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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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1 John 2:29
Comments
To know that Jesus Christ is righteous is to know more than that he conforms to the outward expression of the law. It is to look deep into his heart on the basis of his words and actions, and to see the crystal clear depths of righteousness disappearing beyond the point we can follow them. His own integrity maintains his righteousness far, far beyond the point where he is answerable to any man or any human law. John’s reasoning seems at first to be incomplete and to reach a conclusion that is not justified, but he is training us to bring our assumptions with us as we reason: Christ is righteous; he alone is righteous and there is no sin in him at all; righteousness is not found in the world therefore Christ is not of the world; all men and women born into the world are members of a fallen human race and belong to the world; the fallen nature is not capable of the righteousness that was found in Christ; if we find this righteousness in men and women then they must have received a new nature from God; this new nature comes only through the new birth.
Application
Looking at ourselves we see evidence of the profound change that God has worked in us, and we take courage from this.
Questions
How can John compare the mixed and faltering righteousness of even the best believer with the pure righteousness of Jesus Christ? If someone lacks his perfect righteousness, how can we be sure they are born again? Even though the believer still commits sin, he also does genuine and rightly motivated acts of obedience to God, which the world is not capable of. A man panning for gold is able to pick the gold out from the dirt, but if he finds none he throws away the whole pan.
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