#124 A divine purity of heart and mind
From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich
If we are children of God in Christ, we must have a righteousness of life that proves effectual, not only before men but before God Himself, and that may stand steadfast; i.e., not a mere external, human uprightness but an inner and a divine purity of heart and mind. An unconverted person can, it is true, appropriate a human righteousness (according to the law) to himself, so that one can lay nothing against him before men, and this accordingly commands respect in the world. Therefore the Pharisee ranks highest in this; but because the Pharisees are hypocrites, their righteousness is without merit in the sight of God, Who looks upon the hearts, not upon the outward appearance as do men. And if our righteousness of life does not surpass that of the Pharisees and scribes inwardly, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But such righteousness that is recognized as good before God is not human but superhuman and divine, and excels all human effort by far. Only in Christ is it granted to us, and indeed not by mere imputation of His righteousness through faith, but by actual fulfillment of the same in us (Romans 8; Ephesians 1:4), that we no longer walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
In this respect, there are only children of God and children of the devil; in the former the living God dwells and works by His Spirit (John 4), in the latter however the devil by the spirit of the world (I Corinthians 2; II Corinthians 4); in the former God has His good pleasure, even as in His Son, but the latter have no mind to please Him because they hate Christ and therefore the Father also.
The infallible proof, whether one is of God or of the devil, lies in the mind—in thought and endeavor—for although one cannot look into the heart of man, yet that which is within it is made manifest by his striving, whereby men betray themselves. Whosoever is of God seeks that which is of God: His kingdom, His righteousness, His good pleasure, His honor; but whosoever is of the devil, that which is of the world: pride, honor, riches, a life of pleasure in the flesh. And just as mighty as the devil is in his children unto sin, so mighty is God also in His children unto righteousness. Inasmuch as John says, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not," the opposite, "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him," explains best what abiding in Christ means.
Thus, abiding in Christ is as much as seeing and knowing Christ, and he who at all times sees and consequently knows Christ in the Spirit does not and cannot sin; but because Christ Himself is now hidden and our life also with Him in God, if we are children of God, this is not a corporeal but a spiritual seeing and knowing, notwithstanding that He at all times has His children and witnesses in the world also, in whom He, as it were, is visibly and incarnately here and walks before men so that they may learn to know Him.
Since it is the duty of the children of God to represent Christ as faithfully and as perfectly as possible in His holy mind and righteous life, so that on their account His holy name may not be reviled, as in the case of the false Christians and Greeks of Laodicea, the world, which rejects its witnesses, sins not only against the visible witnesses but also against God Himself, Who, by His Spirit, lives in His saints; and the spiritual can indeed understand and judge all other men, of which spirit they are children, but the carnal cannot judge or even recognize the children of God. But if those who openly confess Christ do not, in all respects, walk according to their confession, carnal men see and judge that too, and the world clamors much more about a little stain in the company of the children of God than about the greatest sin of one of their own. This should teach us to live discreetly and inoffensively.
In the case of all men, we need only to observe what kind of spirit is in them (whether the spirit of the world or the Spirit of God), not what they are and appear to be according to the flesh (privileged or lowly), for the higher one stands in the flesh and in the world, the more right the devil has to him. But true, divine nobleness scorns spurious highness in this world and keeps itself in lowliness, as did Christ. In carnal men one can also see the depth of their spirit, for when one of them dies they are no longer mindful of him; but one can clearly distinguish the Spirit of Christ from the spirit of the world, and Christ in us with His righteousness is not known in and by the world, for it is offensive to it.