WEDNESDAY 22nd
1 John 2:29
‘If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.’
We have come to our last verse in this second chapter and John points us to the righteousness of Jesus and that it should be reflected in the life of the Christian believer. He says that the evidence of one who knows the one who is righteous, that is the Lord Jesus Christ is that he will also practice righteousness. In chapter 3 of this same epistle John says ‘Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.’ (v7)
We know that Jesus is righteous, in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30 we read that Christ has become to us from God, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. It is Paul who also reminds us that when we come to salvation, the righteousness of Christ is imputed or counted to us, that is Christ takes away our sin or transgression and gives to us his own righteousness, and in the words of the song, we stand complete in him. In Philippians 3:9 we read ‘. . . and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith . . .’
Here in 1 John 2:29, John is affirming that if we claim to know that Jesus is righteous and claim to know him who is righteous, or claim to be IN him who is righteous then righteousness should be a fruit, the outcome of our lives.
In John 15 we have the picture that Jesus gives us of him being the vine and we being the branches, it speaks of our being connected to Christ, which means that we draw our spiritual sustenance from him, this should then cause us to produce fruit that is in keeping to our being connected to Jesus as the vine. The challenge that John is bringing out here in this epistle is that what we are in our behaviour, attitude, lifestyle, whatever language we want to use to describe it, should be a reflection of his righteousness. Therefore it is essential that we keep that connection, to be daily drawing from the vine to be able to reproduce righteous living as we sojourn here on earth. And John is very clear, he says ‘YOU MAY be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.’
So todays challenge is this, do our lives clearly show that we practice righteousness, for this is the fruit that shows that we have been born of him.
The words ‘practices righteousness’ are so important, it shows that we should be making every effort, striving in every way possible to avoid anything that even hints of unrighteousness so that we do not betray our testimony of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his representatives here on earth, this enough should lead us to realise we need to live as good examples, as representatives of the one who is our righteousness.