1 John 3:7-8

1 John 3:7-8

Little children, do not let yourselves be deceived.  The one who does righteousness is righteous – just as that one is righteous.  The one who does sin is out of the devil, because the devils sins from the beginning.  Into this the Son of God was being revealed: in order that He should destroy the works of the devil.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Yesterday we talked about what sin is and why it happens in our life.  Today we hear about where sin comes from.  Sin comes from the devil, who has been about sin since his very beginning.  Now, this does not free us from the burden of sin.  The devil may tempt us into sin, but it is we who follow.  We are guilty for accepting the temptation.  John is not absolving us of our guilt here.  Sin comes from the devil, but our hearts freely welcome it into our midst.

Have you ever tried to deflect your guilt onto someone or something else?  Why is this a fundamentally bad path to take regarding out sinfulness?

Second Thought:

John also then tells us how God deals with sin.  Jesus Christ came in order to destroy the work of the devil.  Jesus Christ came in order that our sinfulness should be done away with.  John doesn’t need to absolve us of our guilt by blaming the devil because Christ has already absolved us of our guilt on the cross.  We don’t need to deflect the blame.  What we need to do is embrace the guilt, humble ourselves before the judgment seat of God, and accept His forgiveness.  Owning up to our sin is a far better path than trying to put the blame on someone else because God is willing to forgive.

How does this passage further remind you of God’s gracious love?  Although taking responsibility for sin is the harder road, why is it more beneficial in the end?

Third Thought:

This brings us back to the opening verses of this section.  The one who does righteousness is righteous.  Because we are forgiven, we should be about the work of God.  Because we are freed from the guilt we bear, we should embrace God’s ways.  If we care about forgiveness, we should inherently care about casting off our selfish human agendas and embrace God and God’s desires for our life.

Do you embrace God’s will for your life?  How do you do this?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 3:9-10