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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