Insights of 1 John 3:1–10

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

(1 John 3:1–10 ESV)

As I was considering these scriptures this afternoon, I found myself paraphrasing them. Here are the results:

My children, have you examined your lifestyle, and considered how unique it is? Do you see that your desires in life are not typical to the desires of others who do not know Christ? Consider the object of your love, consider your affections, you purpose, your motivations. Can you see that you have been made different from the average person? You have been made different from the inside out — you have become a child of God. Now, a child always resembles their parents. It is this “spiritual resemblance” to your Father that you can see in your new nature. This is a tangible way to understand that you now live in the favor of God, you are an object of His love — and so, you can see what kind of love the Father has bestowed on us — as we have become His children. The reason the nature of God is foreign to those of the world, is because they do not know Christ. But you know Him. Beloved, it gets better … what you are seeing is only the beginning. This new nature will be completely mature, when we see Him face to face. When that time comes, we will know His complete character perfectly, and we possess a nature in perfect harmony with His nature. Everyone who longs for this day as their greatest treasure, has been purified by God!

In stark contrast, everyone that continuously, habitually, does what is against the standards of God, lives in lawlessness. You see that this is the opposite of that nature that is in you. You do realize that’s the root definition of sin, don’t you? Sin is living without regards to God’s standards — it live contrary to the nature of God! Do you marvel that you can observe all these changes that are going on inside of you? — in your thoughts? — in your affections? — with the things that you now value? You should not marvel about these things when you consider that these changes are the very reason why He came. He came to change our attitude of ignoring Him and His Holy Standards — He came to destroy these works of the Devil in our lives — ( these things first existed in Lucifer … and in our fall, Lucifer has caused them to become man’s reality as well ). But Christ has come to destroy these things and to set us free to enjoy Him and all things Holy and Good. Understand this, no one who truly knows Christ has a desire to continue to ignore God … no one who truly knows Christ finds pleasure in being their own boss anymore, disregarding the pleasing lifestyle intended by God. So, as you are maturing, do not blindly go through your life, be spiritually observant, don’t become deceived by wolves that might dress up with lovely words as if they are in the family of God. Look deeper. Understand this, whoever takes pleasure in the standards of God, and strives to live by those standards, is righteous, and is your true brother and sister in Christ — they have the same nature you do, that nature that has been born of God. But whoever does what he wants to, no matter what he says, is acting as a child of the Devil. The Devil is the source of that kind of lifestyle/pattern/thought, he has possessed those qualities the beginning. We are spiritual beings, and at the core of our being, we will find that we align with either God or Satan. The reason that Jesus Christ came was to destroy the works of the Devil, so that men could have the possibility to become aligned with God. No one born of God will find themselves living lawlessly in sin, with total disregard for the laws that please God — again, the reason for this is that loving the things that God loves has become part of him/her as a result of seeing the beauty of Christ Jesus — therefore, even though we still struggle with the natural desires of our sinful flesh, we can not live in a way that ignores God’s standards … because of the reality of what has happened with our heart’s desires! If you keep these things in mind as you get to know different people that come into your lives, it will become obvious to you who your real brothers and sister are, and those that do not yet understand the beauty of Christ and what is going on spiritually.