Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
To be righteous in the sight of God is not to admire, profess or claim righteousness but to do what is right in life and character, and the one who does so is righteous as Christ Himself is righteous. Doing what is right means keeping God's holy law as expressed in the Ten Commandments, loving God with all the heart and neighbor as self, and loving the brother in deed by keeping His commandments and giving to his need. Let no one be deceived by profession without practice, for claiming to know God, to have faith, to be converted, sanctified or sinless while breaking His law and teaching others to do so is a terrible deception. Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin cannot go with continuing in sin, since sin is transgression of the law and puts one on the devil's side, while Christ was manifested to take away sin and destroy the works of the devil. This obedience springs from faith that works by love and purifies the soul, not as a way to earn favor, and those who so walk in the light have cleansing, confidence toward God, answered prayer and eternal life.
Address and Deception Warning
The address as little children calls believers into the place of Christ's little children under God's control as children are under their parents' control, needing to know His will for their present and eternal good, with Scripture instructing them in the plan and conditions of salvation. This belongs with abiding in Christ, becoming like Him, and receiving everlasting life. It shows the relation sustained to the Creator, is spoken to church members, and in God's sight the inhabitants of the whole world are little children.
The command to let no one deceive guards against being misled about righteousness and about the connection between knowing God and living righteously. Doing what is right shows a person to be righteous as Christ is righteous, and a claim to faith must be shown in good works, while those who persist in sin do not belong to God. Righteous character is known by righteous conduct, after the pattern of Christ's own righteousness. This teaching stands with the statements that sin is transgression of the law and that abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, where sin must be put away for the atonement to be effective.
The warning exposes profession without practice, for being righteous is doing righteousness in life and character, not only saying that one is righteous. A true believer is sanctified by the truth and shows it by action, and that doing marks the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. It is addressed to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventist churches, and it reaches everyone who claims to know God and to keep His commandments but does not show it by good works; such profession without obedience is false, and each will receive according to deeds. Failing to do righteousness or to love the brother shows a person is not of God, while doing righteousness manifests the children of God and distinguishes them from the children of the devil. Claiming pardon while knowingly continuing in the same sins when tempted, without resisting temptation, has no virtue and is self-deception, but when truth is in the heart it sanctifies life and character and gives power to keep the soul in Christ under temptation.
Doing is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, revealed in actions and works of righteousness, in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved and in deed and in truth. Those who retain grosser traits of character and reveal human defects in words and disposition show they are not abiding in Him. Mere profession or knowledge without righteous action has no value, and righteousness is to be evident in the lives and work of God's people, who are to follow God's just requirements and act faithfully before Him. No fair profession makes one holy while the heart is corrupt, and claiming perfect love and holiness of heart, claiming to have no trials and temptations but perfect peace and submission to God, and putting on a calm, sympathetic appearance does not make a person holy, for a person can profess sanctification while the heart is full of corruption and in perfect darkness under the frown of Jesus. True character is shown by life, as seen when one lives for years with a man who is not her husband after leaving a husband and child, professes medical knowledge to deceive, lies under oath about cost for gain, and takes money by false oath, proving vileness and hypocrisy, and such sins must be confessed publicly from house to house and restored where wrong was taken before repentance is genuine.
The warning also exposes those who profess advanced piety and sinlessness while openly despising the law of God and teaching by precept and example that others may sin with impunity. Doing righteousness means keeping the commandments of God in thought and word and deed, and the one who does so is righteous just as God is righteous. The verse tests pretentious claims to sanctification and exposes those who transgress the law while claiming holiness as in terrible deception and as blasphemers of the God of heaven. Committing sin, which is transgressing the law, puts a person on the side of the devil, in the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate. No one should be deceived into claiming righteousness while living in sin, for doing righteousness shows that a person is righteous as Christ is righteous, and claiming to abide in Christ or to be sanctified does not make lawbreaking righteous, since a claim of sanctification and genuine sanctification are different.
It warns not to be deceived by those who excuse disobedience and twist Scripture to suit their own breaking of God's law, for doing righteousness means keeping God's commandments just as written and walking as Christ walked, with the love of God perfected in obedience. Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin produces a sinless, commandment-keeping life, while committing sin is transgressing the law and is of the devil, whose works the Son of God was manifested to destroy. Claiming to know God or to be in the light while refusing obedience and hating the commandment-keeping people is lying, darkness, and self-deception. A claim to abide in Christ or be sanctified is deceptive when the person lives in transgression of God's law, for righteousness is shown by obedience, not merely claimed.
