You are coming out of the store, returning to your car, when a big van pulls up three spaces beyond you. Out of both sides of the van pours an unusual family. From the two sliding doors come ten kids of various ages. There are four White children, three Blacks and three Asians. Of the Caucasian kids, there is a blond, a red head and little girl with raven colored hair. The Asian children seem to come from different countries, and the blacks have different skin tones. But they are neat and clean and wearing modest clothing. They all have their faces washed and their hair combed and in an appropriate style. None are tattood and none are pierced, other than a few little studs in their ears. They all patiently stand beside the van waiting for Mom and Dad to lead them into the store. The youngest are holding the hands of the older in no apparent recognition or race or gender. They are all seem happy, chatting among themselves, apparently excited to go shopping, and none are making a scene in any way. No one is pouting. And as they pass you, several of them smile and even say “hello.” It is a very unusual family.
What makes them unusual is not the variety of their skin color or the texture of their hair. What makes them unlike most of the other kids you’ve seen lately is their demeanor in public. Despite their personal differences there is a unity they display as a family. They are from one household, displaying a love for one another and respect for their parents and even you. What makes them unusual is their joy which is contained in an atmosphere of self-discipline. They seem to think that even going to the store is an adventure to be treasured.
John has shared these words with us: “And now, little children, abide in (Christ), that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” In another moment he adds: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God,” and “when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Wedged between those thoughts is verse 29: “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” Notice the words “little children,” “sons of God,” and “born of him.” John is speaking about a family; a special family, an unusual family, a Heavenly family.
This same apostle will one day, soon after writing his epistles, be writing the Book of Revelation. In chapter 5, he will record a prophetic glimpse that he will have of God’s throne room: He will see a great crowd of redeemed sinners praising their Saviour, the Lord Jesus. He will tell us: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast, redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” In heaven there will be all kinds of redeemed people, from a variety of backgrounds, countries and languages.
There is absolutely no room for racism within Bible Christianity. I don’t say that as a liberal theologian; I say that as a Bible believer. The family of God is made up of everyone that doeth righteousness, no matter what his skin tone or the angle of his eye. Jesus of Nazareth did not look like me, nor like most of us here in this auditorium. He was not Caucasian. He nor was not six foot tall with blond hair and blue-eyes. Furthermore, we have a commission to “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” The “gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in ALL the world for a witness unto ALL nations…” Revelation 14:6: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to EVERY nation, and kindred, and tongue and people.”
John does not put any caveats on his statement in I John 5:1: “WHOSOEVER believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” In other words, every believer is a part of a very unusual family: God’s divine family. Those believers will have a variety of hair colors: from black, to white, to no hair at all. They will have skin tones from albino to vantablack, the blackest of black. They will have different heights, different shaped faces and different size hands and feet. But their hearts will all be alike; having been regenerated by the power of the Almighty. And because they have new hearts, they will know things about their God which they didn’t know before: Among other things, they will begin to understand God’s love. And they will know more about God’s righteousness than they ever knew before.
What specifically is it that we know, and how do we know it?
John says, “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” You might have noticed that the word “know” is used twice in this verse. What you can’t see in your King James English Bible is that those are completely different Greek words. And they each have a slightly different emphasis on the word “to know.”
“You know that your Saviour and God is righteous,” is a definitive knowledge; the knowledge of a fact. It is a knowledge that has become ingrained in you. It has become intuitive. You know that God is righteous. As a child of God, that knowledge is not something you learned by looking around you. It is not a product of observation, of science, or study. It is not something which we have chosen to know after examining other alternatives. You could say that the knowledge of God’s righteousness comes with regeneration: the gift of salvation. There will be a day, when the unbelieving and unrepentant will learn that God is righteous, but John isn’t talking about those people or that day. In fact, he’s not talking about that kind of knowledge: learned by experience.
The little word “if” can speak of almost opposite things, depending on the context. Sometimes it refers to a doubt, but at other times it is something taken without doubt. As Matthew Henry puts it: this is “not so much a conditional particle, as a suppositional one” – whatever that means. The context usually makes the direction of the little word quite clear. For example, Colossians 3:1: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Paul wasn’t questioning whether or not they were risen with Christ; he was assuming they were. He was saying, “SINCE ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above…” And in this case, “if” again speaks of certainty. “Since ye know,” or “Inasmuch as ye know the Lord is righteous,” then certain things follow.
