help us to repent of our sin - to see sin for what it is, to admit to God and to ourselves that our lives are dirty in God's sight, and to receive power to change.
We also know that we don't always do what's right, and the world doesn't always do what's wrong. But God gives us, His children, both the motivation and the power to live right.
We know that everyone who does what is right has been born of God, because we know that without being born of God, it's impossible to know what's right, and impossible to do what's right.
I need here to say a few more words on the righteousness or unrighteousness of non-Christians.
Firstly, we may well know some very nice non-Christians and some very unpleasant Christians. This is a terrible state of affairs, and I hate to have to admit it, but it's true. May God give all His people sufficient motivation and power to become decent human beings. But I can say this: every Christian is getting better, in the process we call "sanctification". And every non-Christian is getting worse, in the process we call "perishing". Humans need God's power, not only to get better but also to stay the same.
Secondly, we probably know some agnostics or atheists, whose friends consider them to be excellent people. They always help old ladies across the road, they pay all their taxes, they always lend you money if you ask them, they never use bad language or get drunk. Some people may object to me saying these people are not good people. But the first duty of every human is to worship and serve God. An agnostic or atheist cannot do that, and so is committing the most basic of crimes: crimes not against man but against God.
You might want to argue that, since they don't believe there is a God, they can't be blamed for not worshipping Him. But Paul writes:
Romans 1:18-20
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to
them.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and
divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that people are without excuse.
Fallen mankind has chosen not to believe in God. But God has revealed Himself to us, His chosen people. Great is His mercy. No wonder that John next writes:
1 John 3:1a
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children
of God! And that is what we are!