One of John's techniques is to state his points repeatedly to drive the message home. That is true in verse seven when he begins the thought by addressing his audience as "Little children"; the same term of affection he used in 2:1 and 2:18. "Let no one deceive you" restates the same point he made in 1:8, 2:18, 26 and 3:1-3. It doesn't matter if one says they are righteous. The litmus test is whether one does righteousness. The old adage of show me don't tell me rings true here. Once again, John uses the present tense of a verb. In this verse practices or doeth is a present tense which means we're to keep on doing it. We are to continually practice righteousness.
"Just as He is righteous" or "even as He is righteous" depending on your translation, doesn't mean that we will attain the same level of righteousness as Christ. It means that He is the model or pattern of righteousness that we should attempt to follow.
In verse 8 John says that if you live a life of habitual sin you're of the devil. You demonstrate your relationship to the devil by conforming to his character instead of conforming to the character of Jesus. An evil heart is deliberate, willful and persistent. It means you mean to sin purposely. If you live as the devil, you are considered as belonging to the devil.
I have the following statements in my notes. I'm sorry I can remember who wrote it so I can't give credit where it is due. Someone said, "The wisest, greatest and best characters of whom we read in the scriptures never laid claim to sinlessness in this life but on the contrary exhibited the weaknesses common to humanity and often confessed them with penitence and shame." Abraham, David, Peter and Paul come to mind.
The verb in verse 9, "does not sin" comes from poio, a present active verb. It means the person does not keep on doing sin. Here John is restating what he wrote in verse 6. What is "His seed" that remains in us? The word of God (Luke 8:11). "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." (Colossians 3:16)
Why can't a person born of God with His seed in him live a life of continuing sin? The seed (word of God) is in us. If it's in us it's what controls our lives and directs our actions. Children of God don't use sin as the guiding principle of their lives. Read Romans 6:1-6. From that we know we've died from sin, risen from baptism to live a new live and have been delivered from sin.
Verse 10 relates to what's just been said. It also follows the thought written in 2:29 and 3:4. If we don't have the love for our brothers that we're supposed to have, it means we don't have the same Father. It excludes that unloving person from the family. Again, there is no gray area in John's writings. We're either on God's side or the devil's side.
John's readers had heard the message of verse 11 since the beginning of their knowledge of Christianity. This is a cornerstone principle of Christianity. (John 13:34-35, John 15:12-14 and First John 2:7) I hope we've known this from the beginning of our walk with Christ.
In verse John again compares and contrasts. In an interesting note, John uses the word sphazo here where we read murdered or slew. That verb literally means to butcher, to slit the throat with a knife. Genesis doesn't tell us how Cain killed Abel. It may be surmised from John's use of this word that this is the way Cain did it. What we do know is that Abel made his offering by faith. Cain's offering was rejected because it violated God's instructions (Genesis 4:5-7). Cain murdered his brother. Therefore Cain hated his brother. Hate is a characteristic of the devil and his children. Therefore Cain was of the devil. Guy N. Woods wrote in his commentary on this verse, "Basic in every difficulty and dispute between brethren today is the absence of brotherly love." Think about it. There's not a problem or dispute that's ever torn a congregation apart or separated Christians from each other that didn't stem from this.
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