THE PRACTICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS - 1 JOHN 2:29

Verse 29: If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

John begins with a suppositional premise “if you know that He (God) is righteous” which the genuineness of the following phrase is dependent upon. It presents a logical connection,1 meaning that if the premise is true then the conclusion is also true. But the important point that John seeks to emphasize at the outset is whether the believer knows that God is righteous. And so, in order to truly understand this verse, we must analyze the key words: righteous, righteousness, practice, know.

Righteousness of God

The word ‘righteous’ denotes the character of a person who conforms to what is just and right “without any deficiency or failure.”2 This implies that what is ‘just and right’ must be based on certain norms and standards, for instance, either the law of society or divine laws.

Regarding God’s righteousness, Dr. Norman Geisler asserts that “it refers to the intrinsic characteristic of God wherein He is absolutely just or right and is the ultimate standard of justice and rightness.”3 Adding to this, Dr. L.S. Chafer explains His unique character:

God is transparently holy and righteous in all His acts. When combined with love, His righteousness results in grace. God’s righteousness is ever absolute and perfect to infinity: “In him is no darkness at all.” God’s righteousness is seen in two ways: (a) He is a righteous Person (James 1: 17; 1 John 1:5) and (b) He is righteous in all His ways (Romans 3:25-26).4

This is an attribute of the very essence of God, setting the standard of perfect upright integrity, far above any and all human criteria. Lenski adds that “He is righteous in all His ways: in His laws, His promises, His verdicts, or a single act of His.”5 His righteous character can and should be studied in the following passages of Scripture: 2 Chronicles 12:6; Ezra 9:15; Nehemiah 9:8; Psalm 19:9; 89:14; Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 1:8.

Practice

The word practice does not imply learning, as one might say they are practicing a musical instrument or rehearsing their lines for acting. The doctor practicing medicine when tending to a patient is nearer to John’s meaning of practice. The connotation of the word here implies “any external act as manifested in the production of something tangible.”6 In contrast with a musician learning to play his instrument by practicing or the actor practicing their lines prior to a performance, the inference here is the ongoing production of Godly righteousness in the believer’s life. For the believer to practice righteousness means that they are consistently producing clear evidence of their relationship with Jesus Christ on the basis of His truth standards.

But this characteristic of the believer is not produced merely behind closed doors, in the darkness or out of the way from the sight of others. It is what Our Lord meant when He stated “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). This corresponds with John’s admonition to “walk in the Light” as evidence that we “practice the truth” (1 John 1:6-7). And yes, we do produce this righteousness internally in our thought life (Philippians 4:8) and while in His presence when we pray and study His Word; but it is supposed to be observable in our external lives before all mankind. To consider otherwise would disregard John’s intent that we become a mature believer and produce righteous characteristics.    

However, Our Lord provided cautionary advice that we were not to practice our righteousness before mankind with the attitude of showing off or in an attempt to compete or outperform others (Matthew 6:1-6). And yet at the same time He declared “that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

 Since the righteousness of God is an attribute of His perfect and incorruptible divine character, we can only produce His righteous character by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Those qualities of our lives that will portray God’s righteous character were specified by the Apostle Paul to be the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

You Know

There are two Greek words in this verse translated know. The first one refers to knowing intuitively. What John means by this is that the believer having advanced in his knowledge of the Word will/should be able to apprehend without much contemplation the righteous character of God.

The second word know means “to come to know, recognize” or “to understand completely.”7 So, therefore, if we possess in our frame of reference the fact of God’s righteous character, then, by John’s reckoning, we also will be able to recognize that same righteous character of God’s in those who produce clear evidence of such. More importantly, this is intended to be a personal assessment of our own status of spiritual maturity—to determine if we are producing in our life Godly righteousness.

Born of Him

What does it mean to be born of Him? John refers this to our spiritual birth, having nothing to do with our physical birth. For in John’s gospel, he stated that we, as children of God, “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Our Lord affirmed this when He proclaimed:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5–7)

This spiritual birth has its source from God and is procured when we believe in the finished work Christ on the cross, where He satisfied the righteous demands of the Father as the just atonement for “our sins; and not for ours only, but also those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

How Should We Now Live?

Since we who have experienced this spiritual birth, this “so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3), we should be primarily concerned with the strategy of living our lives today. We cannot approach our faith in a casual nonchalant fashion: maybe I’ll study His Word, maybe not; maybe I’ll respond to the events of life in a Godly manner, maybe I will not—whatever I choose to do I will do. That is not what John is intending for us his readers. Instead, the Apostle Paul’s instruction expands upon John’s objective of how we should endeavor to live:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. (Titus 2:11–13)

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[1] Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,  p. 696.

[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1342.

[3] Geisler, Norman L. (2002). Systematic Theology, Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2.323.

[4] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 7.270.

[5] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.446.

[6] Zodhiates, G4160.

[7] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.346.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi