Doing Righteousness simply means, believing in Jesus.
3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
When the bible talks about doing righteousness it's talking about doing something that makes you a righteous person. Since the bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,and there is none righteous, no, not one, and there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not, how does one become righteous?
Of course, it's obvious that the only way any sinful person can become righteous is by having all of his sins forgiven and righteousness automatically imputed upon him by faith. And the only way that can happen is by recieving Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. So, doing righteouness simply means believing in Jesus. It doesn't mean obeying a lot of commandments and rules and being on some kind of self-righteous works trip.
3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
When you recieve Jesus He destroys the works of the devil in you. He wipes away all your sins, past, present and future so that you can't sin anymore. You'll still make mistakes and wrong decisions and do bad things but nothing you can do is wrong from that time forward. It is wrong to get under condemnation for anything you think are wrong or that other people tell you are wrong. you are white as snow, clean as a whistle, made perfect by the blood of the the Lamb.
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
You are misusing scripture, whether it be by purposed intent or in ignorance due to being deceived is irrelevant.
You leave off this verse...
1Jn 3:10
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
A reason you don't quote that verse is because contradicts what your contention.
Verse 10 uses the word MANIFEST which means that the context of verse 9 is a PRACTICAL REALITY which is EVIDENT TO THE OBSERVER.
You present the context of verse 9 as an ABSTRACT POSITION which is NOT EVIDENT TO THE OBSERVER.
So in your theology you can have a murderer or a rapist who can MANIFESTLY ENGAGE in those deeds and yet NOT SIN because you perceive him as being POSITIONALLY in Jesus.
As I wrote in earlier posts, that is GNOSTIC DUALISM which has infiltrated Christianity long ago. You therefore argue in favour of sin in a very subtle way, attempting to make it sound like you are not.
Here is the proper context...
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
John is teaching that MANIFEST CONDUCT must match the PROFESSION. There is no disconnect like the Gnostics taught.
The Gnostics taught that the material world and therefore that the flesh itself was evil and that sin was a necessary result of the soul being entrapped in flesh body. They they taught that human beings would always sin whilst being present in a flesh body. Due to this belief they were forced to defend "manifest unrighteousness" whilst upholding "spiritual righteousness." Basically one could practically engage in sinful deeds without there being an associated corruption of the spirit.
All these doctrine of "clothed in the righteousness of Christ" or "righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to the believer" are doctrines which are byproducts of this underlying philosophy.
I know those doctrine sound and feel good. They tickle the ears and are very tasty to the majority of people because it soothes people in their rebellion giving them the perception that they are not under condemnation.
John warned the reader NOT TO BE DECEIVED because many people were being deceived by Gnostic philosophy back in his day. John clearly stated that those who DO the right thing are righteous and that those who DO NO the right thing are unrighteous. It is the manifest conduct of an individual which manifests both the children of God and the children of the devil to the world.
This is why John would write...
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
The walk must match the talk. A person doing evil deeds is not keeping the commandments of Jesus, they are liars if they profess to know Jesus.
Now what you have done Delivery is you snip 1Joh 3:9 and then use rhetoric and misapplied scripture to try an prove that it does not actually mean what it says.
You state...
When the bible talks about doing righteousness it's talking about doing something that makes you a righteous person. Since the bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,and there is none righteous, no, not one, and there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not, how does one become righteous?
Where Paul declares that there is none righteous, not even one you cannot ignore the context. Paul in Romans 1 to 3 is building a case that both the Jewish people and the Gentile people are guilty before God. He is not speaking of individuals in the context that there is no such things as a righteous person. The Bible speaks of many righteous people like Job, Abel, Noah, Daniel, John the Baptist's parents among others.
So it is true that all HAVE sinned but it is not true that all KEEP sinning. When Jesus said "go and sin no more" He was telling people to "not KEEP sinning."
So how does one become righteous? Well first how do you answer that question...
Of course, it's obvious that the only way any sinful person can become righteous is by having all of his sins forgiven and righteousness automatically imputed upon him by faith. And the only way that can happen is by recieving Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. So, doing righteouness simply means believing in Jesus. It doesn't mean obeying a lot of commandments and rules and being on some kind of self-righteous works trip.
Your answer is very typical of the corrupted church system. Basically your answer is salvation via "confess, trust and receive" where salvation is an abstract position instead of a manifest reality. It is very tasty and ear tickling I must admit because it is EASY and allows one to KEEP SINNING whilst giving a PERCEPTION of not being under judgement for ongoing sin. It is a lie though, a lie of the devil.
We are made righteous via this...
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2Co 6:1 We then,
as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
We are "made the righteousness of God IN Him via WORKING TOGETHER with God." In a nutshell we WHOLEHEARTEDLY yield ourselves over the the influence of God and walk obediently in that influence and through doing that a total transformation takes place. This is only possible through a genuine repentance and faith experience where the sin of rebellion stops.
You quote Rom 8:1 but like a multitude of professing believers today you misrepresent it and profess it within the context of an ABSTRACT POSITION instead of an ABIDING MANIFEST REALITY.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The context of Romans 8:1 is not an ABSTRACT POSITION, rather it is an ABIDING MANIFEST REALITY.
It is the SPIRIT OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST which sets us free from sin and death, a WALK where the righteousness of the law is fulfilled IN US when we WALK after the Spirit instead of the flesh.
The flesh has to be crucified for that to happen. The old man has to be put to death once and for all in order for sin service to cease. The sin has to stop because we cannot serve sin and righteousness at the same time. We either yield ourselves to God or we don't.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
See how in the above passage Paul connects CONDUCT to being FREE FROM SIN?
We are slaves to whom we obey. If we yield our body to sin then we are servants of sin and children of the devil. That is what Jesus taught...
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Jesus sets us free from that...
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
...which is why...
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
You see being "saved by grace THROUGH faith" and not of works lest anyone should boast is speaking of the DYNAMIC by which salvation is produced.
We cannot save ourselves apart from the grace of God. It is the grace of God which brings salvation which teaches...
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching
us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
It is through MANIFESTLY ABIDING in that grace via faith whereby we are transformed from the inside out. There is no room for rebellion to God in that process. There is no sin in salvation, not willful sin. We might err in judgement or do wrong ignorantly but those things are not rooted in iniquity or a heart full of guile. In salvation the heart is pure and full of the love of God and it is IMPOSSIBLE to do evil lest one cast out the implanted word and turn themselves over to Satan.
Thus a true Christian can sin in the sense that it is possible, but it is not possible to sin and remain a Christian. A Christian who rebels against God forfeits their salvation. Whether they can recover from such a state is between them and God and the Bible has strong warning about allowing oneself to get in such a position.
Fortunately for many professing Christians today they were never saved to begin with because they bought into a false Gospel message and thus they never came to God with a true heart, they never truly abided in Jesus, they never walked according to the Spirit because they NEVER truly repented. Instead of repenting they merely confessed their sinfulness and received Jesus like a present, never understanding the dynamic that ought to be at work in them.
So I hope you read my words and seriously reflect on them. There are many on this forum who simply dismiss the words of mine as something which they are not. Jesus preached the strait gate and narrow way which leads to life where only a FEW would enter in thereat and He warned of a broadway which leads to destruction which MANY would follow.
The majority of the world is being deceived and will remain deceived up until the end. Please do not be one of them.
Thanks for reading if you got this far.