Doing Proves Righteous Character
Righteousness is not a matter of enjoying or appreciating what is right, nor of saying or professing it, but of doing what is right. To do righteousness is to do the will of the Father in heaven, and those who do it stand to Christ as brother and sister and mother. Such doing comes from possessing a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord. Building on Christ is obeying His word, for holiness is not rapture but surrendering all to God and doing the will of the heavenly Father. Mere knowledge of the promise does not give possession, just as Israel on the borders of the promised land could not possess its vineyards and olive groves by knowing about Canaan or singing its songs, but only by occupation, by complying with the conditions, by exercising living faith in God, and by appropriating His promises while obeying His instruction. Religion consists in doing the words of Christ, not doing to earn God's favor but because His undeserved love has been received, so that salvation rests not on profession merely but on faith made manifest in works of righteousness; doing, not saying merely, is expected, and character is built through action.
Doing what is right is the evidence, test, and genuine mark of being righteous. It is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and it marks the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. Failing to do righteousness or to love the brother shows a person is not of God, while committing sin shows belonging to the devil, for sin is transgression of God's law and those who abide in Christ do not practice sin. The teaching is addressed to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventist churches, and it includes everyone who claims to know God and to keep His commandments but does not show it by good works; such profession without obedience is false, and each will receive according to deeds. Being righteous is doing righteousness in life and character, not only saying that one is righteous, for a true believer is sanctified by the truth and shows it by action, in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved. Abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, because sin shows that a person has not truly seen or known Him; righteousness is shown in a changed life in which old sinful habits and practices are left behind and the person is cleansed and made holy, while those who retain grosser traits of character and reveal human defects in words and disposition show they are not abiding in Him.
The one who does righteousness is righteous even as Christ is righteous. That likeness is after the pattern of Christ's own righteousness, reflecting His righteousness, character, and example and following the principles of His character. Righteousness is measured by God's holy law, expressed in the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, and abiding in Christ and having God's love within lead a person's thoughts, purposes, feelings, and actions into harmony with that law. Obedience is the fruit of faith, not a way to earn salvation, and a righteous character is shown in a life that follows the principles of Christ's character in thoughts, purposes, feelings, actions, life, and character. Believers must not be misled about the relation between righteousness and conduct, for this teaching belongs with the truths that sin is transgression of the law and that abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin.
No human opinion changes that character or changes God's thoughts toward him. What others do or say or think about a person, and no man's measurement of character, decides or alters standing with God. God's thoughts toward the one who does righteousness stay the same, and other people's words, actions, or opinions cannot change God's view or alter that person's character. Those who do righteousness daily receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have heaven before them to win through Christ giving His life for them, and keep looking unto Jesus who loves them as the Author and Finisher of faith, beholding Jesus and reflecting His image in words, keeping His love in thoughts, speaking of Him, and inviting Him to abide, in order to win heaven and to obtain the peace and rest and love of God provided by Christ giving His life.
Law Keeping in Christ
Doing righteousness means keeping God's holy law in thought and word and deed rather than breaking it, and the one who does so is righteous just as God is righteous. Righteousness is measured by that law expressed in the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, and abiding in Christ with God's love within brings thoughts, purposes, feelings, and actions into harmony with it. The law that controls God's kingdom gives no encouragement to continuing in transgression and sin, so the doer of righteousness stands opposite the committer of sin who is of the devil who sins from the beginning. This agrees with the Old Testament teaching that the soul that sins shall die but the just man who does what is lawful and right and walks in God's statutes shall surely live, and it tests pretentious claims to sanctification and exposes transgressors claiming holiness as in terrible deception and as blasphemers while putting themselves on the side of the devil in the ranks of darkness with the first great apostate.
Keeping that law includes keeping the seventh-day Sabbath God sanctified and set apart as the memorial of His creation, and refusing the rival spurious sabbath set up through Satan working by the papal power called the man of sin. Sin is the transgression of the law, and Christ was manifested to take away sins and to destroy the works of the devil, while whoever is born of God does not commit sin because His seed, the words of God, remains in him. Keeping the Sabbath and stepping aside from the customs and practices of the world brings the cross endured for Christ's sake, for Christians and the world serve different masters and cannot join in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water can mix. Believers must therefore stand individually in God's strength rather than weak human strength, keeping an individuality that cannot be submerged, belonging to Jesus Christ, looking to God and obeying God and walking in pure light from the Word even when family members have no interest, with special help from God.
Doing righteousness expresses the great principles of the law in the two precepts of loving the Lord God with all the heart and loving neighbor as self, upon which hang all the law and the prophets. Its doing is the love of God expressed in life and character in treatment of fellow men, showing the close linking of love to God and love to the brethren. Righteousness expressed in doing what is right is not set aside by Christ's command to love one another, as shown when the verse is cited with verses 4 and 5.
