Don't Be Led Astray, I John 3:7

March 03, 2016 on 03-04-16

I John 3:7... Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what its right is righteous...

What makes a person righteous? What made Abraham righteous? If we use today's verse, we see that a person is righteous, because they do what was right. But is that different than what is declared about Abraham? Romans, Galatians, and James all say that Abraham believed, and it was credited to him a righteousness. This verse appears to say that we need to work to be righteous, and the other verses say that we just need to believe. Isn't that different?

Let me first say that I do believe that we as Christians must be "doing" to have a secure place in the kingdom. Salvation mandates we "work out our salvation." It says that "faith without works is dead." That said, what I want to stress is the congruence of the today's verse and the verses stating righteousness being by faith. They go hand in hand. Abraham, like us, needed to have his sin removed. Sin cannot be removed from our lives by doing good or even by always doing right. Jesus is the only way that our lives can be made "right", and only if we believe that he is the only way to salvation. This verse says that if we have been made right, we will do what is right.

Daughters, don't be led astray. There are those out there who say that doing good works is not necessary for salvation and then they use that as an excuse that for doing wrong. That is heresy! If you learn anything from John's letter, learn this; as Christian, we are to live clean lives, free from wrong doing. There have always been people in churches that are there to lead us away from the truth. Today, they push stronger than ever. Stand firm, defend the truth, and do what is right.

~Dad