1 John 3:7-10 - Don't Be Deceived
- Chad Werkhoven
- Nov 11
- 3 min read
If it quacks, it's a duck. If you keep on sinning, what are you?
1 John 3:7–10 (ESV)
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 7: Renewal to Repentance
God preserves in His saints when they fall
his imperishable seed
from which they have been born again,
lest it perish or be dislodged.
Also, by His Word and Spirit
he certainly and effectively renews them to repentance
so that
they have a heartfelt and godly sorrow for the sins they have committed;
they seek and obtain,
through faith and with a contrite heart,
forgiveness in the blood of the Mediator;
they experience again the grace of a reconciled God;
they through faith adore his mercies;
and that they from then on more eagerly work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
Summary
John has one simple instruction for you in today's passage: do not let anyone deceive you. More literally rendered, he commands you to not allow anyone to pull you away from the truth.
This imperative has massive implications once you begin to realize the deceptive nature of so much in this world. Nearly every aspect of it - both good and bad things -have the capacity and often the intention to pry you away from the truth you've been given.
The primary truth that John wants you to cling to is that as a Christian, you've been born of God, and that since God's seed abides in you, so sin is incompatible with your new nature. Certainly John doesn't mean that true Christians never sin, for then there would be no true Christians. Rather, John's concern is those who makes a practice of sinning; that is, they let sin fester without fighting against it.
John's point is simple. Behavior betrays being. A dog barks, a duck quacks. In the same way, people's actions make it evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: those who unrepentantly keep sinning are of the devil, while those who have been made righteous in Christ will practice righteousness.
Dig Deeper
As we read through our passage from 1 Peter yesterday, we learned that our souls were coated in a sort of spiritual teflon that keeps the sins we still commit as Christians from corrupting our nature, which has been born of God. It's this idea that the Canons summarize here in this week's article: that God preserves His imperishable seed in His saints when they fall into sin.
John certainly endorses the doctrine Peter laid out that the Canons echo. So far this year we've read 38 passages written by John that have helped us understand that God's grace is stronger than we are, and that we're so firmly held in God's grip that nothing can pry us out.
But John here issues a warning not to abuse this so-called spiritual teflon. You can't just keep on sinning without repentance and expect the teflon to keep sin's stain from sticking. Rather, John reminds you here that because God’s seed abides in you, your behavior must look different from the world. You cannot go on sinning, because you have been born of God.
So stay on guard. The world will continually try to convince you that a little sin is just fine. It will even abuse the truth to make you think that since you're protected by spiritual teflon, it can't hurt you. But let no one deceive you. You're a child of God. So just like a duck can't help but quack, make sure you make every effort to always do what is right.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose seed abides in us, His children;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be kept from temptation and that you'll feel repentant when you get decieved;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: John 20
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