Throughout this book John the apostle has been sharing with us how we can have fellowship with God and the barriers to that fellowship. In the last few verses he shared with us as a spiritual father to his little children about those he called antichrists. Those who are opposed to or alter the teachings of the Bible about Jesus being the messiah - the Son of the Living God, and the only way to have fellowship with God, are “anti-christs”, and we should be aware of their presence. We do so by the Holy Spirit of God leading us every day by the teachings of the Bible. In keeping with the context, John shares even more insight with us today about those who are righteous and those who are born of God. John writes in First John chapter two and verse twenty-nine:
If you know that he is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of him.
God is righteous. God is holy. God never has and never will do anything wrong. He never lies, steals, cheats or does any other sin that we are accustomed to seeing men and women do. He is indeed righteous. Those who read the Bible and discover bit by bit whom God truly is, find Him ever so holy and find themselves ever so unholy. When the prophet Isaiah saw the throne of God in the book of Isaiah chapter six and verse five we read:
Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
When Daniel the prophet saw God in the book of Daniel chapter ten and verse eight we read:
Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
When John the apostle himself saw the Lord Jesus in His glorified state, we read of his reaction in the book of Revelation chapter one and verse seventeen:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
In other words, those who truly encounter the living God know that God is righteous. He exudes righteousness, and those who continue in fellowship with Him know how important righteousness is within their own lives. The continual exposure to God and His righteousness begins the process of making a person more righteous today than he or she was yesterday, and the process of righteousness proceeds day after day after day.
When we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, our speech and language change. Our actions and activities change. Our attitudes change, and many of us who were miles away from the righteous standard of God become more and more like Jesus every day. This is how we know those who are righteous and born of God and those who are not.
Let our standard of righteous be equivalent to David the King of Israel from long ago when he wrote in Psalm chapter seventeen and verse fifteen:
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Next time we begin a new chapter in First John, chapter three, where John talks about God's love and being strangers in this world. So, read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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