Love of that kind is shown in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved. It means walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, loving the brother in deed and in truth and not in word only, laying down the life for the brethren, opening compassion and giving this world's goods to a brother in need, and believing on the name of Jesus Christ. When truth is in the heart it sanctifies life and character and gives power to keep the soul in Christ under temptation, while claiming pardon while knowingly continuing in the same sins when tempted without resisting has no virtue and is self-deception. Such doing is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, whereas retaining grosser traits and revealing human defects in words and disposition shows one is not abiding in Him. The gospel so works righteousness in all who believe that by grace and wondrous love guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life with free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits proving freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth, while those claiming to be Christians yet living in sin take an active part against Christ, misrepresent Him, and are servants of Satan in bondage to sin. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil are manifest, for whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
Such doing comes from possessing faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is doing the will of the Father in heaven by which those who do it become Christ's brother and sister and mother. The imputed righteousness of Christ laid hold of by faith becomes part of the being and dwells within, meaning holiness, uprightness, purity, love, forbearance, meekness and all Christian virtues, making acceptable repentance possible, and all who have it will work the works of God and keep the commandments. This righteousness never covers cherished sin, and without this holiness and wedding garment no one can see God. Obedience is the fruit of faith and of surrender to God and of receiving God's gift of love, not a way to earn salvation or God's favor, and building on Christ is obeying His word. Holiness is not rapture but surrendering all to God and doing the will of the heavenly Father, for mere knowledge of the promise does not give possession any more than Israel on the borders of the promised land could possess vineyards and olive groves by knowing about Canaan or singing its songs, but only by occupation, by complying with the conditions, by exercising living faith, and by appropriating His promises while obeying His instruction. It is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord.
God's righteousness is absolute and is seen in all His works and laws, so His people are to reflect His character. Christ's sinless life showed practical godliness in every word and deed, and His followers' lives are to reveal that same practical righteousness. Believers are to confess and forsake their sins, and this leads to a transformed character.
Sin, Abiding and Victory
Sin is the transgression of God's law, and to commit sin is to take sides with the devil who sins from the beginning, joining the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate. No one should be deceived into separating righteousness from action, for doing what is right is the evidence of being righteous after Christ's example, while those who abide in Christ do not practice sin. The warning tests all pretentious claims to sanctification, exposing as terrible deception and blasphemy the profession of advanced piety and sinlessness by those who openly despise God's law and teach by precept and example that others may sin with impunity. Claiming to abide in Christ or to be sanctified while breaking the law does not make lawbreaking righteous, for there is a difference between a claim of sanctification and genuine sanctification. Claiming to know God or to be in the light while refusing obedience and hating the commandment-keeping people is lying, darkness, and self-deception, and those who claim to be Christians yet live in sin take an active part against Christ, misrepresent Him, and remain servants of Satan in bondage to sin.
Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin is incompatible with continuing in sin, because sin shows that a person has not truly seen or known Him. Having Christ abiding in the heart requires constantly beholding Him, and to abide in Him means not to sin. One who is born of God, with His seed, the words of God, remaining within, does not and cannot commit sin. Righteousness is shown in a changed life in which old sinful habits and practices are left behind, and the person is cleansed and made holy. The law that controls God's kingdom gives no encouragement to continuing in transgression, so doing righteousness means keeping that law rather than breaking it, and this agrees with the teaching that the soul that sins shall die but the just man who does what is lawful and right and walks in God's statutes shall surely live.
Christ was manifested not to take away the law that defines sin but to take away sin from the confessing transgressor and to destroy the works of the devil. Doing righteousness means keeping God's holy commandments in thought and word and deed and practicing Christ's righteousness, walking as Christ walked with the love of God perfected in obedience. The one who does so stands opposite the one who commits sin, who is of the devil who sins from the beginning. The gospel works righteousness in all who believe, giving free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits of righteousness that prove freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth.
To everyone who surrenders fully to God is given the privilege of living without sin in obedience to heaven's law. By grace and wondrous love guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life. Those who have the hope of seeing Christ purify themselves even as He is pure, with righteousness expressed in the life and not merely professed. Living without sin is possible, for otherwise these words would not have been written, and they are recorded so that no one carelessly continues in sin but walks in the light of the living God. No sin is blotted out from the book of God except through the faith of the believer who holds the beginning of confidence firm to the end, and there is hope in the full and entire atonement because it is effective when sin is put away.
Daily Life and Assurance
The instruction belongs to every human being to comprehend, and it is to be studied and practiced as proof of faith. It is addressed to all church members, and it requires manliness and firmness in character proved by doing what is right. A cheap, surface character does more harm than that of a worldling, because professing to represent Christ while not doing right misleads others, and at the present time doing righteousness does great good while failing to do so thoughtlessly works great evil. Youth and old must therefore bring the light of the Word into the heart with deep experience rather than mere surface work.
