11.08.2010

Tabletalk Magazine

You can sign up for a free trial of this magazine offered by Ligonier Ministries. It's a devotional magazine with articles that cover a wide range of topics related to Christian Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy.

http://www.ligonier.org/tabletalk/

Let No One Deceive You - I John 3:7-10

"Little Children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning....Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. This is how God's children - and the Devil's children - are made evident." I John 3: 7-10

This passage of Scripture is crucial for the believer to understand. There are some within the realm of "Fundamentalism" who disregard this passage as having nothing to do with the believer or how the believer can have assurance of his salvation. I John 5:13 tells us that these words were written "so that you (believers) may know that you have eternal life." Could it be more clear?

The point is that the life of the true believer will not be characterized by a life that lives out practical atheism. One can profess to have accepted Christ and then go out and live their life as if nothing ever happened to them, but their life lived in sin only indicates that there was never a true conversion. One cannot be truely saved and live as if God had no control of their lives. When God saves a person He radically changes them so that they live a righteous life. That is not to say that they will never sin, but that their lives will not be characterized by sin. The true Christian will grow in Christ and God will complete the work that was begun.

The truth we must remember is that if our life has not been changed by the Gospel, then we need to go back and reevaluate our conversion. Do not be deceived; if we have not been transformed by the Word to live a righteous life then we have not truly been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.