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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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1 John 3:7
Comments
The apostle always has the possibility of deception in mind and therefore amplifies what he has just said. The deception here is the denial of what follows, which John therefore asserts with great force. When false teachers assert that it does not matter how you live, do not believe them, for, whatever they say, God has not changed his standards. We will be judged by him, not by those who wish to rewrite the Bible. The deceiver tries to convince us that we can be righteous and yet live how we like, but no claim to be righteous or to love righteousness is convincing if it does not affect our conduct. What we are and what we do will always agree, and just as there was no pretence in Christ so there must be none in us.
Application
It is a fearful matter when worshippers are made to feel comfortable while still living in the world. We live in an age when false shepherds assure those who have not separated from their past life that God is pleased with them, but the true Christian will be afraid of such dangerous instruction. The failure to give clear warnings against sin is the mark of a false prophet according to John.
Questions
Does John deny imputed righteousness? No, he assumes it throughout (1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1-2; 5:4-5), but the error he confronts here is the failure to marry faith and conduct, and therefore he insists that the righteous are only authenticated by their lives.
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