“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
(1 John 3:9-10)
If we are truly born again into the family of God we will not habitually sin, because “…[God’s] seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Folks, we all sin, but in order to know that we are truly born again, we must see a distinct change in our behavior. Those sins that permeated our old life will become appalling to us. We will not want to do them again. Will we slip and fall on occasion? Yes, but we will not make a habit of it. If we truly belong to our Lord, the world will see it in how we act, react and live our lives. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil …”
Many people profess to be a believer in God or a Christian, but what do their words and actions say? If they aren’t consistently following Christ’s example, or if they are mean, cruel or just don’t care about people; they may not be saved and born again. Check yourself first and judge where you stand. Are you truly born again and is that relationship with our Lord visible to the world (at least most of the time)? Never judge others until you first judge yourself. Once you know where you stand and you know you’re born again and following Christ to the best of your ability, those that aren’t following the Lord should be easy to spot. Don’t judge or shun them, lead them to the Lord, because “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
We all sin and fail our Lord, but we should not habitually sin. Our lives should shine forth as beacons in this dark sinful world, not perfect, but saved by grace through faith and living as righteous a life as possible.
Not self-righteous – Righteous.