Youth, students, sanitarium workers and printing-office workers, and especially instructors and leaders, are set the possibility of becoming sons and daughters of God by walking uprightly in a crooked and perverse generation, showing the contrast between the principles of Christ and those of Satan. Doing righteousness in daily life requires learning meekness and lowliness from Christ, keeping hereditary and cultivated tendencies under control, and having the character daily refined, sanctified and purified. It requires speaking no harsh, passionate or rash word but speaking as Christ spoke, witnessing by a life kept every moment by the Saviour's keeping power in faithful, joyful service. Every professed believer must advance and press forward with sanctified, refined aspirations and worthy ambitions, seeking a character that represents the Lord Jesus and demonstrates His perfection in life. The principles of heaven are to be manifested here below as a foretaste, putting away discontent, murmuring, disagreeable words, dispute, quarreling and a spirit of fault-finding, since no one will enter heaven with that spirit.
Righteousness is not enjoying righteousness but doing it, which is doing the will of the Father in heaven, and those who do it are counted as Christ's brother and sister and mother. Such doing comes from faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord. It is to be evident in lives and work by following God's just requirements and acting faithfully before Him, for mere profession or knowledge without righteous action has no value. It is applied to self-sacrificial giving and continued well-doing, where even a small gift given with pure motive is noticed by God. Those converted to the third angel's message are to show unity rather than division and to become channels and representatives of God's grace.
Loyalty to the principles of God's work binds the godly physician and every medical missionary practitioner to everlasting right because it is the way of righteousness and truth. Righteousness through faith must control conduct, with conscience molded by the Lord and upheld daily by His power, and every power sanctified day by day to represent Christ, since strength of intellect does not save. No one is secured for eternal life unless fastened securely to divine principles of right, practicing the righteousness of Christ, and not drifting to follow the example of those who do not wear the sign of the Sabbath and do not bear the seal of the living God. Christians and the world serve different masters and cannot join hands in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water can mix, for those who serve God and those who serve Him not have no harmony. Believers must therefore stand individually in God's strength and not in weak human strength, keeping an individuality that cannot be submerged in any living human being, belonging to Jesus Christ, looking to God and obeying God, and walking in the pure light of truth from the Word even when family members have no interest in it, with special help from God.
Those who do righteousness daily receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have heaven before them to win through Christ giving His life for them, and keep looking unto Jesus who loves them as the Author and Finisher of faith. By beholding Jesus they reflect His image in words, keep His love in thoughts, invite Him to abide, speak of Him, and obtain the peace and rest and love of God provided by Christ giving His life. Doing righteousness means walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, loving the brother in deed and in truth and not in word only, laying down the life for the brethren, opening compassion and giving this world's goods to a brother in need, believing on the name of Jesus Christ, and keeping His commandments and doing those things pleasing in His sight. Those who do this have full joy, are cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus, have passed from death unto life, have no occasion of stumbling, have assurance of heart and confidence toward God, and receive what they ask. By grace guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family, and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life, with free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits of righteousness proving freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth.
No human opinion changes that character or changes God's thoughts toward him, for what others do or say or think, and no man's measurement of character, decides or alters standing with God. Believers are to confess and forsake their sins, which leads to a transformed character reflecting God's absolute righteousness seen in all His works and laws and Christ's practical godliness in every word and deed. By contrast, to say one has fellowship with God while walking in darkness is to lie and not do the truth. Whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who loves not his brother, for he who loves not his brother abides in death and in darkness. He is like Cain who was of the wicked one and slew his brother because his own works were evil, is a murderer in hating his brother, has no eternal life abiding in him, and the love of God does not dwell in him when he shuts up compassion from the needy.
Fair profession does not make a person holy, and claiming perfect love and holiness of heart, claiming to have no trials and temptations but perfect peace and submission, and putting on a calm, sympathetic appearance, does not make one holy while the heart is full of corruption and in darkness under the frown of Jesus. True character is shown by life, as when one lives for years with a man who is not her husband after leaving husband and child, professes medical knowledge to deceive, lies under oath about cost for gain, and takes money by false oath, proving vileness and hypocrisy. Such sins must be confessed publicly from house to house and restored where wrong was taken before repentance is genuine.
