Identifying the Children of God
It is without a shadow of doubt that the
majority of people especially in the Christian religion believes that there is
but only one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through Him we live,
because in Him we live and move and have our being; He is the vine and we are
the branches.
Nevertheless, it is stated quite
distinctly that there are those who are regarded as the children of God, and
those who are regarded as children of the devil; for thus it is written; “This
is how we know who the children of God are, and who the children of the devil
are” (1John.3:10).
In order to differentiate one from
the other, two identifying signs have been given, but before we examine these
two signs it is imperative that we know first of all how one can be regarded as
a child of God and the other a child of the devil.
God the Father in His great mercy
has given us (humanity) new birth into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade away reserved in heaven for us. We were created through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.
Nevertheless we all have a human
spirit which was dead (separated from God), because of the transgression of the
first Adam, but was made alive again (given access to the Father), by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, but remains a free moral agency with the
prerogative to join itself with either the spirit of the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, and thereby
becoming a child of the devil.
Or, the prerogative to join our
spirit with the Spirit of God and becomes one spirit with the Lord. When joined
to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s
children. Authority is given to be called children of God only to those who
receives Christ, and believes in His name. At this point the Father qualifies
them to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light, for He
has rescued them from the kingdom of darkness, and translated them into the
kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom they have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.
The fact that there are those who
are the children of the devil should not be a surprise because Jesus Himself
said to the descendants of Abraham; “If God were your Father, you would love
Me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of My own accord, but
He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear
to hear My word.’
“You are of your father the devil,
and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in
him, when he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and
the father of lies” (John 8:42-44).
Having established the fact that
there are children of God and children of the devil, it is therefore imperative
to know how we are able to differentiate them.
It is stated quite explicitly,
“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the
devil are: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God; nor is
anyone who does not love his brother” (1John 3:10).
It is imperative that we first
establish and prove what is this act of righteousness, that when practice
differentiates the children of God from the children of the devil.
Certainly, it cannot be our own
righteousness, because it is clearly stated that, “We are all like an unclean
thing and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” We are all under the power of
sin as it is written; “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no
one seeks for God, all have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one
does good, not even one” (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10-12).
Neither can it be righteousness
from the keeping of the law, because it is again stated quite clearly that;
“Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not?
Because they pursued it not by faith, but as it were based on works. They
stumble over the stumbling stone.” It is well understood that, “No one will be
declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law
they become conscious of sin” (Romans 9:31-32; 3:20).
What therefore is the act of
righteousness which, when practice differentiates God’s children from the
children of the devil?
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To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
