Everyone Who Practices Righteousness Also Has Been Born of Him
1 John 2:29. New American Standard Bible
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.
A true child of God will reflect the nature of their Father in Heaven. When we come to Christ, we become children of God. We are adopted into God’s family. The Spirit of God comes to live dwell within us. He will continually transform us on a daily basis as we abide in Christ and desire to surrender more and more to Him.
John says “if you know that He is righteous”. All of us who have come to Christ have had our eyes open to the truth of who Christ is. Jesus is the Son of God and He came to pay a penalty and debt that we could not pay. Our sin separates us from God, but the precious blood of Jesus washes away that sin. We are declared righteous before God the moment we come to faith in Jesus Christ.
But there is a daily, lifelong process called sanctification. It is the process by which the Holy Spirit moves in our hearts and lives on a daily basis continually transforming us into the character and image of Christ. At the moment of salvation, we are declared righteous or what is also known as justification. But each day we are continually being sanctified and the righteousness of Christ is being produced within our lives. Every action, decision, and thought are being continually surrendered to Jesus Christ.
John writes “everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him”. The outward practice of righteousness is simply a sign that we are truly children of God. We are not saved by works. We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9). But we also know that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-17). True biblical faith in Jesus Christ produces action and good works in the life of the disciple of Christ. We were created for specific good works in Christ Jesus that are unique to the gifts and anointing the Holy Spirit has given to us (Eph 2:10). To claim to follow Christ, yet fail to live it out on a daily basis is not true biblical Christianity.