To be righteous in the sight of God is not to admire, profess or claim righteousness but to do what is right in life and character, and the one who does so is righteous as Christ Himself is righteous. Doing what is right means keeping God's holy law as expressed in the Ten Commandments, loving God with all the heart and neighbor as self, and loving the brother in deed by keeping His commandments and giving to his need. Let no one be deceived by profession without practice, for claiming to know God, to have faith, to be converted, sanctified or sinless while breaking His law and teaching others to do so is a terrible deception. Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin cannot go with continuing in sin, since sin is transgression of the law and puts one on the devil's side, while Christ was manifested to take away sin and destroy the works of the devil. This obedience springs from faith that works by love and purifies the soul, not as a way to earn favor, and those who so walk in the light have cleansing, confidence toward God, answered prayer and eternal life.
Address and Deception Warning
The address as little children calls believers into the place of Christ's little children under God's control as children are under their parents' control, needing to know His will for their present and eternal good, with Scripture instructing them in the plan and conditions of salvation. This belongs with abiding in Christ, becoming like Him, and receiving everlasting life. It shows the relation sustained to the Creator, is spoken to church members, and in God's sight the inhabitants of the whole world are little children.
The command to let no one deceive guards against being misled about righteousness and about the connection between knowing God and living righteously. Doing what is right shows a person to be righteous as Christ is righteous, and a claim to faith must be shown in good works, while those who persist in sin do not belong to God. Righteous character is known by righteous conduct, after the pattern of Christ's own righteousness. This teaching stands with the statements that sin is transgression of the law and that abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, where sin must be put away for the atonement to be effective.
The warning exposes profession without practice, for being righteous is doing righteousness in life and character, not only saying that one is righteous. A true believer is sanctified by the truth and shows it by action, and that doing marks the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. It is addressed to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventist churches, and it reaches everyone who claims to know God and to keep His commandments but does not show it by good works; such profession without obedience is false, and each will receive according to deeds. Failing to do righteousness or to love the brother shows a person is not of God, while doing righteousness manifests the children of God and distinguishes them from the children of the devil. Claiming pardon while knowingly continuing in the same sins when tempted, without resisting temptation, has no virtue and is self-deception, but when truth is in the heart it sanctifies life and character and gives power to keep the soul in Christ under temptation.
Doing is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, revealed in actions and works of righteousness, in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved and in deed and in truth. Those who retain grosser traits of character and reveal human defects in words and disposition show they are not abiding in Him. Mere profession or knowledge without righteous action has no value, and righteousness is to be evident in the lives and work of God's people, who are to follow God's just requirements and act faithfully before Him. No fair profession makes one holy while the heart is corrupt, and claiming perfect love and holiness of heart, claiming to have no trials and temptations but perfect peace and submission to God, and putting on a calm, sympathetic appearance does not make a person holy, for a person can profess sanctification while the heart is full of corruption and in perfect darkness under the frown of Jesus. True character is shown by life, as seen when one lives for years with a man who is not her husband after leaving a husband and child, professes medical knowledge to deceive, lies under oath about cost for gain, and takes money by false oath, proving vileness and hypocrisy, and such sins must be confessed publicly from house to house and restored where wrong was taken before repentance is genuine.
The warning also exposes those who profess advanced piety and sinlessness while openly despising the law of God and teaching by precept and example that others may sin with impunity. Doing righteousness means keeping the commandments of God in thought and word and deed, and the one who does so is righteous just as God is righteous. The verse tests pretentious claims to sanctification and exposes those who transgress the law while claiming holiness as in terrible deception and as blasphemers of the God of heaven. Committing sin, which is transgressing the law, puts a person on the side of the devil, in the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate. No one should be deceived into claiming righteousness while living in sin, for doing righteousness shows that a person is righteous as Christ is righteous, and claiming to abide in Christ or to be sanctified does not make lawbreaking righteous, since a claim of sanctification and genuine sanctification are different.
It warns not to be deceived by those who excuse disobedience and twist Scripture to suit their own breaking of God's law, for doing righteousness means keeping God's commandments just as written and walking as Christ walked, with the love of God perfected in obedience. Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin produces a sinless, commandment-keeping life, while committing sin is transgressing the law and is of the devil, whose works the Son of God was manifested to destroy. Claiming to know God or to be in the light while refusing obedience and hating the commandment-keeping people is lying, darkness, and self-deception. A claim to abide in Christ or be sanctified is deceptive when the person lives in transgression of God's law, for righteousness is shown by obedience, not merely claimed.
Doing Proves Righteous Character
Righteousness is not a matter of enjoying or appreciating what is right, nor of saying or professing it, but of doing what is right. To do righteousness is to do the will of the Father in heaven, and those who do it stand to Christ as brother and sister and mother. Such doing comes from possessing a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord. Building on Christ is obeying His word, for holiness is not rapture but surrendering all to God and doing the will of the heavenly Father. Mere knowledge of the promise does not give possession, just as Israel on the borders of the promised land could not possess its vineyards and olive groves by knowing about Canaan or singing its songs, but only by occupation, by complying with the conditions, by exercising living faith in God, and by appropriating His promises while obeying His instruction. Religion consists in doing the words of Christ, not doing to earn God's favor but because His undeserved love has been received, so that salvation rests not on profession merely but on faith made manifest in works of righteousness; doing, not saying merely, is expected, and character is built through action.
