Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Wednesday, 22 May 2024 06:46

Whose Family Do You Belong To?
by Sarah Wootten“ Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

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 3:10, ESV).As we read today’s verse, we see how John is clearly putting us into two different groups based on whose family we belong to. We have the children of God and the children of the devil. And just as members of our earthly families tend to act in similar manners, so God’s children and the devil’s children act in similar manners. For example, I have three siblings. While we do have different personalities and interests, we were taught to be rule followers. If there is a rule, we usually don’t ignore it. We know there’s a reason why people aren’t supposed to enter through the exit doors at Walmart, so we go out of our way to enter through the correct doors. But we all know a lot of you reading this go through the wrong door without batting an eye.

Similarly, these two “families” that John draws attention to have similar actions and characteristics. God’s children make a practice of doing what is right and loving other people, while the devil’s children make a practice of walking in rebellion and serving their selfish desires. The reason these two families act like this is because of the character of their respective fathers.

Consider a blackberry vine. What does it produce? Blackberries. Why does it produce blackberries? Because it’s a blackberry vine. If strawberries popped up on the vine, then it wouldn’t be a blackberry vine. It would be a strawberry plant. It’s simple logic. The fruit is determined by the type of the plant that it was grown on. Such it is with God’s children and the devil’s children. 1 John 3:9 tells us that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning because they have been born of God. They reflect the character of their Father because they belong to His family. Because He is righteous and selfless in His love, His children grow in righteousness and in selfless love. The same is true for the children of the devil. The devil is not concerned about following God’s law; instead, he opposes and hates it. Therefore, the children of the devil will not follow God’s law and instead oppose it.

If you’ve been following along with these articles for a while, you probably think I am sounding like a broken record. Yes, I understand. 1 John is very repetitive. In fact, this is my third time in eight months to write about how people are known by the fruit of their lives. But clearly, John really wants his readers to understand this point for a reason. So let’s recall why John is writing this letter. He’s writing this letter so that we may know if we truly have eternal life (5:13). He’s writing so that we may not be deceived by false teachers (2:26). He also wants us to grow in Christlikeness (2:1) and have completed joy (1:4). I’m convinced that understanding the principle that people’s actions reflect which “father” they belong to (either God’s family or the devil’s family) helps accomplish these four purposes of John’s writing. And if you’ll take some time to consider John’s four purposes in light of 1 John 3:10, then I think you’ll be convinced too.