66-DAY JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 64 - 3 John (Do Good, Not Evil)
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” (3 John 11)
I pray everyday in my private prayers as well as with my wife and children during our family prayers that God would help us to hate sin and to cling to what is good. This is because we want to be obedient to the command of the Lord in Romans 12:9 to “ Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”
The apostle John in our text above basically repeats Paul’s statement in Romans to do good and not evil. John then adds that he who does good is of God and he who does evil has not seen God. This does not mean, however, that everyone who does a good deed is saved. What John meant was the same message that James the author of the book by his name wrote regarding the evidence of true faith.
A person who is truly saved will prove his faith by his good works; whereas, the person who has dead faith will not show his faith by his good works. This has to be what John was referring to otherwise, if one can be justified by doing good, there will no longer be a need for faith and the grace of God through Jesus Christ. In other words, if one can be saved by his own good works, Jesus did not have to die to pay for our sins - we just need to be able to do enough good works. But that is impossible because the Bible says that the passing grade for going to heaven through works is 100% perfection.
Do you want to know if you belong to God? Examine yourself to see if what you do is good or evil in the sight of God and man.
No comments:
Post a Comment