Doing what is right is the evidence, test, and genuine mark of being righteous. It is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and it marks the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. Failing to do righteousness or to love the brother shows a person is not of God, while committing sin shows belonging to the devil, for sin is transgression of God's law and those who abide in Christ do not practice sin. The teaching is addressed to all church members, including Seventh-day Adventist churches, and it includes everyone who claims to know God and to keep His commandments but does not show it by good works; such profession without obedience is false, and each will receive according to deeds. Being righteous is doing righteousness in life and character, not only saying that one is righteous, for a true believer is sanctified by the truth and shows it by action, in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved. Abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin, because sin shows that a person has not truly seen or known Him; righteousness is shown in a changed life in which old sinful habits and practices are left behind and the person is cleansed and made holy, while those who retain grosser traits of character and reveal human defects in words and disposition show they are not abiding in Him.
The one who does righteousness is righteous even as Christ is righteous. That likeness is after the pattern of Christ's own righteousness, reflecting His righteousness, character, and example and following the principles of His character. Righteousness is measured by God's holy law, expressed in the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, and abiding in Christ and having God's love within lead a person's thoughts, purposes, feelings, and actions into harmony with that law. Obedience is the fruit of faith, not a way to earn salvation, and a righteous character is shown in a life that follows the principles of Christ's character in thoughts, purposes, feelings, actions, life, and character. Believers must not be misled about the relation between righteousness and conduct, for this teaching belongs with the truths that sin is transgression of the law and that abiding in Christ is incompatible with continuing in sin.
No human opinion changes that character or changes God's thoughts toward him. What others do or say or think about a person, and no man's measurement of character, decides or alters standing with God. God's thoughts toward the one who does righteousness stay the same, and other people's words, actions, or opinions cannot change God's view or alter that person's character. Those who do righteousness daily receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have heaven before them to win through Christ giving His life for them, and keep looking unto Jesus who loves them as the Author and Finisher of faith, beholding Jesus and reflecting His image in words, keeping His love in thoughts, speaking of Him, and inviting Him to abide, in order to win heaven and to obtain the peace and rest and love of God provided by Christ giving His life.
Law Keeping in Christ
Doing righteousness means keeping God's holy law in thought and word and deed rather than breaking it, and the one who does so is righteous just as God is righteous. Righteousness is measured by that law expressed in the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, and abiding in Christ with God's love within brings thoughts, purposes, feelings, and actions into harmony with it. The law that controls God's kingdom gives no encouragement to continuing in transgression and sin, so the doer of righteousness stands opposite the committer of sin who is of the devil who sins from the beginning. This agrees with the Old Testament teaching that the soul that sins shall die but the just man who does what is lawful and right and walks in God's statutes shall surely live, and it tests pretentious claims to sanctification and exposes transgressors claiming holiness as in terrible deception and as blasphemers while putting themselves on the side of the devil in the ranks of darkness with the first great apostate.
Keeping that law includes keeping the seventh-day Sabbath God sanctified and set apart as the memorial of His creation, and refusing the rival spurious sabbath set up through Satan working by the papal power called the man of sin. Sin is the transgression of the law, and Christ was manifested to take away sins and to destroy the works of the devil, while whoever is born of God does not commit sin because His seed, the words of God, remains in him. Keeping the Sabbath and stepping aside from the customs and practices of the world brings the cross endured for Christ's sake, for Christians and the world serve different masters and cannot join in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water can mix. Believers must therefore stand individually in God's strength rather than weak human strength, keeping an individuality that cannot be submerged, belonging to Jesus Christ, looking to God and obeying God and walking in pure light from the Word even when family members have no interest, with special help from God.
Doing righteousness expresses the great principles of the law in the two precepts of loving the Lord God with all the heart and loving neighbor as self, upon which hang all the law and the prophets. Its doing is the love of God expressed in life and character in treatment of fellow men, showing the close linking of love to God and love to the brethren. Righteousness expressed in doing what is right is not set aside by Christ's command to love one another, as shown when the verse is cited with verses 4 and 5.
