Bible Snack #46

Little children, let no one deceive you.  He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous (1 John 3:7).

Remember from chapter two that little children are those who are born again, and therefore are spiritual babies but they know one thing for sure: their sins are forgiven! That is astounding! Our sins are forgiven.Not just the sins of the day but of yesterday and tomorrow. Jesus paid the ultimate price in taking ALL sin on Himself and paying for it with His blood. However, one must be born again and become a spiritual child of God in order to receive this ultimate gift.

From this position of being totally forgiven, little children take tentative steps into righteousness.Righteousness means being in right standing with God. When He looks at us He sees no sin!  We can look back and see all our dirt, but He looks and sees none. We cautiously proceed under the all approving eye of God and we find that righteousness is exactly the place we want to be. We also find that righteousness is a place we must learn to occupy, and so we tiptoe into His throne room, and there He is, arms outstretched to receive His child, you and me, with the most powerful accepting love that surpasses our hopes and dreams.

So, don’t let the devil or any of your other unsaved friends, deceive you. They want to pretend they know all about God and that He demands that you earn your righteousness. It’s not so. Righteousness is something one practices. The more we receive that all-consuming love of God, that more we want to be righteous, the more we put it into practice.