1 John 3:4-7
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
The three main keywords in the passage are sin, lawlessness and righteousness. The author points out in verse 7 that because Christ is righteous, anyone who has also been made righteous by Him must as well practice righteousness. To practice righteousness is synonymous to bearing fruits of righteousness.
When God makes you righteous, He expects you to bear fruits of righteousness. Proverbs 12:12 tell us that, “the root of the righteous yields fruit.” This means that when you are made righteous, you must yield and bear fruits of righteousness.
You see, there is the gift of righteousness that makes you righteous, and there is also the fruit of righteousness that makes you practice righteousness. The gift of righteousness is a free gift that is conferred on us when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. After we have received the gift of righteousness, we are to practice and produce fruits of righteousness such as loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, doing good to those who hate us, praying for those who spitefully use us and so forth.
The Fulfillment of the Law
The fruit of righteousness has to do with you satisfying the law. You don’t need the law to be made the righteousness of God. Galatians 2:16 says, “know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” This is why I say you don’t need the law to be made the righteousness of God.
But you need the law to live righteously and to produce fruits of righteousness. The law says: you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house or wife. As the righteousness of God, because you bear fruits of righteousness, you fulfill the law by not indulging in these sins or lawless acts. Jesus in Matthew 5:17 cautioned, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
We need the law to live righteously and to practice righteousness. Because of the Father’s boundless love and care for us, and because He has made us righteous through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, nothing we do can make us more or less righteous.
This does not mean that God has no rules or regulations. God’s children are not in bondage to the Old Testament Law, for Christ has set us free and given us liberty. But God’s children are not to be lawless, either! God has rules and regulations and we are to live by those rules and regulations. Failure to live by God’s rules and regulations is tantamount to living a sinful, lawless life. Jesus Himself who died for our sins to make us righteous has a rule for instance that says in Matthew 5:28 that, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
The fact that you have been made righteous does not mean you can choose to live anyhow, do whatever you want, and sin anyway you want. As the righteousness of God, you don’t have a license to sin but you have a license to practice righteousness. That is why 1 John 3:7 advises: “let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” So if God has made you righteous, you have a license and a responsibility to practice righteousness.
The believer is saved to bear fruits of righteousness not fruits of unrighteousness. Living in sin and bearing fruits of unrighteousness is equivalent to living a lawless life
1 John 3:4
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Over here, the phrase “commits sin” is used in a continuous present tense and thus, it denotes a person’s habitual attitude toward sin. So it should read: “whoever commits sin habitually also commits lawlessness.” This verse is not about a state of perfection in which it is impossible to sin, but it is stressing the fact that a Christian cannot keep on practicing sin, because he is the righteousness of God.
God sees sinning habitually as lawlessness, and that is why I say you need the law not to be made righteous but to practice righteousness
Gift of Humanity
Every child is given a gift called the gift of life. Other people call it the gift of humanity. With the gift of humanity, there are certain rules and regulations that govern every human being. Yes, being human is a gift but we don’t end up doing whatever we want with the gift of humanity we have. There are rules and regulations that govern humans and when we violate any of those rules, we end up facing the consequences of our actions. For instance, we’re not supposed to steal or murder. When you decide to do that, society will punish you by making you pay a fine or put you in jail.
Similarly, we also have the gift of righteousness, which requires that we live by God’s rules, regulations and standards. Remember, righteousness is “living in accordance to God’s rule and standard.” There are consequences when we fail to live in accordance to His rules, regulations and standards.
Sin is a seed
Let’s say you are a believer struggling with sexual immorality, God will forgive you of your sins when you ask Him to, but His forgiveness will not stop the consequences of pregnancy, fathering or mothering a child out of wedlock, diminished self-worth, broken relationships, a troubled conscience or risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
So just as a man will not play with a lit stick of dynamite because of the danger it can pose, the Lord wants us to bear fruits of righteousness by not playing around with sin because of the terrible consequences it causes
How to bear fruits of righteousness
Philippians 1:10-11
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
In this epistle to the Philippians, Paul shows three major ways by which we could bear fruits of righteousness. He points out that the first way to bear fruits of righteousness is:
(1) By Approving Excellent Things
To approve of excellent things means to look at the difference between good and bad and you choose good over bad. That is why Philippians 4:8 tell us that, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
Let me show you an example of someone who approved of excellent things and chose good over bad. Joseph was presented with a challenge where a beautiful, rich woman had a serious crush on him, and tried to offer herself to Joseph and to take care of his biological and concupiscence needs. On all the occasions that the woman made seductive moves at Joseph, there was no one present and the chances of getting caught was pretty slim if not nil. Here, Joseph was presented with a good and a bad choice. But as someone who approved of excellent things, he chose good over bad and turned the woman down.