Love of that kind is shown in keeping His commandments and doing things pleasing in His sight, and in loving one another as Christ loved. It means walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, loving the brother in deed and in truth and not in word only, laying down the life for the brethren, opening compassion and giving this world's goods to a brother in need, and believing on the name of Jesus Christ. When truth is in the heart it sanctifies life and character and gives power to keep the soul in Christ under temptation, while claiming pardon while knowingly continuing in the same sins when tempted without resisting has no virtue and is self-deception. Such doing is the genuine evidence of true conversion and of abiding in Christ through eating His flesh and drinking His blood, whereas retaining grosser traits and revealing human defects in words and disposition shows one is not abiding in Him. The gospel so works righteousness in all who believe that by grace and wondrous love guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life with free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits proving freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth, while those claiming to be Christians yet living in sin take an active part against Christ, misrepresent Him, and are servants of Satan in bondage to sin. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil are manifest, for whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
Such doing comes from possessing faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is doing the will of the Father in heaven by which those who do it become Christ's brother and sister and mother. The imputed righteousness of Christ laid hold of by faith becomes part of the being and dwells within, meaning holiness, uprightness, purity, love, forbearance, meekness and all Christian virtues, making acceptable repentance possible, and all who have it will work the works of God and keep the commandments. This righteousness never covers cherished sin, and without this holiness and wedding garment no one can see God. Obedience is the fruit of faith and of surrender to God and of receiving God's gift of love, not a way to earn salvation or God's favor, and building on Christ is obeying His word. Holiness is not rapture but surrendering all to God and doing the will of the heavenly Father, for mere knowledge of the promise does not give possession any more than Israel on the borders of the promised land could possess vineyards and olive groves by knowing about Canaan or singing its songs, but only by occupation, by complying with the conditions, by exercising living faith, and by appropriating His promises while obeying His instruction. It is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord.
God's righteousness is absolute and is seen in all His works and laws, so His people are to reflect His character. Christ's sinless life showed practical godliness in every word and deed, and His followers' lives are to reveal that same practical righteousness. Believers are to confess and forsake their sins, and this leads to a transformed character.
Sin, Abiding and Victory
Sin is the transgression of God's law, and to commit sin is to take sides with the devil who sins from the beginning, joining the ranks of the powers of darkness in the company of the first great apostate. No one should be deceived into separating righteousness from action, for doing what is right is the evidence of being righteous after Christ's example, while those who abide in Christ do not practice sin. The warning tests all pretentious claims to sanctification, exposing as terrible deception and blasphemy the profession of advanced piety and sinlessness by those who openly despise God's law and teach by precept and example that others may sin with impunity. Claiming to abide in Christ or to be sanctified while breaking the law does not make lawbreaking righteous, for there is a difference between a claim of sanctification and genuine sanctification. Claiming to know God or to be in the light while refusing obedience and hating the commandment-keeping people is lying, darkness, and self-deception, and those who claim to be Christians yet live in sin take an active part against Christ, misrepresent Him, and remain servants of Satan in bondage to sin.
Abiding in Christ in whom is no sin is incompatible with continuing in sin, because sin shows that a person has not truly seen or known Him. Having Christ abiding in the heart requires constantly beholding Him, and to abide in Him means not to sin. One who is born of God, with His seed, the words of God, remaining within, does not and cannot commit sin. Righteousness is shown in a changed life in which old sinful habits and practices are left behind, and the person is cleansed and made holy. The law that controls God's kingdom gives no encouragement to continuing in transgression, so doing righteousness means keeping that law rather than breaking it, and this agrees with the teaching that the soul that sins shall die but the just man who does what is lawful and right and walks in God's statutes shall surely live.
Christ was manifested not to take away the law that defines sin but to take away sin from the confessing transgressor and to destroy the works of the devil. Doing righteousness means keeping God's holy commandments in thought and word and deed and practicing Christ's righteousness, walking as Christ walked with the love of God perfected in obedience. The one who does so stands opposite the one who commits sin, who is of the devil who sins from the beginning. The gospel works righteousness in all who believe, giving free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits of righteousness that prove freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth.
To everyone who surrenders fully to God is given the privilege of living without sin in obedience to heaven's law. By grace and wondrous love guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life. Those who have the hope of seeing Christ purify themselves even as He is pure, with righteousness expressed in the life and not merely professed. Living without sin is possible, for otherwise these words would not have been written, and they are recorded so that no one carelessly continues in sin but walks in the light of the living God. No sin is blotted out from the book of God except through the faith of the believer who holds the beginning of confidence firm to the end, and there is hope in the full and entire atonement because it is effective when sin is put away.
Daily Life and Assurance
The instruction belongs to every human being to comprehend, and it is to be studied and practiced as proof of faith. It is addressed to all church members, and it requires manliness and firmness in character proved by doing what is right. A cheap, surface character does more harm than that of a worldling, because professing to represent Christ while not doing right misleads others, and at the present time doing righteousness does great good while failing to do so thoughtlessly works great evil. Youth and old must therefore bring the light of the Word into the heart with deep experience rather than mere surface work.
