"In this it is obvious the little child of God and the little child of the devil. Every the [one] not doing righteousness is not out of God, also the [one] not loving the brother of him."
-John restates his two most salient litmus tests for us here. So easy to tell them apart, these two groups of people. Plain and obvious, right out in the open, in plain sight, plain for all to see, plain as the nose on your face, as plain as day. In the spotlight. Children, sons and daughters of different fathers. Polar opposites, in fact - just like their dads. The proverbial acorn landing not far from the tree at all. Two ways to tell them apart, these children of God and children of the devil. The former do what is right, and they love other believers, as a general rule. And the latter do not.
-Those who would be fairly described as children of the devil do not wind up in that diabolical family in the same manner, however. In fact, we all start out as "children of the devil", do we not? There is no seed planted, no faith involved. We simply grow up walking in those same shoes we were born with, doing what comes naturally, me-first, rejecting God and His truth and His ways. And His people. There is no changeover whatsoever.
-And that’s the primary point, isn’t it? With the children of God, there is a change. There is this change of mind, a change of heart. There is a radical change of family. And a change of address, abandoning the kingdom of this world altogether, and moving into the kingdom of heaven. Address: heaven. It's the mother of all moves. You need to mail out those old change-of-address cards, 'cuz Alice doesn’t live here anymore. But it’s not about geography, is it? It’s about where my heart is - and my subsequent behavior. It’s not where I am physically, it’s not about gps. Nor is it about circumstances. This is SPS: spiritual positioning system. Who I am (becoming) should come oozing out of my spiritual pores regardless of where I find myself. I (begin to) resemble my (new) heavenly Father. I (begin to) do what He do, what is right, and I (begin to) love my brother, those others who name the Name of Jesus. Failing to do these two things, absent this change, it is safe to question whether I am even a child of God to begin with. Good chance I haven't made that move in my heart. Thus these two markers give us a pretty good idea of who’s who. And rather than an exercise in finger-pointing, the best way to proceed with this knowledge is with self-examination. Take a look at my own life, and take courage or fair warning based on what I see (or don’t see) in me. How am I doing at doing what is right and at loving my brother? Is it in me?
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