Similarly, in life you will be always presented with good and bad choices, but to bear fruits of righteousness, you must always choose good over bad. Romans 12:9 says, “let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” You should approve of things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report.
(2) By Being Sincere
Another means by which you bear fruits of righteousness is by being sincere. To be sincere means to be pure and to be blameless. To be sincere also means to have transparent character. People should be able to see through you and conclude that you are genuine, honest, & straight. We live in a world where people are so insincere and dishonest it spills over to every area of their relationships including even their marriages. Husbands and wives playing secretive games with each other…I can trust you with my body but I can’t trust you with my phone and laptop. So when a husband or wife is not by his or her phone for instance and the phone rings, he or she will scream; don’t answer it. I’ll get it! So a husband doesn’t know the password to his wife’s phone and email account and vice versa.
I am proposing for every husband and wife to be sincere with each other. I am proposing for every couple to share their passwords and pin numbers. Remember: you are the righteousness of God, and as the righteousness of God you must bear fruits of righteousness and one of the ways you bear fruits of righteousness is by being sincere. Being transparent. Being honest. Being truthful. Being a person of integrity. It was Spencer Johnson who said: “integrity is being sincere with myself, and honesty is being sincere with other people.”
(3) By Being Without Offence
Another means by which you bear fruits of righteousness is by being without offence. To be without offence means to live a life that does not offend other people and to live a life that is not offended by other people.
To live a life that does not offend other people means live at peace with everyone. So Paul in Romans 12:18 admonishes us by saying that, “If it is possible, as much as depends on us, we should live peaceably with all men.” In other words, live a life that is inoffensive to others. And if by some reason you offend someone, seek their forgiveness and live peacefully with them.
However, the second definition of what it means to live without offence, “living a life that is not offended by other people” places responsibility not on others but on you. The responsibility is yours to make sure you live a life without offense.
You will be offended. But even when you are offended you must forgive. Failing to forgive is what the Bible calls living with offense
When you allow yourself to be offended, and you fail to forgive, two things would occur:
(a) You forfeit receiving God’s forgiveness
Remember in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15, “14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
It is important that you live a life without offense. If you don’t and you harbor offense in your heart, you will lose the power to forgive the one who offended you, and when you fail to forgive, you are forfeiting a chance to experience God’s forgiveness in return
(b) You forfeit bearing fruits of righteousness
You’re required to produce fruits of righteousness and that involves living a life without offense. In Matthew 18:7, Jesus said that, “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come...” What Jesus is saying is that offenses are inevitable but you must forgive every offense. You see, when you live with offense you end up hurting yourself and brooding over a hurt whilst the offender is elsewhere happily living their lives.
That is what happened to John the Baptist. When Herod arrested him and put him in prison, he expected Jesus to pay him a visit but the Lord did not. John the Baptist who once upon a time said of Jesus in John 1:29 that, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of men.” John who once upon a time in Matthew 3:11 said of Jesus that, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
John said all these nice things about Jesus, but because he was offended that Jesus did not pay him a visit in prison, he sent two of his disciples to denounce Jesus, his cousin by asking the same person He once called the Lamb of God and the One whose sandals he is not worthy to carry in Matthew 11:2 that, “Are You the coming One or do we look for another.” Jesus could have saved John but He said because you are offended, I can’t help you, and Herod proceeded to decapitate him. After this, Jesus made a statement concerning John Baptist’s behavior and we should all guard our hearts with it. He said in Matthew 11:6, “Blessed is he who is not offended...”
This means that offenses do not bring a blessing. They bring a curse. Offenses prevent us from bearing fruits of righteousness. Offenses block God’s blessings from flowing into our lives
It is my prayer that you will accept who you are in Christ and that is the righteousness of God. But as people who have been made righteous by Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, we also have a responsibility to bear fruits of righteousness. And we bear fruits of righteousness:
• By approving of excellent things
• By being sincere
• By being without offense
Dr. Sadick Arthur is the Senior Pastor, along with his lovely wife Maame Boatemaa, of International Central Gospel Church in Northern Virginia. He is a multi-gifted and dynamic teacher of the Word of God. As a man of God and a gentleman of unlimited potential, Dr. Arthur has distinguished himself as a caring, loving and anointed pastor.
He has authored several books and is a seasoned extraordinary motivational speaker. He pioneered the planting and establishment of ICGC in New York and quite recently the Virginia Assembly of ICGC.He speaks extensively on issues relating to self-improvement, social, economic and spiritual empowerment. His passion and desire is to see each person to whom he minister become all that God has created them to be. For more on Dr. Sadick Arthur, visit www.icgcva.org
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