Youth, students, sanitarium workers and printing-office workers, and especially instructors and leaders, are set the possibility of becoming sons and daughters of God by walking uprightly in a crooked and perverse generation, showing the contrast between the principles of Christ and those of Satan. Doing righteousness in daily life requires learning meekness and lowliness from Christ, keeping hereditary and cultivated tendencies under control, and having the character daily refined, sanctified and purified. It requires speaking no harsh, passionate or rash word but speaking as Christ spoke, witnessing by a life kept every moment by the Saviour's keeping power in faithful, joyful service. Every professed believer must advance and press forward with sanctified, refined aspirations and worthy ambitions, seeking a character that represents the Lord Jesus and demonstrates His perfection in life. The principles of heaven are to be manifested here below as a foretaste, putting away discontent, murmuring, disagreeable words, dispute, quarreling and a spirit of fault-finding, since no one will enter heaven with that spirit.
Righteousness is not enjoying righteousness but doing it, which is doing the will of the Father in heaven, and those who do it are counted as Christ's brother and sister and mother. Such doing comes from faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and it is shown in gratitude for the gift of God's Son by going forth to present the truth as it is in Jesus, watching for souls as those who must give an account, and enlisting others in the army of the Lord. It is to be evident in lives and work by following God's just requirements and acting faithfully before Him, for mere profession or knowledge without righteous action has no value. It is applied to self-sacrificial giving and continued well-doing, where even a small gift given with pure motive is noticed by God. Those converted to the third angel's message are to show unity rather than division and to become channels and representatives of God's grace.
Loyalty to the principles of God's work binds the godly physician and every medical missionary practitioner to everlasting right because it is the way of righteousness and truth. Righteousness through faith must control conduct, with conscience molded by the Lord and upheld daily by His power, and every power sanctified day by day to represent Christ, since strength of intellect does not save. No one is secured for eternal life unless fastened securely to divine principles of right, practicing the righteousness of Christ, and not drifting to follow the example of those who do not wear the sign of the Sabbath and do not bear the seal of the living God. Christians and the world serve different masters and cannot join hands in fellowship and unity any more than oil and water can mix, for those who serve God and those who serve Him not have no harmony. Believers must therefore stand individually in God's strength and not in weak human strength, keeping an individuality that cannot be submerged in any living human being, belonging to Jesus Christ, looking to God and obeying God, and walking in the pure light of truth from the Word even when family members have no interest in it, with special help from God.
Those who do righteousness daily receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have heaven before them to win through Christ giving His life for them, and keep looking unto Jesus who loves them as the Author and Finisher of faith. By beholding Jesus they reflect His image in words, keep His love in thoughts, invite Him to abide, speak of Him, and obtain the peace and rest and love of God provided by Christ giving His life. Doing righteousness means walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, loving the brother in deed and in truth and not in word only, laying down the life for the brethren, opening compassion and giving this world's goods to a brother in need, believing on the name of Jesus Christ, and keeping His commandments and doing those things pleasing in His sight. Those who do this have full joy, are cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus, have passed from death unto life, have no occasion of stumbling, have assurance of heart and confidence toward God, and receive what they ask. By grace guilty rebels can obey and become children of God, members of the royal family, and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to eternal life, with free access to God as Father, brotherly love, and fruits of righteousness proving freedom from sin and knowledge of the truth.
No human opinion changes that character or changes God's thoughts toward him, for what others do or say or think, and no man's measurement of character, decides or alters standing with God. Believers are to confess and forsake their sins, which leads to a transformed character reflecting God's absolute righteousness seen in all His works and laws and Christ's practical godliness in every word and deed. By contrast, to say one has fellowship with God while walking in darkness is to lie and not do the truth. Whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who loves not his brother, for he who loves not his brother abides in death and in darkness. He is like Cain who was of the wicked one and slew his brother because his own works were evil, is a murderer in hating his brother, has no eternal life abiding in him, and the love of God does not dwell in him when he shuts up compassion from the needy.
Fair profession does not make a person holy, and claiming perfect love and holiness of heart, claiming to have no trials and temptations but perfect peace and submission, and putting on a calm, sympathetic appearance, does not make one holy while the heart is full of corruption and in darkness under the frown of Jesus. True character is shown by life, as when one lives for years with a man who is not her husband after leaving husband and child, professes medical knowledge to deceive, lies under oath about cost for gain, and takes money by false oath, proving vileness and hypocrisy. Such sins must be confessed publicly from house to house and restored where wrong was taken before repentance is genuine.