And what follows is a different kind of knowledge. “If you know intuitively that God is righteous you will come to recognize and know that those who live righteously are born of God.” The second knowledge in this verse is the kind that we learn through experience and observation.
Most of us have known people who professed faith in Christ, because they wanted to be forgiven and relieved. But those people subsequently didn’t follow the Lord. While some of them were baptized, others of them refused. They attended the preaching of the Word for a while, but then got bored and dropped out. They enjoyed the company of the believers, but their love of wicked people soon pulled them away. They knew their actions were not righteous, but they returned to them nevertheless. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” From our perspective, we learned – we came to know – they were not children of God, because their lives proved it. And conversely, we learned, we came to know, that others are our brothers and sisters in Christ, because they continued to do righteous things.
And this brings us to the point:
It is important that we DO righteousness.
What is meant by “doing righteousness?” It is not the same as doing religious things, and those righteous things are not to be defined by ourselves. This verse contains two related words: “righteous” and “righteousness.” They are two forms of the same word. They refer to the same sort of thing. Christians know intuitively that “God is righteous.” He is holy; He is sinless; His motives and actions are right. W.E. Vine’s “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,” begins its definition of righteousness by saying, “Righteousness is the character or quality of being right or just.” Then the next sentence adds, “It was formerly spelled ‘rightwiseness,’ which clearly expresses the meaning.” And to that Noah Webster agrees. To be righteous is to be right. Jehovah cannot in any way be wrong. He cannot be anything but right. Therefore, neither God the Father nor God the Son, the Lord Jesus, can sin or contradict their holy nature. For example, God cannot lie. And, “let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” – James 1:13.
And that, in essence, will be true of all those who are born again, because they bear the nature of God. The Christian will hate sin as much as his Heavenly Father hates sin. And remember, God hated it so much, He sacrificed His only begotten Son for it. But “doeth righteousness” doesn’t speak simply of not committing sin; this is POSITIVE. “Doeth righteousness” is living in the example of the righteous Lord Jesus. It is going about doing good, showing patience and kindness, encouraging righteousness in others. It is being prayerful as Jesus was prayerful; thankful and even worshipful. “Doing righteousness” involves taking up responsibilities and even looking for responsibilities to pick up.
And by the way, the word “doeth” speaks of continuance, consistency and permanence. John says, “You have learned and know that everyone who continues to do righteousness is born of God.”
And here we come back to our opening illustration.
Outwardly, we may looked much different from all our brothers and sisters. Some of us are older in the faith while some are still babes in Christ. Some look grizzled, wrinkled and worn, while others are fresh and energetic. Those “fathers in the faith” who can should put their hands down so that our younger brothers can hold them for support and guidance. Some of us have been given adult responsibilities, while others are beginning to yearn for responsibilities. Some of us know the Bible better than others and therefore we know the Saviour better. Some of us know what righteous duties look like, but others haven’t been taught yet. Despite the differences between us as God’s children, we have all the same spiritual father. We may not be pouring out of the same van, but we will be gathered up and taken to the same home.
I notice some good Bible commentators arguing about the pronouns in this verse. “If ye know that HE is righteous, ye know that every that doeth righteousness is born of HIM.” The verse begins with a “he” and ends with a “him.” The “one who is righteous” refers to the subject of the preceding verse so that must be Christ Jesus. But then those who like to argue for argument’s sake, declare that everyone knows Christians are born of God the Father not born of Christ the Son. I refuse to get sucked into that fight, pointing out that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit always act in unison. When it comes to salvation from sin, or from most everything else God does, what the Father does is done by the Son and the Spirit.
It doesn’t matter if the sinner has been regenerated by the Father or the Spirit, the fact is that what was once a cold, dead heart has been made alive. The fact is: a child of the Devil has been born again into the family of the Triune God. Not only have we been born into the family, but we have been adopted and made full heirs of all the inheritance of the Lord. What infinite blessings there are for all those whom the Lord has saved.
But, John is saying those blessings will be given only to people who demonstrate that they are born of God. Those blessings belong to souls that “do righteousness.” Living as a child of God’s family should live, doesn’t put anyone into God’s family; ye must be born again. But everyone who is born of God, displays the characteristics of the family of God. And in particular, John refers to righteousness. “Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.”
So the question is: “Are YOU doing righteous things?” Are you living righteously? Not only are you fighting sin in your life, are you also reflecting the righteousness of Christ? Is your life in harmony with the One whom we know to be righteous? How else can we know whether or not we are one of His children?